Dog with bladder tumour

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Marigold4

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My much loved rescue border collie had a scan last week and she has a large, inoperable tumour in her bladder. She is nearly 14 years old and has a grade 5 heart murmur as well. She's been squatting to pee a lot, frequently with no result, so there must be some discomfort. She was uncomfortable when the vet pressed on her abdomen. Vet has prescribed Loxicam to hopefully slow the growth. Anyone have any experience of this condition? I'm not sure how much discomfort she is in and when to call time. I don't want to wait till she can't pee at all and it becomes a horrific emergency. Vet was a bit unspecific about time scale - could be a few weeks or up to a year. The only new thing since vet visit was that she was very sick (vomiting) on Monday but fine since.
 
Honestly, and I know this is hard, but I would've scheduled euthanasia at that appointment for a very soon date. She's sounds uncomfortable, and I've only had one UTI, but feeling like you have to pee all of the time and/or having urinary issues, is a miserable existence. So I can only imagine a tumor being similar.

A dog that's nearly 14, is quite impressive, and has lived a long life. I would PTS ASAP, personally. Definitely rather now than later when it's catastrophic.

So sorry you're going through this.
 
We had a 9 yr old 50kg Rottweiler who was originally diagnosed with a UTI but after it recurred she was scanned and diagnosed with a small bladder tumour. She was prescribed Loxicom and actually did very well on it, she had no further UTI type symptoms for 6 months when she started passing blood, so we called time.
Having known a much smaller bitch have chemo for bladder cancer and only live 6 months from diagnosis, during which time she developed a phobia of the car which she had lived travelling in prior to the frequent vet visits for treatment, I certainly wouldn't go down that route.
I think if yours is ill now, I would pts before she gets worse, I'm sorry.
 
Marigold4 said:
My much loved rescue border collie had a scan last week and she has a large, inoperable tumour in her bladder. She is nearly 14 years old and has a grade 5 heart murmur as well. She's been squatting to pee a lot, frequently with no result, so there must be some discomfort. She was uncomfortable when the vet pressed on her abdomen. Vet has prescribed Loxicam to hopefully slow the growth. Anyone have any experience of this condition? I'm not sure how much discomfort she is in and when to call time. I don't want to wait till she can't pee at all and it becomes a horrific emergency. Vet was a bit unspecific about time scale - could be a few weeks or up to a year. The only new thing since vet visit was that she was very sick (vomiting) on Monday but fine since.
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I'm sorry to hear about your lovely girl's health problems. It's Wednesday, if you've picked up the prescription, I'm thinking you could perhaps give her the medication, and re-evaluate the situation first on Friday, and if she seems okay-ish, give her the Weekend, and see if you've noticed any changes by Monday.
If she gets acute sick before Monday, I presume you'll regret trying to give the medication a few days to see if it helps her. On the other hand, if you decide to euthanise e.g. tomorrow, will you maybe always wonder if the medication could've helped?

Whichever you choose, it's always so hard when we know that our time with them is running out. {{{{{{Hugs}}}}}}
 
CanteringCarrot said:
Honestly, and I know this is hard, but I would've scheduled euthanasia at that appointment for a very soon date. She's sounds uncomfortable, and I've only had one UTI, but feeling like you have to pee all of the time and/or having urinary issues, is a miserable existence. So I can only imagine a tumor being similar.

A dog that's nearly 14, is quite impressive, and has lived a long life. I would PTS ASAP, personally. Definitely rather now than later when it's catastrophic.

So sorry you're going through this.
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It is difficult. She is still enjoying her walks, carrying sticks and chasing the hoover. Still eating well. I'm going to give it a few days to see if the medication helps. The vet said the anti-inflammatory part of the drug should make her more comfortable. If anything else happens, I'll call the vet and either take her in or, if there is time, get a vet out to put her down at home.
 
Clodagh said:
I’m pretty disappointed in your vets advice tbh. She is in pain. It’s only going to get more painful. If she’s being sick as well I imagine she feels all round ghastly.
Sorry.
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She's only been sick once and has been fine since. She is still eating well. Hoping the meds will make her more comfortable but will PTS soon if not.
 
rara007 said:
www.dvm360.com

Diagnosis, treatment of transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) in dogs | dvm360

Malignant tumors of the lower urinary tract include transitional cell carcinoma, squamous-cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, leiomyosarcoma, fibrosarcoma, hemangiosarcoma and rhabdomyosarcoma.
www.dvm360.com www.dvm360.com
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Thanks for this. The section on treatment/medication has some positive info. This is the drug she is on and it does sound as though it made a significant improvement for some dogs. I'll keep a careful eye on her though.
 
Pearlsasinger said:
We had a 9 yr old 50kg Rottweiler who was originally diagnosed with a UTI but after it recurred she was scanned and diagnosed with a small bladder tumour. She was prescribed Loxicom and actually did very well on it, she had no further UTI type symptoms for 6 months when she started passing blood, so we called time.
Having known a much smaller bitch have chemo for bladder cancer and only live 6 months from diagnosis, during which time she developed a phobia of the car which she had lived travelling in prior to the frequent vet visits for treatment, I certainly wouldn't go down that route.
I think if yours is ill now, I would pts before she gets worse, I'm sorry.
Click to expand...
That's positive news about Loxicom and your Rottweiler. Her heart condition and advanced age mean that any kind of surgery or chemo are out of the question, thankfully.
 
FinnishLapphund said:
I'm sorry to hear about your lovely girl's health problems. It's Wednesday, if you've picked up the prescription, I'm thinking you could perhaps give her the medication, and re-evaluate the situation first on Friday, and if she seems okay-ish, give her the Weekend, and see if you've noticed any changes by Monday.
If she gets acute sick before Monday, I presume you'll regret trying to give the medication a few days to see if it helps her. On the other hand, if you decide to euthanise e.g. tomorrow, will you maybe always wonder if the medication could've helped?

Whichever you choose, it's always so hard when we know that our time with them is running out. {{{{{{Hugs}}}}}}
Click to expand...
Thanks, yes, that seems sensible. I think we have to give the medication a go. The vet said the anti-inflammatory effect should make her more comfortable. She is still enjoying her walks etc so we'll give it a few days and see how it goes. We've introduced it slowly over a few days as it potentially has gastro effects but she seems OK with it so she is starting the full dose tomorrow.
 
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