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susi

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my gelding is about 18 and the love of my life. he has a sarcoid on his penis and its grown massive in the last 48 hours. i had the vet arranged for thursday. i went to check him this afternoon and there was masses of blood everywhere. he was sweated up and very distressed. obviously i called the vet straight away.

hes said that there are loads of new sarcoids starting, they can operate but they will have to remove part of his penis. thats fine. he then said that its not a case of if they come back its a case of when they come back.

the surgery is a massive op and the vet said its a very long one as well.

am i being crewl even thinking about doing the surgery knowing that the sarcoids will come back and they cant remove any more of his penis to make it go away for the time being.

i want to do whats right for him not whats right for me

any advise would be appreciated
 
Not a surgery I would consider I'm afraid. And after what you describe I would have had the horse put down today.

Sorry.
 
thats the way i was thinking but i dont want to do the wrong thing by him.

i wont let him suffer, i love him to much for that.

thank you though i appreciate it
 
susi said:
thats the way i was thinking but i dont want to do the wrong thing by him.

i wont let him suffer, i love him to much for that.

thank you though i appreciate it
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Couldnt read and run. Just wanted to say thinking of you and your darling boy. Much love.xxx
 
Am going through virtually the same thing with my 18 yr old and melanomas. I am lucky that his have been slower growing but the one visible troublesome one (he has several) has changed recently and is seemingly a bit sore.

Vet is coming Friday to reassess and see how much it has changed as well as trying to get a look at the ones that are harder to see.

I have already decided that I won't put him through surgery (for the reasons mentioned) so it's just a case of when the time comes :(

and it's not even like 18 is old...and he looks so well in every other respect.
 
So sorry that you are going through this. If the surgery would cure the problem for a good length of time, and the horse was in good health otherwise, then it would perhaps be worth the op, given the vets prognosis I don't think it would be sensible to put your horse through the treatment.
 
YorksG said:
So sorry that you are going through this. If the surgery would cure the problem for a good length of time, and the horse was in good health otherwise, then it would perhaps be worth the op, given the vets prognosis I don't think it would be sensible to put your horse through the treatment.
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This....^^

hugs to you. x
 
Very sad, but I agree with the rest.

You have reminded me of a pony I knew at a riding school as a teenager, he had cancer on his penis, we all took turns looking after him. I thought the world of that pony.
 
suzi said:
Am going through virtually the same thing with my 18 yr old and melanomas. I am lucky that his have been slower growing but the one visible troublesome one (he has several) has changed recently and is seemingly a bit sore.

i really hope your horse is ok on friday

Vet is coming Friday to reassess and see how much it has changed as well as trying to get a look at the ones that are harder to see.

I have already decided that I won't put him through surgery (for the reasons mentioned) so it's just a case of when the time comes :(

and it's not even like 18 is old...and he looks so well in every other respect.
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i agree 18 isnt old. i had to have my 27 year old 17.1hh tb gelding pts in june, as much as it broke my heart i know he was an old boy and had an amazing life. his rough patch was just before i got him, he was neglected massively.

my gelding with the problem now i didnt know he had them until 4 weeks ago. the 1 thats the problem was the size of a walnut. it started a couple of months back when he noticed blood spots on his legs. only in the field though, which was bizarre. i thought he was catching himself on some barbed wire i found in his paddock. i had absolutley no idea what a huge problem he has. the lump is now the size of a cricket ball!!

hes so healthy in every other way and is playing like a youngester again. i will make the call in the morning. with my old horse and my dog i knew what i needed to do there was no choice in it. as he looks so well in himself its a really nasty decission to make.

its just heartbreaking :(
 
I'd say it depends what recovery time they're projecting, if the horse is otherwise healthy and how long they estimate him having before tumours return (not an exact science but weeks, months, years?). If the horse has other problems, recovery is long and it's expected only to buy him a short period of time then no I wouldn't but if this is the only health problem the horse has and it's expected to buy him a good chunk of time then I if I could afford it then I would consider it
 
So sad reading this!
We went through exactly the same with our 20year old.
He was too healthy and active despite his cancer - if that makes sense?
We opted for the op.
we were allowed into the recovery room as soon as he was on his feet, the vets say they had never seen a horse recover from GA so quickly :)
Three days later he was home pulling us towards the grass! He had to learn to pee like a mare but hey he didn't care!
After a week the lab results came back that the cancer had spread to his groin. we were told he had only a few weeks :(
We put him on feldene tablets which cost £60 per week but may give him some extra time.
He had five really good months :) we rode the pilgrims way from Sevenoaks to Canterbury and from Beachy head to Brighton. We stayed in horsey hotels and had a fantastic summer that we still cherish.
In the October (op in June) he got odema on his stomach but he was still active loved his daily hacks and was eating plenty.
By mid November he was slowing down under saddle and incontinent, still eating, no weight loss but I felt it was time :(
I struggled for a very long time that it had been too soon.
In hindsight I would do exactly the same again.
Yes it cost a fortune but he owed us nothing, we owed him everything.
He was a bit off after the op for a few days but adapted to peeing like a mare and seemed his normal self for five months. So did we make him suffer putting him through an op so we could selfishly have him for another five months?
I think he would have said no!
I really feel for you having to make this decision for him. You must go by your own instincts, only you know how your horse may cope and whether the time of year would affect his recovery. We had rich summer grass and daily turnout which I feel helped Canasta mentally.
If you want to have a chat please pm me and I can call you.
 
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The way im thinking is the sarcoids have already spread all over his penis so the likelihood is high over his inner sheath (not sure what thats called).

He is a rescued horse who ive had about 3 years. i know hes had a tough time in the past as hes got marks on his head where the halter has dug into his face and had to be removed, hes obviously terrified of headcollars. rugs are there t bite back etc. he doesnt like new people around him. hes latched onto me and hes my baby 100%

being so healthy it just feels so wrong! the vets said right now hes in pain, but surgery would sort that. my head says pts my heart screaming no dont he dosent deserve that hes got so much more that i could be taking away far to soon

as i said before my 27 year old i didnt even need to think, it was time but this is just so different. it feels like i would be putting a healthy horse to sleep. :(
 
I'm really sorry for you and your horse. If he was mine I would not be putting him through the surgery, I'd be taking him out to find the best grass, give him a lovely feed and have him pts with his dignity intact.
 
susi said:
being so healthy it just feels so wrong! the vets said right now hes in pain, but surgery would sort that. my head says pts my heart screaming no dont he dosent deserve that hes got so much more that i could be taking away far to soon
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But he's not healthy, he has a very serious condition that is causing considerable pain. The surgery may well address that, however given the speed with which these sarcoids have appeared and their aggressive nature you are at best giving the horse a couple of extra months of life if you go with the surgery. But to what purpose?

As I said in my initial post - was he my horse he would have been put to sleep yesterday. To delay it further is just cruel in my opinion.

Sorry to be so blunt OP.
 
I'm so sorry to read this. I wouldn't be one to take the PTS option lightly, but in this case I would. If an operation would guarantee that the problem didn't occur again then I would consider it. I would imagine that the healing time in a 18yo horse would be fairly significant.
Big hug what a horrible situation
 
Be strong Susi, do what you already know is the right thing to do.

We will all be with you in your hard, but necessary, decision.
 
By the sound of his past and a fear of strange people it does not sound as though hospitalisation is an option for him. We had a horse pts here last summer with the same condition. In retrospect I wish we had made the decision earlier although our chap never seemed in pain and remained his happy confident self which made it much harder.

It is painful especially when on the face of things they look so well but I am sure you will do the right thing for him. Book the appointment for early morning, the waiting is the worse thing.
 
i have made the decission i am having him pts. i had made it last night i just ran everything through my head and regreted it but i know its right.

thank you. ive left a message for my vets
 
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