melanomas either side of rectum- what would you do?

silvershadow81

silvershadow81

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So the other day I spotted this post on Facebook, and it showed something very similar to what my 31 *and a half) year old mare has.

I called the practice and had a visit, she said that some are external and would be difficult to remove, the other side there is one internal one, which hasn't yet fixed to the area, so would apparently be straightforward to remove.

here is the post to give you some idea of what I am talking about:
https://www.facebook.com/raseequine/photos/pcb.2349499051753561/2349487901754676/?type=3&theater

I asked about complications, and was told that it may not heel, and then she may find it difficult to go to the toilet.

Obviously I do not want to start something which could start to cause more problems for her, especially given her age and the fact that currently they are causing her no issues, but I also am aware that if I am going to go anything to help prevent problems happening, I need to act soon.

She is very healthy, still walked in hand a few miles a week, canters around the field, and she has been in my life 23 years, so will do anything for her.

What would you do?
 
ester said:
Personally I wouldn't be doing anything.
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Nor would I, my fear would be that disturbing them will make them more aggressive and shorten rather than lengthen her life, she has done well getting beyond 30, the other thing is you really do not know what is growing out of sight so best left and enjoy the time you have left with her even if it is less than you would like.
I lost a young, 12 year old, horse from them suddenly growing, he went downhill very rapidly and I had to make a tough decision, he had sweet itch and I think the rubbing set them off growing faster than usual so my feeling would be to leave them be just in case messing about with some has the same effect on the others.
 
I wouldn't do anything either. I would be aware that even if the external ones and only just internal ones are removed her gut will probably be full of internal ones anyway. I'd keep a very close eye on her and PTS at the first sign of gut trouble building. I would put a 31 year old horse through surgery of any kind especially one that may make things worse and not necessarily male things better even if it goes well.

I'd even consider a PTS while still happy and healthy before winter. Only because I ended up doing an emergency PTS of my wonderful old mare on a freezing cold January morning after trying to resolve a "colic" for 48 hours. My mare only had 3 external ones on her dock and one elsewhere but the ones I couldn't see caused a problem. With hindsight I'd have let her go at the end of summer.
 
I wouldn't remove them, I think it could easily backfire. Enjoy the time you have with her, many don't reach her age. Monitor her closely, as others have said the internal ones can be problematic.
 
I would leave well alone. With melanoma what you see on the outside is a fraction of what is likely going on on the inside. If she is well in herself and not struggling to pass droppings, then do nothing. If you notice she is starting to struggle or looking uncomfortable in any other way, I would pts.

I'm another who prefers to pts older horses when they are still ok (summer/autumn) rather than having to do it as a matter or urgency in the winter when they maybe drop weight/get stiff and sore/generally look miserable/go down and can't get up.

She's a grand age at over 30.
 
Chances are there are others internally that you can't see/palapate.

She is comfortable, at some point she may not be and I'd be prepared that I might need to make a speedy decision down the line.

Fwiw my old boy has suspected SCC on his penis, it was treated when he was 19/20 and returned about 12 months ago (25) with agreement from the vet he isn't going to be treated for it again as he isn't uncomfortable with it, it's not a very pleasant procedure and does require a vet stay. I'd rather he were just living a happy comfy retirement for as long as that is feasible.
 
I wouldn’t do anything. I had a mare who was covered in melanomas, on her body, head and around her bum. We never touched them. She had started with them at 12 and lived til 27 when we sadly lost her to liver disease.

I just kept an eye on them, made sure she wasn’t struggling in any way. If they had ever caused a problem, we would have put her to sleep.
 
Echo above and leave be. I put my mare through melanoma surgery years ago and while it helped initially, they only came back bigger than before. When my mare was going through melanoma treatment he told me that while the 'official stats' are around 60-70% of grey horses getting melanomas, he as never opened up a grey horse that didn't have some internally and to be realistic it's probably closer to 95-100% of grey horses that get them. To reassure you, he also told me that the overwhelming majority of grey horses die with melanomas, not from them.
 
At her age i would not do anything, as long as they are not currently causing issues. As with any tumor removal as soon as you touch them the likelihood of them coming back worse is very real.
 
If I were to find myself in the same position as you with either Bonnie or Belle I would monitor and try to ensure were not in any pain. I wouldn't treat them. She's had a good run at life and I'm sure she's had a great time with you.

If your mare was younger I would seek multiple opinions from vets as to prognosis and treatment and then try to make an informed decision.

I wouldn't want my last days/week/months with her tending to them, applying creams/potions etc and ultimately still working towards the same result at the end of it all.

I dread the day that I have to make that decision for either of my two, but I just wouldn't put an old horse through treatment of such a condition in such a sensitive part of the body.
 
keep a close eye and don't treat-treatment just isn't effective and she's already 31.

My horse developed similar when he was 11, they grew rapidly and we had tried chemo for one on his dock which hadn't helped. We did a u/s scan inside his rectum and a couple were onion sized although you couldn't see much of them from the outside. He had one episode where he almost looked a bit colicky but not quite and it seemed like he had a bit of trouble urinating. This passed with some bute but I decided to call it a day -he was sore and I didn't want to risk a catastrophic bleed/colic.
 
Autocorrect keeps removing my "n't"s. My post above should read "... wouldn't put a 31 year old horse through surgery of any kind... " Just to be clear.
 
Another one here who would leave well alone. At her age realistically she hasn't got a lot longer anyway. Don't risk making what time she has left uncomfortable and a bad memory for you.
 
Thank you ALL for your replies, really appreciate your comments on this.

Quite clear that I should probably leave them alone!

The vet did consider her age and said that it isn't a risky procedure (its Rossdales who would operate) and said that she is in amazing condition- so the comments about PTS before winter I will ignore (sorry, but she has had lumps since I bought her 23 years ago, and I feel they are managed, not fast growing and not currently causing issues- and she actually prefers the softer ground of winter, and no annoying flies!).

If anyone is concerned I am keeping an old horse going for my own benefit, please just follow my facebook page, hopefully that will put your mind at rest!

I do now think that it would be silly to start prodding around, because of the risks involved and will continue to monitor them xx
 
It's not the risk of the procedure that would bother me, it's more the healing time (can be longer when they are older) having to spend a period of time boxed etc.

(F prefers the winter too ;) there was a fab piece I think last year about how the 'one last summer' thing is often a bit flawed, hard ground, flys, heat...)
 
ester said:
(F prefers the winter too ;) there was a fab piece I think last year about how the 'one last summer' thing is often a bit flawed, hard ground, flys, heat...)
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Thank you, nice to know I am not the only one. I think its quite old fashioned approach as probably involves more work for the owner to keep the horse over winter, but, as I said, I will do anything to keep her happy and as healthy as possible, and over the years have learnt she bounces back through the winter, and hope this one will be no different xx
 
Ah this is where having delivered your retiree back to your mums field/stable comes in ;). He is much much tidier than hers and takes half the time to do though so I don't feel too guilty :D
 
FWIW my PTS in Autumn suggestion was based entirely on my, frankly traumatic, experience of dealing with an emergency PTS in the middle of a horrible winter storm and having to deal with settling a horse that had just lost her field mate in the following 2 weeks of freezing weather. Not because I wish I'd been able to skip a few months of mucking out!
 
PapaverFollis said:
FWIW my PTS in Autumn suggestion was based entirely on my, frankly traumatic, experience of dealing with an emergency PTS in the middle of a horrible winter storm and having to deal with settling a horse that had just lost her field mate in the following 2 weeks of freezing weather. Not because I wish I'd been able to skip a few months of mucking out!
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Sorry, I didn't mean it that way. I can only imagine how difficult it is letting a horse go, no matter what the season. If it happens on a sunny day, it will be just as difficult for me than if it was chucking it down with rain. x
 
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