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  1. #1
    Puppy Dakota is my girl.'s Avatar
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    Dakota has mast cell tumors

    Hi. I am a long time lurker here. My two labs are Bandit (yellow) and Dakota (black). Bandit is 11 and Dakota is 12. They have been with me since they were 2 and 3 years old. I started fostering because of this site and have been fostering for about 10 years now.
    The reason I am posting now is because my female Dakota has mast cell tumors in her belly. She had surgery to remove some tumors in September of last year. They came back in February of this year and she had another surgery. She wasn’t healing properly and had to keep going back under to be stitched up. She had to go under 3 more times until it finally healed.
    I noticed more tumors about a month ago. They grew so fast, one week there was nothing there, the next week there were two the size of golf balls. I took her to the vet and decided not to put her through surgery again. I cannot afford to see an oncologist and I’m not sure it would prolong her life that much because the tumors are coming back so aggressively.
    She is my baby and I can’t stand to see her to suffer. Right now she is still acting like her sweet self. She does pant a lot and seems to want to lay down more than normal. I give her Rimadyl and recently started her on Tramadol in case she is in pain.
    I know you all will understand how hard this is right now. I feel so helpless. I feel like I need to do something but don’t know that anything will help at this stage. Does anyone have experience with this?

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    LilLucy (04-29-2016)

  3. #2
    Best Friend Retriever outrag's Avatar
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    Sorry to hear of this news. This stage of the game is hard and doing right by the dog is the priority. Prednisone may give some relief and buy more time if your Vet hasn't already talked about that.

    Bob
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  4. #3
    Puppy Dakota is my girl.'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by outrag View Post
    Sorry to hear of this news. This stage of the game is hard and doing right by the dog is the priority. Prednisone may give some relief and buy more time if your Vet hasn't already talked about that.

    Bob
    Thank you. I will ask my vet about it.

  5. #4
    Senior Dog POPTOP's Avatar
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    So very sorry. it's a heartbreaking diagnosis.

    We home seniors and I know the feeling of wanting to do something to help them live pain free, illness free lives. Our Mardi is in a similar situation. Not cancer but other health issues.

    Know in your heart you have done and are doing all that you can. The goal now is quality of life giving Dakota all the time and love you possibly can. Remember, she does not know she is sick, she is living every day with the pure joy and love Labradors are born with. Soak it up, she is giving you a beautiful gift.

    My prayers are with you both.
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  6. #5
    Senior Dog zd262's Avatar
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    I don't have any experience with this, but just wanted to say how sorry I am that you're going through this. It's always so tough when a beloved pet starts to show signs of their age.
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  7. #6
    Puppy Dakota is my girl.'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by POPTOP View Post
    So very sorry. it's a heartbreaking diagnosis.

    We home seniors and I know the feeling of wanting to do something to help them live pain free, illness free lives. Our Mardi is in a similar situation. Not cancer but other health issues.

    Know in your heart you have done and are doing all that you can. The goal now is quality of life giving Dakota all the time and love you possibly can. Remember, she does not know she is sick, she is living every day with the pure joy and love Labradors are born with. Soak it up, she is giving you a beautiful gift.

    My prayers are with you both.
    Thank you!. You are right, she doesn't know. I will just love on her and try not to be sad when I'm with her.

    I am so sorry about Mardi. I know that you take in the seniors and it must be hard for you too. I always said that I would foster the seniors as my 2 got older but I don't know if I can handle the heartbreak.

  8. #7
    Puppy Dakota is my girl.'s Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by zd262 View Post
    I don't have any experience with this, but just wanted to say how sorry I am that you're going through this. It's always so tough when a beloved pet starts to show signs of their age.
    Thank you so much.

  9. #8
    Best Friend Retriever Java's Avatar
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    Having seen two dogs through their senior years within the last two years, I just want to say how sorry I am you're going through this. For me, pain management for my dogs became the overriding factor because that obviously affected their quality of life. Maybe ask your vet for the possible signs of pain to look out for. The ones I saw were panting with showing of teeth (more like grimacing than a typical pant), inability to get comfortable (lie down, get up go somewhere else, repeat), loss of appetite (regained once pain meds adjusted), requesting way more affection (or much less). My thoughts are with you, my heart too.

  10. #9
    Puppy Dakota is my girl.'s Avatar
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    Unhappy

    Quote Originally Posted by Java View Post
    Having seen two dogs through their senior years within the last two years, I just want to say how sorry I am you're going through this. For me, pain management for my dogs became the overriding factor because that obviously affected their quality of life. Maybe ask your vet for the possible signs of pain to look out for. The ones I saw were panting with showing of teeth (more like grimacing than a typical pant), inability to get comfortable (lie down, get up go somewhere else, repeat), loss of appetite (regained once pain meds adjusted), requesting way more affection (or much less). My thoughts are with you, my heart too.
    Unfortunately she is exhibiting all of these signs. I took the "quality of life scale for pets" and she is at about a 49 (out of 80). It sounds like I need to adjust her pain meds again. I am waiting on a call from my vet regarding prednisone also.

    Thank you for your thoughts, I appreciate it so much. This is so hard.

  11. #10
    Senior Dog Berna's Avatar
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    We had a member here, Marmot, she had a dog with recurring MCTs. I haven't seen her here in a while, maybe try PM-ing her?

    Sending healing vibes for your girl.
    Cookie Black Snowflake
    July 12th, 2006. - May 25th, 2023.

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