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hemangiosarcoma/spleen removal

36K views 154 replies 45 participants last post by  GoldensGirl 
#1 ·
My 7 year old golden was just diagnosed with a mass on his spleen and underwent a splenectomy immediately. We have not received the results from his biopsy yet but he tolerated the surgery very well. Unlike many dogs, Hercules never became very ill I just happened to notice one morning that he was not acting like himself and the vet seems optimistic we caught things very early. My question is has anyone had any experience with this horrible disease and had their furry friend live any longer than a few months? I was led to believe that he could live for many years yet.
 
#2 ·
Welcome to the forum...I'm sorry to hear about your Hercules.

My 11 year old Reno underwent a splenectomy on June 13. Very similar circumstances...he was out running and playing with his brothers earlier in the day (Saturday). That night he just wasn't himself so we called the vet, took him in and the vet figured he had a mass. We took him to the vet again on Sunday for an ultrasound and it was confirmed then that he had a mass on his spleen. Monday afternoon, he had the splenectomy. He came through the surgery well. On Friday the vet confirmed that Reno had hemangiosarcoma. Naturally we were devasted. He gave him 1-2 months with no treatment and 4-6 months with chemo. We opted not to do chemo and to let nature take its course.

On November 13, it will be 5 months since Reno's surgery and he is still going strong. The only medication that he is taking is Metacam. We continue to feed him good quality food, supplement him, exercise him and, of course, love him and spoil him!!!!!

I pray that Hercules' diagnosis is not hemangio. Many of us have been through it or are going through it. You'll receive wonderful support from the forum!!!!
 
#4 · (Edited)
1/3 of the time it is not Hemangio, maybe that's what your vet meant. If it is Hemangio, I would not count on years, but you should have some great times left. They usually feel so much better once that nasty spleen is out. Sending lots of good thoughts and prayers for you both.
 
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#5 ·
Copper was suspected to be about 10 - 12 (age unknown - he was a rescue) when he had his spleen removed due to two masses. His were benign and he lived 20 more months.

Copper recovered from the surgery very quickly and very well. I hope your boy's mass turns out to be benign too.:crossfing His masses were found when he went in for shoulder surgery and his blood test was off so they did an x-ray. Otherwise, we would never have known until/if it ruptured.
 
#6 ·
I understand how concerned you are. My first golden, Hannah had a splenectomy and the small lobe of her liver removed when she was 10 after the vet discovered 2 large masses. Both turned out to be benign and she recovered very easily afterwards. It was amazing. She felt so much better after they were taken out. I will keep you in my prayers that yours will be benign too.
 
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#8 ·
Welcome to the forum.
My Toby had his spleen out 6 years ago, and the mass turned out to be benign. Sending prayers and good thoughts that your results are equally good!
 
#10 ·
I hope results are benign for your boy. My Abby had a spot on her spleen that we watched for a little over 2 years. She was my medical child from day one, so I knew hers would not come back benign. When we did surgery it was because it had grown large and fast w/in 3mo. I then only had her 5 more weeks. Oh but what a love and spoil fest 5 weeks. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers!!
 
#11 ·
I lost my girl to hemangio. But her spleen had ruptured.

I am praying for your pup that all comes back well.

This forum was my life support and there will always be someone here to listen and give you advice. But I am praying that you won't need it.

Hugs.
 
#12 ·
Welcome to the Forum. When he was seven, my Charlie had his spleen removed because of a large mass that turned out to be benign. Charlie lived to be almost 13, mostly a healthy, happy boy until he began having seizures about two months before his 12th birthday.

I hope you and your boy have many years of joy ahead of you.

Lucy
 
#95 ·
thanks

welcome to the forum. When he was seven, my charlie had his spleen removed because of a large mass that turned out to be benign. Charlie lived to be almost 13, mostly a healthy, happy boy until he began having seizures about two months before his 12th birthday.

I hope you and your boy have many years of joy ahead of you.

Lucy
this site has help me so much, there are good stories and not so good. My 7 year golden just had her spleen removed last week. The vet said her liver and all else looked great. I have cried all week, not knowing how much longer she will be with me. Shes my best friend, she iS doing better after her surgery, but its only been a week now. I hope and pray she can spend many more days with me... Thanks for all the post, they truly help in this difficult time...... Praying for my friend ,, " faith" .....
 
#13 ·
You are not alone!

I am sorry you are going through this horrible ordeal. I pray that your results come back benign. My baby girl Esther had her spleen removed on Oct. 7th and was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma. She was a vibrant, healthy and very active 5 1/2 year old with no early warning signs. I took her in the morning of Oct. 7th b/c during the nite she vomited which was not normal for her. She acted fine but I took her in anyway b/c it was so unlike her and I tend to worry. She did very well during surgery however our vet informed us she had discovered tumors in 3 lobes of her liver. Due to the presence of the cancer in the liver, her time with us would be short most likely. We considered chemo but opted not to do it after meeting with a cancer vet. Esther hated going to the vet so I did not want to put her through the weekly routine of treatment and sickness that could occur with the chemo. We enjoyed 5 wonderful weeks with Esther and even got one more pheasant hunt in before she became to tired. I began feeding her cooked elk, venison, some organic beef and chix combined with some steamed veggies in hopes of starving the cancer and slowing its growth. I also put her on some immune and cancer fighting supplements. She stopped eating the supplement about 3 weeks before the end. We called the vet this past tuesday 11/8 and put our baby girl to rest at home. Her poor little body was tired of fighting the cancer and she was becoming anemic quickly so we choose to let her go before she felt the pain. My only advice to you is to enjoy every moment you have with your golden. This disease makes you feel such a sense of helplessness and it is hard to live with the unknown. Just know that you are not alone and you are in my thoughts!
 
#15 ·
I am sorry you are going through this horrible ordeal. I pray that your results come back benign. My baby girl Esther had her spleen removed on Oct. 7th and was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma. She was a vibrant, healthy and very active 5 1/2 year old with no early warning signs. I took her in the morning of Oct. 7th b/c during the nite she vomited which was not normal for her. She acted fine but I took her in anyway b/c it was so unlike her and I tend to worry. She did very well during surgery however our vet informed us she had discovered tumors in 3 lobes of her liver. Due to the presence of the cancer in the liver, her time with us would be short most likely. We considered chemo but opted not to do it after meeting with a cancer vet. Esther hated going to the vet so I did not want to put her through the weekly routine of treatment and sickness that could occur with the chemo. We enjoyed 5 wonderful weeks with Esther and even got one more pheasant hunt in before she became to tired. I began feeding her cooked elk, venison, some organic beef and chix combined with some steamed veggies in hopes of starving the cancer and slowing its growth. I also put her on some immune and cancer fighting supplements. She stopped eating the supplement about 3 weeks before the end. We called the vet this past tuesday 11/8 and put our baby girl to rest at home. Her poor little body was tired of fighting the cancer and she was becoming anemic quickly so we choose to let her go before she felt the pain. My only advice to you is to enjoy every moment you have with your golden. This disease makes you feel such a sense of helplessness and it is hard to live with the unknown. Just know that you are not alone and you are in my thoughts!
Welcome to the Forum. I'm so sorry that you lost your sweet gal so suddenly. Their lives are never long enough. Your advice to enjoy every precious moment with them is perfect.
 
#14 ·
I am so sorry you have this to deal with and hope the results will not be hemangiosarcoma. Our Pete (9 1/2) was perfect one day and collapsed the next. We rushed him to our vet and he removed his spleen. There was a tumer the size of an orange that had ruptured. Our vet saw no other tumors and Pete did well after the surgery. However, the cancer had spread into his brain and he began have horrible seizures. We only had him for 2 weeks after his surgery before we had to send his to the Rainbow Bridge. We were in shock because there was no warning until it was too late. I prayer your boy will be fine. It is an EVIL disease!
 
#16 ·
Hemangiosarcoma

Thank you so much to everyone who responded to my post about my beloved Hercules. His biopsy came back as positive for hemangiosarcoma :( and he started his regimen of chemotherapy today. I truly appreciate every single post and every single prayer that has been offered to us. Even if I have bought him just a little more time it will be that will be greatly cherished by me and my family. More than anything it is a relief to communicate with people who understand and don't respond with "well its just a dog". To me he is not just a dog, he is a family member.
Thank You so much.
Sabrina and Hercules
 
#18 ·
Sabrina, I'm sorry Hercules' diagnosis is hemangiosarcoma. Sending you prayers and positive thoughts for his chemotherapy and for many good days. We took our Barkley through five rounds of doxyrubicin. If I can help answer any questions about our experiences with it, please PM me or send me a Visitor Message. I think you need at least 10 posts before you can PM.
 
#19 ·
Thank you for your prayers. His results came back as hemangio and he started his chemo regimen today. I have so much support on this forum and I am grateful for all the responses and thoughts and prayers I have received. I am so sorry to hear about your ordeal. Thanks again for your thoughts and prayers.
Sabrina and Hercules
 
#20 ·
So sorry to hear that Hercules has hemangiosarcoma. I expected only to have my Reno for 1-2 months after his splenectomy. As I mentioned in my earlier post, it has been 5 months now and he is still doing well.

Sending prayers and good thoughts to you and Hercules....I hope you have many more months with him!!
 
#21 ·
Prayers and well wishes for Hercules... Im sure you are enjoying every day with him...
 
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#22 ·
I am so sorry that Hercules was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma. I really hate this cancer...it's so unpredictable! I hope Hercules can be one of the lucky ones and beat the time frames normally given. I will keep him in my thoughts and prayers!! Extra love and make sure you spoil him rotten!!;)
 
#23 ·
I am sorry for not so good news. Sending prayers and positive thoughts to you and your boy Hercules. We are here for you, keep us posted. I hope you have lots of good days to spend with your boy.
 
#25 ·
So sorry to hear it was not the result you wanted.

My Meg had her spleen out at the ahe of 10 years old she was lucky it was bengin and she lived till 3 weeks short of her 13th birthday and it was not due to the spleen removal that we lost her.

But read about Reno he is doing so well
 
#27 ·
Urgent reply please - post spleen surgery

Hello everyone
My dear dog lucky (13 yrs old) threw up last weekand her blood levels were low and we took her to the vet. The vet diagnosed a mass on her spleen. Told us we are lucky we caught it, she needs a spleen removal surgery since the mass is large. Lucky had the surgery 3 days ago. Te surgery went well, the vet successfully took out the spleen with the mass in one piece and sent to patelogy. We are waiting for the results. In the meantime, i know it's been 3 days but lucky shivers and have high fever. Did this happen to your dogs after the surgery can you pleasd share post surgery experiences asap.
Thank you so much, rough days, any help would be appreciated.
 
#28 ·
Hello everyone
My dear dog lucky (13 yrs old) threw up last weekand her blood levels were low and we took her to the vet. The vet diagnosed a mass on her spleen. Told us we are lucky we caught it, she needs a spleen removal surgery since the mass is large. Lucky had the surgery 3 days ago. Te surgery went well, the vet successfully took out the spleen with the mass in one piece and sent to patelogy. We are waiting for the results. In the meantime, i know it's been 3 days but lucky shivers and have high fever. Did this happen to your dogs after the surgery can you pleasd share post surgery experiences asap.
Thank you so much, rough days, any help would be appreciated.
I think you may hear from more people with experience if you could post this in a new thread under the health section. It would alert people that you have a serious condition and need advice. Is Lucky at the vet now or home? Does the vet know about the fever? If not, I'd make sure he did and get her in. It could signal infection or perhaps something needing repair with the surgery site. Those are just my unprofessional guesses, but i would make sure to have her seen asap.
 
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