Old dog with mammary lump

Dr. Marie replied:

Oh dear, I am sorry to hear that Gizmo is going through all of this.

What you have described does indeed sound worrisome and is likely a mammary tumor. It is often hard to tell if a mammary tumor is benign or malignant without doing a biopsy. But, if it is oozing then this is not a good sign.

Your vet can help you decide whether to treat this or not. If this were my case I would do a good physical exam and probably take some xrays of her chest. The reason I would do this is to see if we have any signs of cancer spreading to her chest. If so, then this is a very bad sign and I would not recommend surgery. I would likely also do some bloodwork to see if there is evidence of any other disease present.

If the xrays are clear and the bloodwork is good then I would probably go ahead and recommend surgery. However, it will be a tough call. She will likely come through surgery just fine and really the recovery will not be difficult for her. But, the main concern for me would be whether it is worthwhile to spend all of that money when we don't know how much longer she will be with us. If money is not a concern then I would likely go ahead with the surgery (assuming your vet thinks it is ok.)

With all that being said, you have described a very elderly dog with a lot of issues. And, if you feel that her quality of life is not good then it may be time to start making some decisions about euthanasia.

I don't envy you this difficult decision.

Dr. Marie.

---This question was asked in our Ask A Vet For Free section.---



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