My mother just called in hysterics and told me and her 8 year old GSD has a large tumor in his spleen. They are still waiting for some test results to come back but the vet didn’t think his prognosis was good.

I love this dog like a brother <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> and I so want him to recover. Does anyone have any hopeful information regarding tumors of the spleen? I told my mom to keep the faith and I would try to get more information for her.

Thanks in advance for any insight you can provide.

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My mother just called in hysterics and told me and her 8 year old GSD has a large tumor in his spleen. .......Does anyone have any hopeful information regarding tumors of the spleen? I told my mom to keep the faith and I would try to get more information for her.

Yes. I have saved quite a bit of info about mast cell tumors and other splenic masses. I will PM you with the specific web pages (vet sites). The prognosis will vary, I believe, based on which kind of tumor it is: Benign (hemangiomas) or malignant (hemangiosarcomas, mast cell, and lymphosarcoma).  In dogs, most splenic masses are either hemangiomas or hemangiosarcomas, from what I have read. I will send you info about all these kinds.

Some Good News! The vet just called my mom with the blood test results and he said the blood work looked totally normal and he admitted he was shocked. He said given the size of the tumor he would have never predicted such normal results.

The dog is going for an Ultrasound tomorrow and then I am not sure what will happen next. Connie did give me a glimmer of hope in saying there was one board member here that has a dog with no spleen. So if the good lord is willing... anything is possible. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

My childhood dog had a huge tumor in her spleen. The vet was just planning on removing it, but realized her liver was full of tumors as well (this dog was fed Science Diet, and died at 8, not old for a cocker <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" />. If the dog only has a tumor in the spleen, it's very possible he/she'll be ok. I certainly hope this is the case.

I had never heard of cancer of the spleen in german shepherds and how common it is until last year. I took in my 8 yr. old as I could tell she was not feeling well. She had loaded sheep into my truck the night before and got stuck under a gate, so I thought this was an injury.

I will make a long story short. After x-rays, my vet sent them to a specialist in Oregon. They both said, cancer of the spleen, she would need immediate surgery and prognosis not good. I was quite shocked and decided to be referred to Critical Care in Vancouver. If my dog was needing surgery I wanted hospital staff with her overnight etc.

At Critical care they did ultrasound, biopsies, blood work etc. Ultrasound showed a massive spleen. BUT...everything else came back normal. I again told them of her injury from the day before. Out of ALL the specialists/vets she saw, one intern talked to me and said that the spleen was very large but didn't quite look like most did that had cancer. He suggested I wait and do 2 other tests. Both I believe are tick borne diseases that he was checking for an IF she had these, surgery could have been fatal. Those tests came back normal.

This vet was leaving for holidays but again suggested I wait another week and do another ultrasound. I chose to do this rather than surgery right away. A week later, the spleen looked a bit worse and again the 'specialist' told me cancer and things were very grave. Dogs with this cancer usually only live a few months after surgery etc. I decided to go ahead the surgery to remove the spleen.

Well, NO cancer. It was an injury to the spleen that caused a large hematoma that burst. We did remove the spleen. Cheyenne will be 10 in Jan. and still works my sheep on occasion.

I learned a lot through that experience. I also had a lot of people email me telling me about thier experiences. Even if it is cancer, many dogs have lived long lives afterwards with no signs of cancer.

One thing to remember....if they do remove the spleen they should also tack down the stomach. The spleen helps to keep the stomach in place, with it removed you have a much higher risk of torsion.

Interesting post Shelley. In 1992 I lost a GSD. She exhibited signs of bloat (but I knew nothing about bloat at that time) and when I rushed her to the vet, they said she had a tumor on her spleen which cut off the blood supply to her stomach. Sadly, she had to be euthanized.

Years later when I learned more about bloat, I thought that this was what happened to her and the vets didn't know what they were doing. Talk about agonizing over a past situation! Your post has provided some insight and would be interesting to see if any conditions affecting the spleen would be a factor with bloat.

My mother dog had an ultrasound today and a biopsy but nothing is conclusive yet. But his blood work is normal...yet he spiked a fever of 107 today so the vet wants him to stay until they are sure what they are dealing with. They are giving him intravenous antibiotics as a precaution. .The vet did mention the possibility that it was a infection???? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Ultimately, he thinks the spleen will have to come out, but we are still waiting for more info. I just hope it is not contagious as both my dogs have been with my mother. I was gone for a week to Jamaica and she cared for them. I hope it is not contagious.

Julie

Not likely would anything be contagious to your mother. Check for tick borne illness (lyme) etc.

Dogs can live a good long life without a spleen but you do want to eliminate some possiblities before going in for surgery.

Just curious: what was this dog fed most of its life? I keep running into an inordinate amount of stories about commercial dog food and cancer. As I mentioned, when I was 10 I had a cocker that was fed Science Diet per vet's orders, and died of metastasized cancer of just about every organ, at age 8. Same with several relatives' dogs and a few friend's dogs from back when we didn't know any better <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />. Please don't think I'm in any way trying to insinuate that you've somehow caused your dog's problem-I'm just curious and wondering if there's a connection. Good luck with everything.

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Just curious: what was this dog fed most of its life?

It is my mother’s dog, and he has been on Iams his whole life. My dog is on Nutro canned but I do give her tuna fish and raw eggs a couple times a week. I tried Ed’s honest kitchen and she wouldn’t touch it.

I am studying up on RAW and will probably make the switch with my own dog in the next couple months. I have talked with my mother about the benefits of RAW but she is old school… and it will probably take a little more education to get her to try it.

I just found out she boils all the bones before she gives them to her dog to kill any bacteria. I told her that was much worse for the dog and she has agreed to stop doing that.

It wouldn’t surprise me if there was a correlation between cancer and dog food. I have been reading some information that support your theory.

The dog is still at the hospital and we are still waiting for a definitive diagnosis. His temp is down to 104 from 107 yesterday and they are giving him intro. Antibiotics and fluid. They are preparing to take his spleen but just waiting on all the results. They have ruled out lime disease and ehrlichiosis. The waiting is nerve racking, but we are hopeful.

Thanks, Julie