[Closed] Options for Cancer treatment for our border collie...

Option 5 - put her to sleep

There are some tough choices, as BR said there is another option which is there. It's very difficult but your conversations need to be with your vet on this one, they will have the details to talk with you about. Are you dealing with your local vet or specialist - the other option is to refer to somebody who specialises in this field.

We've been referred to a specialist oncologist at a university, and a specialist surgeon in the field.

The problem is that they've not seen this cancer in a dog before, and don't have any stats, so can't give any advice on what the right thing to do is. Their words were 'There is no right answer'.

I should probably say that we spend 3 hours a day walking together, every day in the week, all night together, and then will be out at least one day at the weekend all day. In the summer we walk or ride together, and have been up all hills in North Wales over 2000ft... so we're pretty inseparable - which makes it hard to make any logical decision.

only you can make this decision but from what you've said I would go with the heart wrenching decision. Its not easy and is the most upsetting thing I've ever had to do but it sounds like the right time and you simply have to think what is best for the day. You say she hates the vets... do you really wanna put her through having to face that continually?

Sorry to say but b r has it right.

It's a horrible decision to make, but the kindest one you can make for your dog, whatever option you take from the above your dog continues to suffer, and it will not be pleasant to watch your dog suffer further through the treatment process.

If I'm honest, I am really surprised the vet didn't give you the option, not a great vet IMO.

We made the difficult decision to have Whinnie (our Boxer) put to sleep last Christmas. She got ill very quickly, probably cancer, was suffering. The vets offered us aggressive treatment, but Whinnie had had a good life, and suffering a little longer was not necessary, or the right thing to do. Putting her to sleep was the most humane thing for her.

Edit: I guess with the sudden on set of her being I'll we didn't feel like we had time to properly say goodbye, so partly selfishly we didn't want her to die so we had time to say goodbye. I'm actually really glad we didn't put her through further suffering, although it was a horrible decision to make at the time.

Is she in pain with it? Seeing as the vets don't know what will happen and assuming shes not in pain perhaps its best to just play the waiting game and really take advantage of the short period of time you've been given to know what is coming. Maddy went from 100% healthy to gone within about 3 days and was terrible and I just wish I'd had that time that you've been granted.

The last kindness you can do for her is let her go without suffering. Treat her like a queen till she starts to deteriorate, you will know when the time is right.
Sorry.

Very tough one. I guess you have been referred because you wanted to know all the options.

Keep in contact with your own vet too if you have a good relationship with them. Most good specialists would also have discussed option 5 with you too. I'm guessing you haven't posted that option because you aren't considering it or feel bad about considering it.

The most important thing you need to know are the likely side effects of surgery e.g. Possible faecal incontinence depending on where the tumour is situated within the anus. The side effects of radiotherapy and of chemotherapy should also be discussed.

You have a very strong bond with your dog and none of these options are easy or straightforward to make. Think of the dog's quality of life and how that can be preserved rather than just length of life.

Sorry your dog has such a bastard tumour and hope our comments help.

Had to make that choice 2 weeks ago with my Welsh Springer.
She had lung cancer, & we lost her 7 weeks after being diagnosed. Didn't seem right to put her through too much trying to fight it, so when we had more bad days than good I had to make the choice & called the vet.
Miss like crazy but know that I make the right choice for her but not for me.
Just enjoy the time that you have left with her instead of fighting & worrying over treatment.

so sorry for you mate, this sounds really hard, and its the hardest thing to have to say but if it was me in your shoes, option 5 needs considering.
cancer treatment is really really hard going for humans who can have it explained to them, im not sure i would want one of my dogs to go through it. that said, you and your vet know the situation better than us.
i would like to add though, and i hope this doesn't come across as callous or morbid but when my collie's time was up it felt like a gift to help him pass with dignity and without suffering, it felt like i was paying him back for all the love and support he had shown me over the years.
good luck with whatever path you choose, and give your girl a scratch on the ear from me

We had very similar with our dog, went through expensive treatment, which prolonged her suffering for 2 months.
If I had my time again, I would make the most of her while she is well, then let her go.
It's terrible, but we hung on to our beautiful Becky too long and regret it.
Just value the times you have had together, and let her go with some dignity

I'm so sorry, I've been there with my dogs, in fact I'm crying now thinking about it. It's such a horrible decision to make but the tenet I lean on is "quality not quantity". When Sam was diagnosed with cancer I spoke to the vet about the options (one of which was chemo). I took him home, took two weeks off work, one of which I spent with him, feeding him all the wrong stuff (pork pies, cocktail sausages, pies, sausage rolls) driving him to his favourite walks so he could just walk a little bit. Then I got the vet to come and put him to sleep at home. The second week was for me to have him cremated and come to terms with the loss.

Harsh. Yes. But my belief is that after all the unconditional love my dogs give me the last, and best, thing I can give them is a stress and pain free end. However much it hurts me. And it does. A lot.

Yeah. Option 5 is better than prolonging poor quality of life.

My sympathies. Getting my old dog put down was one of the hardest things I've done even though I knew it was best for him. Sounds like your dog has had a great active life though. Plenty good memories there.

As a counter, my old springer spaniel had a HUUUUGE malignant tumour taken out of her neck that was deemed borderline inoperable at the age of 13. She then had radiotherapy. They were unsure whether she could even handle the anaesthetics but the vet at Cambridge's veterinary hospital was unhappy about putting down what he thought was a very fit dog.

She lived for another three years and she was as active as she was aged 5 until the day she keeled over and conked it.

I'm proud of that, so were the team that cared for her. She even came back better trained than when she went in, as the nurses spent a lot of time with her.

If there's an outside chance that she will pull through with a good quality of life and the operation doesn't cause to much suffering, why not. Dogs are hardier than people give them credit for, I've seen a perfectly happy Alsation with a wheel chair in place of it's hind legs (not to say that kind of thing is always for the best, but it depends on the dog and how much time you spend with it).

Decisions like this are for pets are very tough; they can't talk. You can't explain it to them as ask what they want to do. So you have to do what you think is best for them, not you.

I went through this with my cat Daisy. I had her since she was a teeny kitten found on a project site for work. I almost gave her away 3 or 4 times the day I found her, but they all found a reason that they couldn't take her.

So 13 years later, she was throwing up a lot. Took her to the vet, ran tests, and found that she had a mass in her intestines, confirmed with ultrasound. Very experienced (30 years+) vet said that it was very likely cancer in the intestine. He said that they could do surgery (he made me aware of the option, but didn't push it) but that surgery generally only gained the cat a few more months to live. He also said (not recommended) that the only way to confirm cancer was surgery.

I didn't think that it was fair to her to put her through a massive surgery (she was always lean and had lost a lot of weight), when there was really no chance of her getting better. So I took her home and let her enjoy one more afternoon outside in the sun (she loved that) then took her back and had her euthanized. I buried her under her favorite sitting spot under a shrub in the yard. Losing my little cat was tough, but I am glad that I made the decision quickly and didn't let her get worse and worse and suffer a lot.

I later had to euthanize two other cats (other illness, not cancer), and made the tough decision as soon as I could. I have no regrets though I do miss them all.

Our once in a lifetime jack rascal has an aggressive cancer right now. It was a complete shock and a terrible experience to come to terms with. She is 13 and in fantastic form.

We decided to remove the cancer as it was the only way of knowing if it was aggressive. We thought about this long and hard as a general anaesthetic is not a trivial thing for a dog. She has recovered from the operation very quickly and is living the high life at the moment.

Unfortunately the bad news is that the cancer is very aggressive so we have no idea how long she will be chasing rabbits for. We decided against any further treatment and to enjoy whatever time we have left with her. We are having great fun and we will know when it's time to call it a day.

All the best at a very sad time for you.

I agree with BR. if you choose to put her down, she has no idea that she is going to die, so you are only keeping her alive for your own sake. The kindest thing to do is to let her go.
My old man is a vet and their surgery recommends that if you want to spend some money, spend it on paying the call out fee for the vet to do it in one of her fave places, then she will be happy and will not get the old waiting room fears..

Sorry to hear your news.

Our beloved Greyhound became very ill quite quickly. Took her to the vets and they said we can either do a load of expensive tests on her and we may be able to drag a out a few more months or we can put her to sleep.

She was in pain, had very little quality of life anymore so we had her put to sleep. It was a horrible decision but was the right thing to do.

Its awfully sad and 10 isn't particularly old nor is it particularly young but I would still have her put to sleep. Loads of cancer treatment at that age when they are so poorly anyway may just finish them off in any event.