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Hemangiosarcoma And Splenectomy


wuffles
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Hi all. My beautiful big 8 year old boy has been diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma of the spleen. The tumour had ruptured so his spleen was removed last Friday with no evidence of metastasis, but we are aware that it is almost certainly there somewhere. We've opted not to go with chemo for a few reasons.

Looking for other people's experiences, good and bad. What can we expect? He's still recovering from surgery at the moment. He's a huge sook so lets us know (very loudly and dramatically) when he is not feeling well. I'm not sure if he will go downhill gradually or it will be sudden, and not knowing "how long" will be very difficult.

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Sorry to hear this. You have done well to get him this far, my boy was gone within 3 days of showing symptoms, but his tumour was on the heart and only found on necropsy.

No advice from me, just best wishes.

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Thanks Diva. I'm sorry to hear about your boy. Satch was fine on Thursday night and ate his dinner, went to bed, then all of a sudden got up and started acting strangely. We actually suspected bloat so off we went to the emergency vet for x-rays but it must have only just ruptured as they looked normal. Our local vet on Friday morning was very thorough and the spleen was out by 2pm.

Edited to add: We think that him being such a drama queen probably saved him. He's not exactly the stoic type ;)

Edited by wuffles
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I don't have any advice sorry. But wanted to let you know your big fella will be in my thoughts :hug:.

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Again, I don't have any advice but I am keen to hear your experiences and others. My boy, Boof, has lesions on his spleen and they are suspected to be hemangiosarcomas. We have a follow up ultrasound due in about 4 more weeks and we will then make the decision about him undergoing a splenectomy.

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The lesions were found through an ultrasound. Boof has had several grade 1 and 2 MCTs removed. The vet suggested an ultrasound to ensure there was no spread. The first ultrasound showed several lesions on his spleen. They were small and inconclusive. A follow up ultrasound 8 weeks after the first showed a much larger lesion on his spleen. We have another ultrasound due in a few more weeks.

We still are not sure what the lesions are and they may be nothing but the sudden appearance of the larger lesion has concerned my vet and radiographer doing the ultrasound. The vet has said the only way we can really be sure is to remove the spleen and perform a biopsy. The next ultrasound will determine what course of action we take. If it is larger we will definitely remove immediately. If it remains the same we will discuss the next steps in his treatment.

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Anne I just read through Boof's thread :hug:

The not knowing is very difficult, and I send you strength to make difficult decisions about your lovely boy.

Edit: Just wanted to add, Satch's main problem with surgery was that his tumour had ruptured, so he did suffer the effects of blood loss and anaemia. Apart from that he seems to be doing quite well, touch wood.

Edited by wuffles
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Sorry to hear. My girl had a splenic heamangiosacoma (ruptured) removed almost 11 months ago, and even with chemo was given 4 months. I can very happily report almost 11 months on I still have a very healthy happy girl, with almost no side effects from chemo. Please PM if you have any questions! My thoughts are with you...

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My old boy had the same, his spleen was removed after it ruptured. We did not do chemo. After recovering from surgery, he had a very happy three months, where he was spoilt rotten. He suddenly collapsed and had to be pts. But those last three month were very happy for him!

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Sorry to read this Wuffies, I hope your boy is continuing to recover well from the surgery. While I've not had direct experience with this myself, a close friends dog had this surgery at 12 years of age and lived another 12 months quite happily and healthily before passing away from unrelated causes.

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Thanks all for your lovely words :grouphug:

Sorry to hear. My girl had a splenic heamangiosacoma (ruptured) removed almost 11 months ago, and even with chemo was given 4 months. I can very happily report almost 11 months on I still have a very healthy happy girl, with almost no side effects from chemo. Please PM if you have any questions! My thoughts are with you...

Wow, that is wonderful! So glad your girl is still doing well.

My old boy had the same, his spleen was removed after it ruptured. We did not do chemo. After recovering from surgery, he had a very happy three months, where he was spoilt rotten. He suddenly collapsed and had to be pts. But those last three month were very happy for him!

I'm sorry about your boy. If we can have three happy months that will be lovely.

How long ago was his surgery wuffles?

Satch's surgery was last Friday so it has been a week today. He is being his usual cheeky self and demanding walks (short ones) and his eating is back to normal. The only issue we are having at the moment is that night times are rough. He's very demanding and needy as soon as we go to bed and will pace and stare at us. He's fine during the day and will sleep on his bed for hours... up until we go to bed. We are going to try leaving a light on to see if that helps!

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