Treatment For Hemangiosarcoma?

[Sighthounds4me]

Late the week before last, we got a call from DH's sister. Her son's dog (GSD mix) had to have emergency abdominal surgery for suspected tumors. She had been bleeding internally.

 

Looks like hemangiosarcoma (nephew said it's cancer, but still waiting to find out for sure what the vet said). If that's the case, are there any treatments? I can't find much via internet search (still looking, though). Vet's giving Shady 4 months to a year.

[Sighthounds4me]

Forgot to mention: Shady is 8 years old, and has been spayed since puppyhood.

[Batmom]

If it's hemangiosarcoma, the prognosis is poor -- usually a matter of weeks if that. The only exception is the cutaneous type, which would not involve internal bleeding; it often responds well to surgical removal alone.

 

Some info here: http://www.vet.uga.edu/VPP/clerk/frankhauser/index.php

 

Hoping the pupper in question has a more treatable disease!

[tbhounds]

Ack- sorry. It's a nasty, aggressive cancer that has most likely spread. I'm assuming this pup had a splenectomy??

Even with chemo time will be limited- sorry it sounds so grim. Of course that being said you really need to wait for the path report. I have seen splenic tumors come back benign-- fingers crossed.

[Sighthounds4me]

My nephew has the path report. But I have not talked to him, only commented on his posts on Facebook. I will call his mom later, I think (he's nearly impossible to get a hold of!)

 

Yeah, I hope this isn't as bad as hemangio, but I'm not holding my breath. I believe she did have a splenectomy, but did not get the whole story.

 

Poor girl is such a sweetheart. I adore her!

[Xan]

Augh. So sorry to hear about your nephew's dog. That does not sound good.

 

But, as long as we're all here, let's just hope for a miracle, eh? :

[MP_the4pack]

Even if it's not hemangio, it sounds like a sarcoma.

 

I'm sorry.

 

I lost my Brindle to hemangio of the spleen and Pearl to fibro of the spleen. Brindle died on the surgery table and Pearl died within 3 weeks of her splenectomy.

[Guest BrianRke]

I lost my first grey to Hemangio of the heart. Symptoms came on very fast. Sorry to hear this.

[Guest KennelMom]

My first greyhound was diagnosed with hemangio last October at the age of 13. Treatment option was surgery to remove the tumor. The doc said that even with surgery, you're looking at gaining a few months vs a few weeks w/o surgery. And even then, he said, sometimes when you remove the big tumor it's like someone just "plugs in" the little ones and they start growing like weeds.

 

We opted for no surgery and to spoil her silly. I even wrote her remembrance post on GT b/c I knew I could not do it once she passed.

 

Miraculously, she's still here almost a year later....so you never know. All you can do is cherish every day. you're given.

[Charlies_Dad]

Sorry to read this. As others have said, prognosis is usually poor if it's hemangio. We lost our GSP within weeks due to it.

[Guest LoveSeniorGreys]

I've lost 2 greys to hemangioscarcoma. My prayers are with you and hugs to your pupper.

[montgomery2524]

We lost our greyhound Miles to hemangiosarcoma. It was very fast but for him it was not painful. He started bleeding internally and was peeing blood so we took him to the vet. He was so excited to be riding in the car and visiting the vet. This of course made our decision even more painful. Even though we knew there was no choice it was difficult to say goodbye.

 

Paws are crossed here that your brothers dog has something else and has a good outlook.

[greytluck]

I lost Hobbes to hemangiosarcoma almost two years ago. From the time we caught it to the time we let him go was just over a month. It's a nasty cancer for sure. We decided not to do any treatments for it as it had already metastasized so there really wasn't a point. If there is one good thing to say about it is that at least it was fairly pain free. It wasn't till the very end that I thought he was actually in pain.

 

Sending prayers that Shady doesn't have it.