@masdamind99 Well, this will be lengthy. She had been picky with food the past month or so, I remedied with wet food (still very uncommon for her, she eats EVERYTHING). Then, it turned into her puking and regurgitating food, sometimes dry heaving before eating and then flat out refusing anything but chicken and rice. Obviously without eating normally, she lost weight.
We did bloodwork and it was terrible, high white blood cell counts, liver counts super low. Couldn’t find a source of pain by palpating her stomach and everywhere else. She was pitiful. Wouldn’t do much other than sleep and she’s been an active senior golden. Vet suggested an appetite stimulant to get her to eat and ultrasound (vs xrays). Ultrasound showed lesions on her spleen and a mass internally that had good bloodflow to it. Would be rather difficult to remove at her age and because it has good bloodflow to it. Was referred to a veterinary oncologist for an exploratory surgery and possible mass removal and to see what else is going on in there, plus chemo. But vet suggested palliative care instead, as she declined so quickly and at her age (10+ yr, unsure, she was a street rescue), it would only buy us a little bit of time. He said without biopsy, we wouldn’t know for sure if it was cancer, but the likelihood is very high that it is, and that it’s spread to other areas that we can’t see without exploratory surgery.
So we are just opting for palliative care, which she’s doing well with so far. She’s getting elaborate home cooked meals, appetite stimulants, steroids and lots of love and treats. I’m also 9mo pregnant, due any day and as much as I want to sink thousands of dollars into her, I financially and physically cannot.
Definitely talk to your vet, although it may be a little costly. Cancer can be a sudden thing, going undetected for a long time. Hopefully, that’s not the case for your pup.
