Was told my dog had cancer, but actually it was just a UTI

[dewayne777]

@icantplayguitar 14 and 15 is amazing for dogs, you gave them a tremendous life and they love you for it.

I've had to say goodbye to four dogs so far in my life and nothing hit me like Navy (she was the third of the four). We have a 12 year old rescue right now and she's REALLY seeming like she's on the way out...very stiff, grumpy, slow on walks...But we have a 4-year-old rottie and a 10-month-old poodle/shih tzu/whatever else mix that keep the 12-year-old on her toes.

I hope your old ones make the decision easy and obvious. it'll still be hard, but that's the best we can hope for, that it won't lead to a 'what if...'

 

[adam247]

@mc_squared Yes! Emerg told me I had to put my JUST rescued cat down or pay 2,000$, as a 15yr old, to do a rerouting surgery because he was struggling to urinate. I am obsessed with this cat and he lived in my room. I knew every time he used the litter and he had gone (and I had cleaned a clump of urine apple sized) 4hours ago.

I panicked as I couldn't pay but remembered there is another emergency clinic. So I paired my entire life savings (no job or allowance 15yr old) 500$ and walked out. The other emerg was our routine vet on duty!! She cried with us lol. She flushed his bladder, didn't even require sedation because he's such a good boy. It was 300$ and he never had an issue again.

All I can ever think of when I remember it is that if I didn't know any better I would have been forced to with my 3yr old cat. He's now 16yrs and still acts like a 5yr old!

 

[uldello]

@mc_squared My sister's dog as a puppy had red eyes and different sized pupils. The vet kept dismissing it as allergies. Turns out it was full blown glaucoma and if it was treated right away as a puppy, she could have still had both eyes

 

[_epoh_]

@mc_squared Yes vet told me dog was going to die from tumours
It was just an infection

 

[vincefield]

@mc_squared this isn't about a dog but a rabbit, so please forgive me but it's about vets. I used to work at a vet clinic in college and my own bunny was found one morning with a huge abcess on her cheek -- it literally popped up overnight.

I took the bunny to the vet I worked at. She said it was a severely abscessed tooth and she could tell by palpating it that it was in the bone and jaw and probably had a cavity and rotten tooth for months and I hadn't noticed.

I was in college and wrapped up in myself so I believed her. She said there was nothing she could do but put him to sleep so through tears I signed the papers and had that done.

She asked if she could do a necropsy and said it would help with future patients, so I agreed.

Two hours later she came and found me in the staff room while I was eating lunch. She said she was wrong and that the abscess was superficial and could have been drained. She sort of laughed off vet science as not perfect and she made a mistake.

I was never apologized to.

this was close to 30 years ago and I still do not trust vets.

I hope your doggo will be okay and YES -- google everything and get lots of opinions. Lots of love to you, I am so sorry you were put upon such an emotional roller coaster. xoxo

 

[mc_squared]

@vincefield Holy shit! That’s so messed up, I’m so sorry that happened. And that she just laughed it off—I mean that’s a life we’re talking about. I’m literally sitting here with my mouth agape bc I can’t believe it.

Thank you for your kind words. I ended up getting all the records and having my regular vet look through everything. She confirmed it’s not cancer, and she gave me a lot of good info on UTIs and how to prevent them. We are going to schedule a follow up urine culture in a few weeks to make sure everything is cleared up. Fingers crossed!

 

[vincefield]

@mc_squared oh that is wonderful news! I'm so happy and glad for you! enjoy your weekend with your furball.

 

[marts]

@mc_squared Well, that's better than the other way around. I was told a year ago my dog had a hot spot. Fast forward a few months the hotspot didn't clear up so I took her back.

Turns out the hot spot was a mast cell tumor that had already mastitized (sp?) and spread throughout her body. She's so riddled with cancer, surgery isn't an option.

 

[mc_squared]

@marts Man, I am so sorry this happened. That’s truly devastating

 

[marts]

@mc_squared You know, I think it's almost better they assumed the worst instead of brushing it off. I'm really sorry for the emotional roller coaster you went through. It's rough when we love our furry friends so much.

 

[lamsee]

@mc_squared Wth?! So sorry.

 

[demonslayer410]

@mc_squared We had our dogs boarding at the vet while we were on vacation. We get a call telling us they think one of our pups has a cancerous tumor in its jaw. We were thousands of miles away and okayed them to do an awful lot of testing on her. We come back and they tell us the tests were inconclusive. All that money, and no diagnosis. Needless to say we never went there again. This was when she was two. She’s a pug who lived to be 13 and it wasn’t cancer, I guess.

 

[mc_squared]

@demonslayer410 Jesus Christ

 

[demonslayer410]

@mc_squared Yes! I’m actually at the vet right now with my poor pup who got what I think may have turned into an eye infection from the groomers I can hear him crying in the back. I hope that’s what it is because he’s having a hard time opening his eyes all the way.

 

[mc_squared]

@demonslayer410 Oh no! I’m so sorry, I hope it’s just a minor infection that can be treated easily. I HATE being at the vet and hearing them cry it literally makes ME cry, hearing them struggle with discomfort/anxiety.

 

[christianjmu]

@mc_squared So happy ots just a uti. I have never had a vet diagnose cancer on one x-ray. Also, should have waited for the radiologists report. Usually the answer is ultrasound and even then they can guess but nothing certain without biopsy. Had this happen with my dog. The said his bladder looked concerning. Which led to ultrasound which ruled out cancer.

 

[mc_squared]

@christianjmu Yeah I took her in for an ultrasound on Tuesday and it was 100% normal. No cancer. I also took her to her regular vet Wednesday and had them look over the records from the emergency vet. They assured me it’s not cancer, and they gave me good info on how to prevent UTIs. I’ll be going back in a few weeks for another urine culture to ensure everything is back to normal.

 

[raphael_bagot]

@mc_squared I had something similar happen but the other way round.

I had an Australian kelpie named Lilly who was by all accounts the best dog in history. She was such a special lady, she impacted literally everyone she met in a positive way.

She started to get a growth on her side, it was at first the size of a baseball. We took her to the vet and they said it was a non cancerous lipoma. “If it gets bigger and starts to impact her mobility, we will take another look” well it started getting bigger and bigger. Eventually it was the size of a volleyball. But it didn’t impact her mobility at all. We continued to take her to the vet, very regularly, they “biopsied” it but I watched the procedure and I could tell they didn’t get any of the actual lipoma into the syringe. It looked like they just sucked up fluid from around the growth itself. They said no big deal that it’s just a growth and won’t impact her life in any way. My gut told me it was something else but my husband (boyfriend at the time) really trusted this vet and she was his baby so he didn’t even want to imagine a bad outcome.

She lived with it for a long time.
Then, one day, after about 5 years of stressing over this. She started to get really sick. So we take her to an emergency vet on the outside of town to see what’s going on. Turns out, the lipoma, was a very aggressive sort of cancer and they were surprised she had lived as long as she did. Between the day of an official diagnosis and her last day with us was 7 painful days. She declined so unbelievably fast. The emergency vet said if we had gotten a proper diagnosis 5 years prior, they would have been able to remove the cancer and extend her life quite a bit.

It was the single most painful animal loss I’ve ever experienced. She was such a special lady. I knew it, I just knew that growth wasn’t right. I should have advocated harder and pushed my husband harder to take her to a different vet for a second opinion.

I’m glad you got a second opinion. Medicine, human or animal is a practice. Unfortunately even professionals don’t get it right every time. That’s why they call it practice.

I’m so glad your pup is okay and just has a UTI.

 

[mc_squared]

@raphael_bagot Oh my god, that’s so horrible. I’m so sorry you/your bf/your pup had to go through that, that’s just so much. Especially for the pup. Your story, and stories like yours, are the reason I’m glad I got a second opinion. Thank you for your kind words

 

[houstonreborn]

@mc_squared My boyfriends 10 year old foxhound started peeing in the house and drinking a lot of water. We could take him out and then less than 2 hours later he would pee and it seemed like he was peeing in his sleep. Even with 6+ potty breaks a day he was peeing in a belly band. His old vet checked for UTI, did an X-ray, and blood work panel. The receptionist calls him back and say he’s hypothyroid and the vet prescribed meds that he can come pick up for him.

Now we both looked at his blood work and his thyroid levels were all in a normal range. He had no hypo symptoms really. The med they were going to put him on listed increased urination as a possible side effect. Something didn’t quite seem right and he called the vet and asked them if they could explain how they got to that conclusion and she sighs and says “you know, I don’t know. You’re right, he doesn’t seem hypothyroid, i dunno, maybe we should do more diagnostics”

Meanwhile they were going to medicate him for something he didn’t have!! And that can cause issues if you mess with thyroid levels and push him into the hyper range if he was healthy…

He got a second opinion, they also suggested diagnostics which we did at the new vet, they did a cushings test too, and overall outlined lots of options. They said he for sure was not hypothyroid though. He’s now on proin off label and it seems to be helping a bit.

That old vet though, so frustrating. His dog had nasal mites too and they couldn’t diagnose that and told him just wait it out, it had been months and we knew something was wrong and my boyfriend asked for a referral to an internist who immediately diagnosed it as that.

ALWAYS get a second opinion if you have any doubts