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I have a beagle with several mammary tumors. There are three firm masses, and several "fleshy" masses. She will be 8 in August.

I lost MY job the day after we got my little gal, it took a long time to get more financially stable. For this reason, she was not spayed until the age of five. Anything you want to say, I already know, and have to live with these facts every day. It doesn’t help that our vet at the time pushed spaying primarily as having to do with an over-population issue. She was an apartment dog for several years, and always leashed… hence…

When we moved to the suburbs, we got a new vet, and three months later she was spayed. I had no idea of the increased health risks. I know it’s no excuse, but can’t change things.

Of course, back to square one, and my husband is on the cusp of losing his job. He’s working every other week. I have been a stay at home mom for two years, and am also currently seeking employment. We are on the brink of losing our home.

My dog means the world to me, but paying $1000-$1200 for surgery (plus additional for X-Rays, ec) at this point is unrealistic. With help from my mom, the vet holding personal checks, and some $ on the Care Credit I have left… and we’d be able to eek it out. Of course, should my husband completely lose his job before he or I find alternate employment… those checks would be our food cash.

Our other option is to wait and see if it grows, etc. Obviously not favorable for many reasons. I don’t want it to spread should it be malignant. OTOH, given our current financial state, should it be benign, that’s an awful lot of money… She is in otherwise good health. Weight is good, plays, etc. Fine needle aspirate was, naturally, inconclusive yesterday at the vet’s office.

I know, long story very long, but I guess I would like to know, from those of you who may have been there, done that… should this be cancer, how long do we have? With treatment, without. We left the vet’s office yesterday afternoon with the decision to think long and hard, and it’s the one question I forgot to ask. Are we looking at a true, potential cure with removal? All the reports I am reading make me think otherwise (50-75% of dogs will not make it to 2 years, regardless of treatment). I guess I’d like real life info, rather than a research study, to maybe help get me through the weekend.

Please don’t be too judgemental. My dog gets cared for well. She’s one of the few normal weight beagles I know. She gets routine vet care. We’ve treated over $4,000 in emergencies in her life… there’s just nothing there right now.

Thanks so much, horsingaround. It gives us some hope. We’ve even considered trying to rehome her… but… I don’t know. I never imagined that happening, and am usually adamantly against it.

I will of course be calling our vet on Monday about the long term questions, and also plan to check out the local vet school, to see if there’s somehow we can get her help.
Thanks, lionness. It’s great to have your feedback. I guess I never looked at it from that particular angle.

My dog got into children’s tylenol a few years ago (in a box, in a grocery bag, on my kitchen table… if you can believe it, while I was trying to get my daughter back to bed), we treated her, she ate glass Christmas ornaments right off the tree, again, treated, no question. Her spay cost us nearly $1000, due to her nearly bleeding out. Every time we’ve paid, no question. This time… it’s different. And of course, we’re much different financially.
Thank you Jennifer!!

Never been in your situation, but I carefully reviewed everything. The x-rays that the first poster said sounded good, although it may not show if tiny cells have spread. I think you should wait until you are financially stable before you get the surgery. Like you said, that is potential food for the family. Even if you went in and got the tumors removed, doesn’t mean it hasn’t spread already. Seriously, you’re looking at removal of the tumors AND possible chemo. (We lost a dog because she caught something due to her immune system being shut down by chemo. If we had avoided chemo, she may have lived for a few more months if not a whole year.)

At this point, make sure the dog stays comfortable. If it does spread, when it is time… you know what to do.

No matter what happens, don’t ever blame yourself about the money. Cancer doesn’t know money. The richest person in the world could get cancer, get the best treatments available, and still die within a year of diagnosis.

Also, hey, could be the tumors are benign. They may get larger, but the dog lives a healthy life. (Just keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t develop ulcers from rubbing against other parts of the dog or even from rubbing on the floor.)

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