Poorly Dog Brain Tumour/Cyst

mentaljessie

Mum's dog has today been diagnosed with either a brain tumour or brain cyst. Muppet the dog is 15 years of age and is a rescue patterdale terrier he came to Mum and Dad at the age of 2 when he refused to go rabbiting for his owners.

He's been her substitute child ever since, helped her through chemo, long hospital admissions, and a lovely companion. My cat was last year diagnosed with epilepsy and his bill came in at 3K at the Animal Health Trust Newmarket.

Mum is adament this is what Muppet is to have. My cat was 10 at his diagnosis so I was keen to extend his life, and as an cat owner of 3 I will do all that I can financially afford for my pets.

Can people relay their experiences of brain tumours in dogs, likely outcomes and costs so I can put Mum in perspective, he is a beauty but ultimately we want what is best for Muppet,

lisawood78

No experience with brain tumours and honestly I don't think other peoples experiences will help either sadly. Each case will be wildly different depending on the animal, age, clinic and costs will vary wildly with the prognosis, clinic, area etc.

All you can do or advise your mum to do is what is best for the dog on the vets advice but at 15 years old it is possible that there isn't a lot to be done worthwhile. Of course I am no vet and this is no place for medical opinions anyhow.

I'm sure that whatever happens little Muppet will get the best and most suitable treatment for his situation.

meritaten

I am so sorry to hear this.
I can understand your mum wants to prolong Muppets life as long as possible - especially since she has been through so much.
but at age 15? surely this is a good age for a terrier?

my beloved first dog was 9 when she had a tumour removed. it wasn't brain it was in her tummy. unfortunately she had a reaction to the anaesthetic and it caused her to have epilepsy after. really bad fits. drugs didn't control it very well. it was very upsetting for the kids and us. and it eventually killed her at age 12 when she had a really bad fit and we couldn't get her out of it. I don't regret her having had the operation to remove the tumour - but now, I would however, ask more questions about the risks and the quality of life after any treatment.

What does the vet say?

orlao

While I completely understand how your Mum feels about Muppet and wanting to have him longer (don't we all!) she does need to be persuaded to consider quality rather than quantity of life at every point of Muppets treatment.

I know very little about brain tumors vs cysts in dogs and if it was me I would want a definitive diagnosis of what we were dealing with before any treatment decisions were made. Can she afford (realistically) a trip to the AHT for a diagnosis? For me, a couple of years ago that was £3.5k, no treatment just a MRI scan and tests. Not complaining btw, just saying how expensive it can be! My dog was diagnosed with an extra unsuspected tumour at the time and I chose not to treat with surgery because of his age and history - he would have needed two major ops within 3 months both of which were very high risk. As it happened, he was diagnosed with bone cancer within 10 weeks of that visit and PTS so I'm glad that he didn't spend his last weeks at the vets IYSWIM.

That's just my story, there are others that had much better endings but it did confirm my gut instinct that heroic efforts with old animals aren't always the best idea. In saying that my old JRT lived till 21 - she had a fatty cyst that was diagnosed at 13/14 years old but again, we just ignored it after it was drained and came back twice. The only thing that slowed her down was slipping a disk at 18 yo while chasing a fox, she got 'old' then...