Anyone have any experience with this? I have a 12+ year old black lab who was diagnosed with oral melanoma a couple of months ago. It started because I noticed bloody drool from his mouth. I thought he cut himself eating rawhide but when I looked in his mouth I could clearly see he had a bad sore/tumor. I ended up getting it biopsied and had the vet do a "debulking" surgery, which is basically to take out as much of the tumor as possible without actually getting rid of all of it. (which I think would require a loose of his cheek area). So we arent treating the cancer just because he is already old and I have read that its not very successful and I dont want to put him thru that. Its been 2 months since his surgery and the tumor has already grown back (the vet said it would, and i was told this is a very aggressive cancer). So I dont know what to do. He seems good otherwise, has a great appetite (what lab doesnt?), eats, sleeps, sometimes plays, seems happy to be with his family, etc...His mouth is pretty stinky (from the tumor the vet said). Do I try to have it removed again? Knowing that it will grown back in about 8 weeks? Or just let him be and continue with just pain meds (currently on Rimadyl). The reason I had it removed to start with was just to make him comfortable. It was large enough that he was chewing on it when he was eating. The vet said that when it grew back she thought it was reasonable to euthanize him then. But I dont know if I can bare to do that when he seems fine otherwise. Took him swimming the other day and he had a blast! He's 90ish pounds and not losing any weight. Vet said to look for signs like not eating, not wanting to be pet, not hanging out with his "people", etc... Thanks!
Re: Oral Melanoma Hello , and welcome . I am so sorry to hear about your boy and can only say what I would do, if it were me which is to make him comfortable and not go for further surgery if the likelihood is that the tumour will return . I think the advice from your Vet is good advice , whilst he is enjyoing life, let him enjoy life but when the quality starts to go, then that awful but kindest decision will have to be made . I am so sorry that you are facing a tough time ahead, but for now, enjoy each day as it comes , my thoughts are with you and yours .
Re: Oral Melanoma Hi and welcome to the forum. Sorry that such a sad situation has brought you to us. Your vet's advice sounds spot on. Enjoy every day that your old friend is happy; you will know when the time has come and he isn't enjoying life any more. I also wouldn't subject him to another operation, since you know it will only postpone the inevitable for a few weeks. How lovely that he is still having fun and even going swimming!
Re: Oral Melanoma I agree with Kate and Karen. As long as he is happy and his quality of life is good then I'd carry on. The fact he is swimming and enjoying himself shows it's not affecting him yet. Keep having fun with your dog for as long as he wants. You will know when he's had enough.
Re: Oral Melanoma I agree too. However, it may be worth mentioning that radiotherapy once per week x 4 weeks is likely to give a good remission. The tumour will grow back just as quickly as it would with further surgery but obviously it's much less hassle to your old boy and whilst it is unlikely to give him any extra time with you, it may make that time better.
Re: Oral Melanoma Hi there, and welcome to the forum. So sorry you are joining us under such sad circumstances. I have had a similar experience to you, but with a younger dog. A seven year old male lab who developed cancer in his jaw. He had surgery initially with a couple of teeth and part of his jaw removed. He was fine with that and managed to carry on retrieving despite the gap in his jaw. But within a few months the cancer returned and was inoperable, and we made the decision to let him go. I did not wait until he began to suffer and actually had him put to sleep whilst he was still quite well. He was a big, powerful, happy dog, full of life, and I didn't want him to start wasting away, or to experience any pain or distress at all. I don't regret ending his life before he started to go downhill, but I know that some people would prefer to get as much time with their dog as they can. No doubt treatments to keep dogs comfortable have improved since then too. This is a terribly personal decision and a very difficult one for anyone to make. You may find this article helpful: knowing when to let go - not so much for the article itself, but for the many moving and helpful comments from people that have made your journey.
Re: Oral Melanoma Thanks everyone. I guess we will just carry on as is. He really seems fine. When I tell people he has cancer, they comment that he doesnt look sick. I cannot make the call to put him down now before he goes downhill. I just cant. I'm not even sure how I feel about euthanasia, but I dont feel right about deciding when to let my pet die. But I do think I could make that decision if it was easy to see that he was suffering, but he doesnt seem to be right now. I am sure he is in some discomfort in his mouth, but he still eats anything he can get his paws on. We are actually getting a new pup in early October hopefully. The mom is being bred this week. My husband thinks we should get a puppy while our old boy is around to "show him the ropes". I didnt want to at first (get one while current dog is here), but I do think it would help me to not take his loss as hard. If he is on Rimadyl now, is there another pain medication that is maybe more powerful? I'm just wondering if they might add more meds as time goes on. I've posted on 2-3 other "lab" forums and never got a response. You guys have been great. Thank you!
Re: Oral Melanoma There is much sense in Pippa's article "knowing when to let go", but it is a difficult subject and every case is different. I have owned 6 dogs during my lifetime and have found that when the time came to end the dog's life the decision to do so was relatively easy which was based on his quality of life and medical prognosis. I have been relatively lucky in that all my dogs have lead a full life and accept that perhaps I would feel differently ending a dogs life at half term. My last dog, a 13 year old black Labrador called Winston had an inoperable tumour on his testicles which gradually enlarged restricting his movement. One morning we found that he was unable to stand and we took the decision to end his life. I called the vet and arranged for him to visit the following day which gave us time to say goodbye to Winston. It was a bright sunny day and we carried Winston out into the garden and placed him on his favourite mat where he enjoyed a meaty lamb bone, seconds later the vet painlessly ended his life. Roger
Re: Oral Melanoma I just wanted to say I'm sorry to hear about your boy and that I'm sure you will make the right decision when it's needed. Best wishes
Re: Oral Melanoma I also want to say how sorry I am that your lab has cancer. I would also not be able to end his life while he's not in pain and enjoying food and is active. At least he doesn't know and you can concentrate on giving him lots of good times while he's with you.
Re: Oral Melanoma So sorry to hear about your difficult situation. Every person is different, it sounds like right now you are comfortable with keeping things the way they are and monitoring the situation, so go with that for now. I would tend to agree that as long as the dog seems happy and is enjoying good quality of life I would not make the final decision yet, but I certainly understand Pippa's decision as well, made in a similar situation. Hang in there, enjoy your boy while you can!!
Re: Oral Melanoma Hi there, just wanted to extend my sympathy. I haven't been in your situation, my closest being our last rabbit who had a soft tissue tumour on a foreleg, we had him PTS when it started to become more troublesome to his walking (it also regularly oozed blood from trauma on the ground). I really, really don't know how I would cope in this situation with a dog. My experience with human palliative care however might make me say.....If it was you personally with incurable cancer, at what stage would you want to call it a day if you were given the privilege of choosing? Everyone is different. Good luck, and keep us updated x
Re: Oral Melanoma It's a very difficult time. I took my dog when I was 14 and that's 40 years ago and I thought about it for a long time afterwards. I have been monitoring my 17 year old cat for a couple of months now; he has a whole list of things going wrong but the latest is a tumour that has just sprung up out of nowhere on his shoulder. He's on pain killers too. I think I will have to take that decision this week as he struggles to walk. The thing is, he still eats, drinks, uses the litter tray. But he isn't having any fun. My point is, I think you know when it's time. I am finding the decision hard so I can empathise with you.
Re: Oral Melanoma So sorry to hear this, I hope you enjoy the time you have with your much loved dog. Best wishes to you.
Re: Oral Melanoma I haven't got anything to add to the perspectives you've been given only to say I agree with not putting him through another op and I'm so sorry you are in this position,enjoy hi for the time you have him x
Re: Oral Melanoma Hi, I just want to share my story about my then 10 year old choc lab. We noticed "something" by her lower canine tooth and watched it for about a week. It appeared to be getting larger so we took her into the vet. They did a biopsy and yes, it was cancer. I was crushed. At the recommendation of our vet, I went and consulted with another vet that specializes in canine dentistry. After discussion with this vet, we proceeded to have a large portion of her lower jaw removed to try to save her. According to the specialist, the tumor was in a "good" location. I wont lie, the first night after her surgery was rough. She was in a lot of pain but on the 3rd morning, she met me at the stairs with her ball to play. I am soooo glad that we worked with the other vet. It has been a year and she is doing fantastic! At first eating was very messy but she figured it out. I hope this gives you some hope.
Re: Oral Melanoma Welcome to the forum So lovely to read your story of hope. I'm so glad everything is going well for your dog now.
Re: Oral Melanoma Hi and welcome. It's lovely to hear a success story and its really good of you to share it as it will give others hope if they have a similar diagnosis. Its great she is doing so well. Thank you.
Re: Oral Melanoma Hello and a warm welcome from Molly and me. Thank you so much for sharing your success story.
