12 year old Goldendoodle with "slow moving" mass, surgery or no? (poodle, vet)

[oceanmom73]

Hi everyone,

Looking for some advice..here are the details about my boy:

Species:
Half Golden Retriever, half Standard Poodle

Age:12.5

Sex/Neuter status: male, neutered

Breed:
Goldendoodle

Body weight:
75 lbs

History:
Very healthy, never an issue

Clinical signs:
Groans when getting down into a laying position but seems comfortable otherwise

Duration:
4-6 months



Ultrasound showed a "small grapefruit" sized mass near his liver, that looks "walled off", "slow moving" type.
Chest X-ray today to make sure it had not spread was clear.

The vet says she cannot believe how healthy and strong he is at this age.

We had been leaning towards not putting him through surgery, but the vet seems to think that he would do really well, and if the mass is benign, could have many years after a recovery (if something else age related didn't pop up of course). She said that she has seen many, many dogs do well with surgery at this age.

Vet would not do the surgery, we would have to go somewhere else not affiliated with her.

We are lucky that one of us could be home with him 24/7 if we did choose surgery, and if the cost was under 5k, we would be able to afford it as well.

We asked about a biopsy instead of just jumping into surgery, and she said that they tend to not be accurate.

If we do not do surgery, and if it is indeed slow growing, keep an eye on him until it was time.

I know nobody can tell me yes or no, just looking for an experienced view.

Thank you!

[mic111]

It is wonderful that you have such a good prognosis with the surgery.

For a set of experienced opinions try joining this yahoo group. artemisinin_and_cancer

There are alot of excellent people there that can give you good advice as well as things to try and shrink the mass. However the surgery sounds like a good option.