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Advice on what to do

Apollo

I have a 9 year old Male Boxer. I've started noticing that he has tumors growing in various places on his body. Some are internal and are some are external such as one growing between the pads of his paw. He also has had a couple episodes of falling over and kind of seizing and having labored breathing and sometimes stops breathing for like 15 seconds maybe more. Does it sound like it's going to be an expensive problem if it's treatable? If so, we don't have a lot of money and would it be best to have him put to sleep instead of living with these growths and "seizure" like episodes? I can't stand to see animals suffer and I already feel guilty for not being able to afford major medical bills for him. Thank you for any advice.

Symptoms: Drooling, Wounds, Collapse, Lumps And Swellings, Weight Loss

•   Erin says:

  October 20th, 2008 at 03:39 PM

  Boxers are a breed known for cancer and heart problems. Let's break down your question into two parts:

  1. I can't tell you if the growths are benign or malignant. Boxers tend to get a lot of mast cell tumors, which are malignant. However, they also get a lot of benign lumps and bumps too. The only way to tell what your guy has is to take him to the vet to have some of those lumps aspirated (putting a needle into the lump to extract cells and look at them under the microscope). That will give you the best idea of whether he will need extensive cancer treatment or not.

  2. The episodes that you describe are what concerns me more. I'm not sure if he's having a heart problem or a neurological problem. He should definitely have an exam to try to narrow down the possibilities.

  Ultimately, if your dog has medical problems that really need treatment and that treatment is not an option for you, then human euthanasia is definitely a reasonable and responsible consideration. Vets don't like to see animals suffer either and when I have a client whose pet has serious medical problems that cause suffering and they cannot afford treatment, I recommend really considering euthanasia. You can talk about this more with your vet.

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