Should My 14 1/2 Year Cairn Have Surgery?

[Guest Sal James]

Our male Cairn Evan can say Hooooow're yooooou? We adore him.

I would really appreciate some perspective and advice on whether he should have surgery in a week and a half.

Evan weighs 24 pounds, has arthritis in his hind legs, and has a benign cyst/tumor on the left rear side of his tongue which is an inch long and 1/3 inch across. The tumor does not appear to touch the main tongue muscle that runs the length of the middle of his tongue.

Evan is taking a type of cortizone to reduce the swelling before the cyst is removed in 1 1/2 to 2 weeks. We like and trust our vet.

Apart from the risks of surgery, the tumor (if removed) could grow back.

If we don't have the tumor removed, it may grow to eventually stop him from eating, drinking, and breathing.

Do you have any advice for us? If this was your Cairn, what would you do?

Many thanks,

Sal James

[CathyAnn]

Welcome! Yes, I can sure identify with your dilemma as we have an almost 13 year old Cairn. We, too, adore her (nad our new little Cairn puppy).

My two cents....Yes, there are increased risks with older dogs and anesthesia. Is the vet positive it is benign? Is Evan still perky, getting around ok, seemingly comfortable despite his arthritis? Or, is he in pain? Is $ a factor? These are things I would be taking into consideration if it were my dog, too.

If you truly trust your vet and Evan has a healthy heart and has a few good years left in him, if it were me, I would go for it. Especially if the vet feels it will grow larger and possibly interfere with his eating.

Yes, it is possible that it may grow back. But, then again, it is also possible that it won't. Has it been getting progessively larger? You might want to consider a 'wait and see' approach.

Good luck. And, please let us know your decision and how Evan is doing.

Cathy

[CarCarDawn]

Hi! Before I acquired my cairn, Riley I had two beautiful golden retrievers. Although only 11 years old - - brother and sister - - the male had many visable problems with his hips and legs and then developed tumors in his side. The female lost all her teeth and also had severe hip problems. I discussed both dogs with my vet - - trusting his expertise- - and he suggested putting the male dog down - - his health was being compromised with all that was going on. Upon examining the female. it was decided that she too would be put down - - one of the main reasons being that she would not survive the trauma of losing her brother. Had she been healthy this would not have been a consideration - - these two dogs were like one!!

Even though this decision was extremely hard to make - - the bottom line was that both dogs had too many health issues to consider surgery and prolonging their lives. The surgery would not have given them the quality of life that I was hoping for - - what I am saying to you is - - if the surgery will buy you a few more years of a wonderful life with your cairn - - then go for it!! But - - if the surgery is a prelude to many more surgeries or is just buying a little bit of time for your cairn - - then you need to consider all the variables. I know this is a hard time for you - - we all love our pets immensely - - but we need to consider what kind of life we are providing for them. I am sure you have heard all of this before - - go with your gut feeling - - good luck to you!

[CarCarDawn]

Hi again! Just a little addendum to the above - - - I purchased a cairn after many months of grieving. Unfortunately I discovered after 2 months of loving him that he had a "liver shunt" which required surgery to save his life. Now here was a decision I could make easily - - the surgery was very risky - - he could lose his life on the operating table - - and there was no guarantee that he would be okay - - but I knew he was young and had a ferocious will to live. We went ahead with the surgery - - survived the several days of critical care - - and now have a pretty healthy pup - - - full of energy and almost 100%!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wonder . . . . . . . . how many of you out there have a $9,000 + cairn puppy!!!!! We have never regretted the decision that we made - - - Riley is a special dog!!!!! Good luck with your decision!

[Guest Sal James]

Thanks Cathy and CarCarDawn.

I appreciate the kind advice and guidance. We were going to go ahead with the surgery, but on the day before the prep work was to be done, our dear dog became paralyzed on one side of his body. So after a day of morphine and a super dose of the cortisone with his condition still worsening, we put him down.

We supposed that during the week before, the cortisone made him feel good and puppylike. He had been stumbling for some time on that one side that had become paralyzed, and maybe the increased flexibility he had been feeling, well, kind of made him overdo his usual activity.

In his 14 1/2 years of life, Evan had a good run, and his last week was excellent and free of arthritis. We were so blessed with him and with our vet Dr. Feinberg in San Diego. We still have his wife Keri of 14 1/2 years. We are OK but boy, do we miss him.

Thanks to all with much appreciation,

Sal

[bradl]

I'm so sorry. Bless you for giving Evan a good long life and returning his love with your own loving care. Hugs and extra treats to Keri who I'm sure misses him too.

[CathyAnn]

Oh no! I am truly sorry for you, Sal.....

How is Keri doing? Bet you ALL miss him terribly!

I hope you'll still hang around here with us? And, share your Cairn stories.

Take care,

Cathy

[LORI]

So sorry to hear of your loss. Please stay around and enlighten us with the stories from an older Cairn point of view. We send extra pets and hugs to the missus. Bless you!

[kropos1]

I just wanted to extend my sympathy. Having to put a pet to sleep is so difficult. I bought Holly after having put my buddy Jackson (cat) to sleep after 9 great years together. It is very like grieving the loss of a human and I still have days I cry for him. At first I wondered if it was normal, but now I know it is normal to cry for a beloved friend. {{{{Sal}}} Kate