My Dog Has A Growing Breast Tumor

I have a beautiful beagle named Molly, that is now at least 10 1/2 years old. I don't know for sure her exact age, as we got her from a shelter many years ago. This age is based off of what they told us.

Right after Thanksgiving of this year, my dog began to have a lump on her belly, or abdomen. I didn't know what it was, and didn't think too much of it because she was happy as ever, and didn't seem remotely bothered by it.

Many people told us things like, "oh dogs get lumps in their old age, and they get them all over and all the time," etc. I had heard that before, but it was reassuring. I began to get more concerned after a friend of mine told me she had just had to put their dog down for what started as a fatty tumor.

Molly's tumor has continued to grow, even though it causes her no pain and she is eating and acting normal. I wish I could say we had a lot of money to spend on dogs, but we do not. It is even one thing toward the beginning of their lives, but at the end you have to think of everything. Molly hates the veterinarian as well, and is a high anxiety dog, you could say.

Well, the day she wouldn't jump up onto my bed or couch, I began to be concerned and we took the plunge.

I told the veterinarian my situation before I went in, and they wanted to do a cytology test on the lump. It would involve taking out some cells from the lump to determine more. They told me that without this test, they couldn't give me any further advice. Even now, I wish I had learned more from this test, but I did not. With that and exam, it was 100.00, and all I found out was that I would need to spend another 6-800 dollars on a removal of the tumor. Even then, we would have to make more decisions if it was malignant. This was all very much to think about.

She offered to me to get some antibiotics for 40-50 more dollars, and some pain pills for 30 or so dollars. No problem if you have a lot of money and don't have other humans in the house that need to go to the doctor and have procedures but do not due to money. Still, this is my molly, and I did get her the pain pills in case things get harder on down the road. She isn't the best pill taker, and the doctor didn't even know if she had any infection or not, so I am holding off on the antibiotics for now. They might have helped with inflammation if due to infection, and the pain pills might as well.

During the test, my dog did great, I was told. She looks to be in excellent condition in every other way, which was so great to hear. My sweet Molly may have cancer, or at the very least a fast growing tumor. I am writing this now to share our experience, and have written about Molly in the past. I have so enjoyed my sweet Molly, and hate to see her in any pain or having problems. Thankfully, we are not there yet.

After thinking some things over, I decided to call back and the doctor was kind enough to give me a call back to answer any more questions I had, which she did. Like why didn't they take a biopsy, and is the only method just removal? Is there nothing in between? Turns out it costs as much as a removal of the tumor, only you may have to then go and remove the tumor also which gets even more expensive if saving money is something you are hoping to do.

Natural and Herbal Remedies- Any Possibilities?

This might not be the best thing to ask a veterinarian, but I did ask if there was anything natural I could do for Molly's breast tumor. She said no, there is nothing. I did ask, because we have taken the natural route before, when we lived in Texas and Molly barely survived being poisoned almost to death. She had gotten into something, they think something illegal that comes from Mexico or something, and she nearly bled to death, and it nearly destroyed her organs. She survived, after much effort and prayers by us all. I mention that all here, because one of the things we were to do as she recovered, was to get some milk thistle to help heal her liver. It really really seemed to help her, and she survived! So never again will I mock herbs, after we have benefited from them in this way and many more. (Ok, I never mocked herbs, but some people do!)

At any rate, this is where we are at in our journey with my beagle, Molly. It is hard on the heart, when you love your dog, as many of you reading this will know. My hope is to share my experience, and perhaps hear from others in their own experiences. Whether something similar or not, I am curious to know how you dealt with hard times with a pet that you love.

For now, I continue to be so thankful for my sweet dog Molly. I will try to post some more recent pictures of her, as she has gotten a little bit older than these ones show. I treasure every moment, and she is getting lots of treats, petting, spoiling, and walks. Those are her favorite things.