Hi all,
I am in a tough spot and I don't know what to do about my dalmatian. She just turned 10 years old and she is tough as nails. I've been told twice in her life that will die without some sort of veterinary surgery that costs $2,000 - 3,000. (I love my dog tremendously, but thousands of dollars for surgery is just not something I could or can consider). To spare you the long stories, she survived has recovered from both injuries on her own. Now I have been told this for a third time by a different vet.
She has a small growth, smaller than a quarter. But it's plumped up fairly big and bleeds- always. At the very least a few drops a day, at the most it bleeds very heavily.
She's always been the type to chew on her own legs from time to time and occasionally bad enough for me to get out the cone for a few weeks to keep her away. So earlier this year I thought it was one of her nipples that she was tearing apart when I found her bleeding out quite severely. I put her in the cone, stopped the bleeding, and bandaged the area, again on the right side of her body very close to the back leg. Somehow the area would continue to open up and bleed heavily, once every few days or at most a week or so. I thought she was finding a way to get after this injury and open it up again. And this injury would BLEED. There were several occasions that I had to apply firm pressure for several hours just to get it to stop bleeding heavily. I realized then that this is not self-mutilation, there is something WRONG with this sore. I have kept her bandaged ever since early September of last year. Ever day it oozes blood and often more than just oozing. Every bandage is soiled, I change them daily at least. Because when she can get at, she rips it open and it pours.
The vet is not sure what it is, but I know in my heart it is something terribly wrong to continue on bleeding the way that it does. It looks like a hideous overgrown raisin, and it is always swollen full of blood ready to open up. We live in Phoenix and it's possible that it's enhanced melanoma or something related to skin cancer. The vet says the treatment is to knock her out and cauterize the injury, burn it off completely. Then keep her on antibiotics for a few weeks until she recovers fully. Yet somehow this treatment costs $2,500, even if we don't test the growth after to find out what it is. I can't believe it's that expensive, they don't even have to cut her open!
I can't afford it. And believe it or not, my dog seems happy to be alive regardless of the bandages always wrapped around her. She rolls and plays, runs, devours her food every day. It's like she's a perfectly healthy, normal dog, with a never ending trickle of blood from a wound on her lower belly.
Do I have any options? I just don't feel it's right to put this dog down since she's still enjoying life, I feel like I'll "know" when the time is right. I am sorely tempted to knock her out somehow and cauterize the wound myself with dry ice, and give her antibiotics after. I know it's crazy but it's better than letting her die without trying SOMETHING.
Any suggestions at all? Anyone?
I am in a tough spot and I don't know what to do about my dalmatian. She just turned 10 years old and she is tough as nails. I've been told twice in her life that will die without some sort of veterinary surgery that costs $2,000 - 3,000. (I love my dog tremendously, but thousands of dollars for surgery is just not something I could or can consider). To spare you the long stories, she survived has recovered from both injuries on her own. Now I have been told this for a third time by a different vet.
She has a small growth, smaller than a quarter. But it's plumped up fairly big and bleeds- always. At the very least a few drops a day, at the most it bleeds very heavily.
She's always been the type to chew on her own legs from time to time and occasionally bad enough for me to get out the cone for a few weeks to keep her away. So earlier this year I thought it was one of her nipples that she was tearing apart when I found her bleeding out quite severely. I put her in the cone, stopped the bleeding, and bandaged the area, again on the right side of her body very close to the back leg. Somehow the area would continue to open up and bleed heavily, once every few days or at most a week or so. I thought she was finding a way to get after this injury and open it up again. And this injury would BLEED. There were several occasions that I had to apply firm pressure for several hours just to get it to stop bleeding heavily. I realized then that this is not self-mutilation, there is something WRONG with this sore. I have kept her bandaged ever since early September of last year. Ever day it oozes blood and often more than just oozing. Every bandage is soiled, I change them daily at least. Because when she can get at, she rips it open and it pours.
The vet is not sure what it is, but I know in my heart it is something terribly wrong to continue on bleeding the way that it does. It looks like a hideous overgrown raisin, and it is always swollen full of blood ready to open up. We live in Phoenix and it's possible that it's enhanced melanoma or something related to skin cancer. The vet says the treatment is to knock her out and cauterize the injury, burn it off completely. Then keep her on antibiotics for a few weeks until she recovers fully. Yet somehow this treatment costs $2,500, even if we don't test the growth after to find out what it is. I can't believe it's that expensive, they don't even have to cut her open!
I can't afford it. And believe it or not, my dog seems happy to be alive regardless of the bandages always wrapped around her. She rolls and plays, runs, devours her food every day. It's like she's a perfectly healthy, normal dog, with a never ending trickle of blood from a wound on her lower belly.
Do I have any options? I just don't feel it's right to put this dog down since she's still enjoying life, I feel like I'll "know" when the time is right. I am sorely tempted to knock her out somehow and cauterize the wound myself with dry ice, and give her antibiotics after. I know it's crazy but it's better than letting her die without trying SOMETHING.
Any suggestions at all? Anyone?
