On Oral Tumors - Making The Big Decision-

Comet is my thirteen-and-a-half year old male Lhasa Apso, the most adorable creature in the whole wide world!

June 2018- Detecting the Oral Tumor

We noticed a small growth in the front lower portion of Comet's mouth.

                                                                       COMET

July 2018- Investigating the Oral Tumor

The growth seemed much larger in a few weeks so we took him to the hospital for a check up.

The vet wasn't sure what it was.  He asked if we wanted to do a biopsy.  I refused.  He said every growth needs to be removed surgically. Again, I didn't want to put him through any unnecessary procedures in his old age. He is almost fourteen years old.  He is also very sensitive and gets upset easily. 

I asked the vet what would happen if I ignored it.  He said it would keep growing until it filled his whole mouth.  He would not be able to eat any more.
 I thought I could take a chance.  What if the oral tumor stopped growing?  How sure could the vet be that it would keep growing?  And it was not interfering with his normal life activities in any way,  so I decided not to disturb him by doing any surgery.  I also really didn't want to know if it was cancerous. It would be too upsetting. So we left the growth as it was. The vet prescribed Dologel, just in case it was an abscess. 

August 2018-Trying Homeopathy

The Dologel was used for ten days but had no effect so I was convinced that it was not an abscess. The lump just kept growing bigger and bigger. In my desperation, I sought homeopathic treatment. The homeopathic doctor was confident that his medicines would work. So I tried them for two weeks but there seemed to be no improvement. I ran back to the homeopathic doctor. He changed the medicines and asked me to try them for another two weeks. There was still no improvement. 

September 2018-Things Take A Bad Turn

By now I was quite desperate. The oral mass in Comet's mouth had turned so big that he could not close his mouth and eating had become difficult at this stage. I was so upset about it. I hated the thought of putting him through surgery. Yet, it seemed like I was left with no option. I sat and stared at him for hours, wondering what to do. By the end of September, the oral mass began to bleed very often because it kept rubbing against things. His front teeth had lifted with the tumor as it grew upwards. He got fever. I realized that things had taken a bad turn now. The growth was probably infected. I had to act soon.

October 2018-Making The Decision To Remove The Oral Mass
I visited the vet again. He said I had no option but to get the surgery done, even if the growth was cancerous, even if it would reappear soon, the surgery would give him a few months of solace at least. Right now he had begun to suffer due to the oral mass. He would probably lose a part of his lower jaw in the process but it didn't matter as he could not use that part even with the tumor. That was another horrible thought. I was afraid that Comet may not be fit for surgery. He also had a collapsed trachea. The vet said that they would perform all the necessary tests on him first to ensure that he was fit for surgery and only then would they go ahead with the surgery. I was also apprehensive about how fast Comet would recover. The vet convinced me that they would take care of all that.

And so, with no options left, I decided to let Comet have the surgery to remove the disgusting oral mass that had invaded his mouth and our lives!