# Early Screening and Detection?



## ggdenny (Nov 2, 2008)

Some of you here know that we lost our boy Simon to hemangiosarcooma. Like so many other goldens he got sick and passed away the same day - in 90 minutes to be exact.

Now that our boys, Duke and Connor, are ages 6 and 5 respectively I've been thinking about whether or not I should consider putting them through imaging studies like MRI and/or ultrasound to look for early signs of masses that are either malignant or benign. I realize it is quite expensive and to some seem a bit extreme. However, I would love to get some feedback from the folks on this wonderful forum.


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## Makomom (Feb 28, 2012)

I have been thinking about doing the same. We lost Baloo to one....within 3 days of finding out. We have rescued Max who will be 10 in February and I feel that maybe I should have his spleen looked at with MRI.....he just had a tumor removed from his side on his ribcage and it was a hemangioma but it was benign. He seems to just sigh deeply when he lays down...which he has done since we rescued him 6 months ago and have no clue if it is just normal with him cause we have do not have much background info on him. it just kinda creeps in my mind that when Baloo was having a bleed which we did not know about he did the same type of deep sigh. Maybe I am just too over analyzing but I just want to find out. But if there is something there then what do I do? Mako is only 2 and should I have MRI done on him just to have a baseline? Ugh....I think I may have to go with my gut and just do MRI on both.....just kinda scared to find out if something is wrong with either of my boys:-(


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## ggdenny (Nov 2, 2008)

I asked my vet the same question in an email and this is part of her response:

You raise a great question, and a common one. I asked the head of the Oncology Service this morning. There is not consensus amongst the oncology community about this yet. Some Oncologists recommend prophylactic splenectomy (surgical removal of the spleen), but we do not recommend that here. 

How often should we recommend an ultrasound be performed? Yearly, every 6 months? I would say minimum yearly, but you might consider every 6 months as they age, along with a good physical examination to check lymph nodes as well. From the oncology viewpoint, we should not have to check blood work more than once a year in an older dog (unless their physical status was changing).


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

I considered this after we lost Barkley to hemangiosarcoma. As we were discussing it with Toby's vet he developed some symptoms that actually warranted an echocardiogram and sonogram. We discovered an enlarged abdominal lymph node and determined to recheck it in 6 months for growth. It was still there 6 months later so we did an aspirate that came back inconclusive but reactive, whatever that means. So our vet recommended another sonogram in 6 months- still there. Finally at the next 6 month sonogram it resolved, only to discover a spleen nodule. It was tiny and the radiologist recommended we do nothing, yet it bothered me to no end so I asked for a referral to an internal medicine specialist in a practice with an oncologist. He actually had a better sonogram machine and sure enough it was there! He recommended follow ups every 4 months, saying that sometimes older dogs develop small spleen nodules that resolve. We did 3 sonograms at that practice before we got the good news that it was indeed resolved. Toby's next sonogram, the first in a year is Dec. 17. We must get annual echocardiograms for his heart issue and the add on price for an abdominal sonogram is not that much more, so we will do it. 

I had a discussion with the internal medicine specialist that last visit and he said that more and more oncologists and internists are recommending sonograms every 6 months for older dogs, especially large breed dogs and golden retrievers as they can find things early on, not just spleen tumors, and greatly improve a senior's life. He was doing this already for his australian shepherd. Both vets that see Toby regularly also do it or are planning to do this every 6 months for their large dogs- both retriever breeds. The drawbacks- it's expensive to do them twice a year and your dog must be shaved in the belly to get a good view. My husband and I finally decided on an annual sonogram attached to his echocardiogram and we will go back to every 6 months if there is an issue. 

When the technician told me she saw a splenetic nodule on Toby's spleen- the heartache and worry all came back of when we got news with Barkley's sonogram. I had a long discussion with Toby's two regular vets about splenectomy and neither felt it was absolutely necessary at that time given the size and the radiologists' opinion. The internist also didn't recommend a preventive splenectomy since he didn't see any other evidence of cancer at the time. I came away from that experience thinking it's great to be proactive, but you can be faced with some difficult decisions and worry thanks to this great technology!

We do semi-annual senior wellness exams now, with full blood, urine and fecal panels. It's worth the expense to me and our vet recommends this for all her seniors.


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## lhowemt (Jun 28, 2013)

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/showthread.php?t=231961

We will continue annual screenings even if it means tough decisions.

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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