# At what age do you do sonograms?



## oakleysmommy (Feb 20, 2011)

Reading so many posts about cancer in our Goldens and at such young ages scares me. Do any of you schedule appts for sonograms just as precaution? Or is blood work better? My Goldens are 2 and 3 years old. But they both just had 2 full blood panels done not long ago. 


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

No. Never. In general the types of cancer that are prominent in our breed are fast growing. I would hate to have a false sense of security because one month out of the year my dog didn't have any tumors. 

We do yearly bloodwork and urinalysis sent to a lab every year. Won't catch cancer, but I will know if my dogs are developing kidney problems or other illnesses. And yearly physicals are with a vet and we go over every little thing that I've noticed as different in the dogs.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

There have been a couple of threads on this, if you do a search you can find a lot of opinions I think.
I am in the "don't do it unless there's a reason" camp for 2 reasons. One, as Kate (Megora) said, the problems in the breed tend to be fast growing, so doing a sonogram causes more concerns than it saves dogs. Secondly, and more important, studies have shown that early detection of lymphoma and hemangiosarcoma have no influence on the life expectancy. Sad but true.
That said, we do chest xrays on my boy at least annually, but it's because he hunts and does field work, so he's at high risk for foreign bodies, or blastomycosis. But that's lung xrays, not abdominal sonogram.


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## coaraujo (Nov 2, 2012)

Just sharing my vets experience. They had a 9 yr old golden. Did 6 month thorough check ups with blood work and xraus, etc. Just had the last set of tests done 4 or 5 months ago. Everything came back clear, completely healthy and normal. A couple weeks ago the dog couldnt walk. They had to put him down, he was covered in cancer . It seems to have a way of springing up, even with regular screenings. 

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## oakleysmommy (Feb 20, 2011)

coaraujo said:


> Just sharing my vets experience. They had a 9 yr old golden. Did 6 month thorough check ups with blood work and xraus, etc. Just had the last set of tests done 4 or 5 months ago. Everything came back clear, completely healthy and normal. A couple weeks ago the dog couldnt walk. They had to put him down, he was covered in cancer . It seems to have a way of springing up, even with regular screenings.
> 
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Just horrible. It comes on that quick? 


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## Dallas Gold (Dec 22, 2007)

I have sonograms on my Toby every year along with an echocardiogram to monitor diagnosed health issues and started it at the recommendation of his regular vet, his internist and his cardiologist. Now, imagine you are getting them and they discover a splenetic nodule. That happened to us about 2 years ago. It was tiny, and the recommendation was to wait and see if it grows and to continue to monitor until it resolved or grew, at which time they would recommend splenectomy. We did monthly follow ups for 4 months when it suddenly disappeared. The internist told me dogs, especially older dogs, get these little nodules and many do spontaneously resolve. We went to another annual sonogram with no issues, then at his last one, the splenetic nodules reappeared. This time everyone recommended waiting 3 months and we will do another sonogram next week. If it's grown at all, then we will elect to do a splenectomy. The reason? Some of these little nodules might actually be benign, but if it is growing, it could burst and we don't want that if it's benign. Removal could give him a few extra quality years. If it's not grown, then we will be in a holding pattern until it resolves. Our hope is they are resolved, or at least they haven't grown. 

If you do annual sonograms, ask yourself what you will do if you get something like I got with Toby- small nodules that might be hemangiosarcoma, or could just be a benign nodule. Can you bear to wait it out, or would it drive you nuts? I've learned patience with this dog. 

I've had long discussions with multiple vets about this very issue and of the four I've consulted with, each has a large retriever breed dog, and each is doing annual sonograms on them presently. The internist at the specialty center said he's actually recommending them to all senior dog owners. Of course they make a profit that way, but that's their current recommendation. 

One vet relayed the story of her client whose dog had a sonogram for another issue and a nodule was found. The recommendation was it wasn't anything to worry about, but the owner insisted on a splenectomy and it turned out to be hemangiosarcoma. That dog lived for at least 3 years post splenectomy and may still be alive today- I haven't asked recently. 

Will I do it with Yogi? Probably not unless there is another reason to do so. 




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## solinvictus (Oct 23, 2008)

My Sunny had blood work to clear him at the end of November 2008. He died of Hemangiosarcoma of the spleen December 15th 2008. We did the blood work as he had a fibrosarcoma in 2007 was operated on got clear margins and my vet thought having the blood work a year later to be clear was good. Two weeks later he was dead. It didn't show so it happened that fast.


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## oakleysmommy (Feb 20, 2011)

solinvictus said:


> My Sunny had blood work to clear him at the end of November 2008. He died of Hemangiosarcoma of the spleen December 15th 2008. We did the blood work as he had a fibrosarcoma in 2007 was operated on got clear margins and my vet thought having the blood work a year later to be clear was good. Two weeks later he was dead. It didn't show so it happened that fast.



I am so sorry. 


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## coaraujo (Nov 2, 2012)

Its unbelievably scary, enjoy every moment <3


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## oakleysmommy (Feb 20, 2011)

coaraujo said:


> Its unbelievably scary, enjoy every moment <3



? I sure will!


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