Lots of large new lumps on my poodle

[freshmint]

I found a breast lump in my 11 yo standard poodle in Nov. Had it removed, malignant but early stage and not in lymph. Found another in Jan/Feb - had it removed. Malignant, not nice, but thought they'd got it all.
Now about 6 week later she has got multiple lumps in her breast tissue - one very large, like a big conker. I'm not going to put her through more ops when it's clear this is the same thing and it's spreading.

So my question is - what can I expect? She seems well, no signs of pain, eating and drinking well, hopping up to the sofa as usual etc. How long might she have before she deteriorates? How will I know when things are getting bad?

She is such a great dog. Our last sp died in her sleep unexpectedly aged 11 so I have no experience of cancer

I'm glad her sister is coping. My dog woke me with huge heart rending howls at 5.45 this morning. I think it is just dawning on him that she isn't coming back. He's like a shadow clinging to us, wants to see where we are all the time. He wouldn't even pee this morning until I went with him. Conversely to yours I know he would love a friend, he just hates being alone. I'm not ready to think about that yet though.
Did you get that sort of a reaction from the sister? How long did it take for her to perk up?

She's been barking at us more in a kind of demanding way but I think that's her being more assertive and maybe wanting more attention. She hasn't moped or been off her food, thankfully. I don't know how I would have coped with that. I guess all dogs are different. The one we lost was much more dependent on me so I'm not sure how she would have coped if her sister had gone first and she was left alone. Not sure what to suggest regarding your poor dog as obviously he's not coping being on his own. Maybe getting another one would be best for you?

He seems to be changing daily. Last night he didn't want to go to bed and then when he did he cried himself to sleep for about 5 minutes. Not full on howling, more a sort of keening noise. V sad. But no howling this morning and although he is still clingy, he is less so. We are giving him extra long walks to tire him out (which had got shorter/more gentle because old dog couldn't cope) and he really loves those. So I think he will get there. I can't face thinking about replacing the old girl yet...!

Just caught up with this. So sorry. We lost our old spaniel to a sudden aggressive liver tumour. One week fine, the next week clearly struggling. We took him to the vets every day for nearly a week but he'd had enough. You know when to let them go. Doesn't make it any easier though.

Sorry to hear about your boy. He's probably worried that someone else might disappear. I personally would give it a while before introducing another dog, I think it's a bit too much all in one go but that's just me.

We picked up our puppy four and a half months after we lost our old boy. It was just meant to be. His mother came highly recommended by a lovely lady here on Mumsnet and that was that. Luckily she was only half an hour away!

I have to say, I do struggle sometimes with feeling guilty that I've replaced our old boy. Which is utterly ridiculous, I know. You don't ever replace a dog, you just have another one. I couldn't be without a dog. I'm used to him now, he is a lovely dog and he deserves to be adored. I still keep thinking about my old boy though. He was a star.

You'll probably find you're ready when you keep thinking about small cuddly puppies and that puppy feet smell. It might help, you never know.