Dog with mast cell tumour

[Bitofhelppls]

Hi hoping someone who has a dog who has mast cell tumour and their experience. My 9 yr old bearded collie cross had a lump removed a few weeks ago. We knew it was worrisome but pathology has come back as grade 2 mast cell tumour. We are going into talk to the vet Monday about next steps. We are in between where if it was grade 1 then removal of the lump and monitor and stage 3 where it's pretty aggressive and chemo is recommended. So we are trying to figure out whether we should go the chemo route for him. He is such a nervous dog, gets stressed easily and is very prone to stomach upset and refusing food. I have found plenty of information online from a vets perspective but wondering if anyone else who owned a dog with this and had to make the same decisions. would mind sharing their experiences?

My dog had a mast cell tumour last year. She was 10 and we didn't want to drag out chemo so we opted to have the operation. It was a big op and she took some time to recover however it was successful and they got the whole lump out.

The vets were pretty worried about it so they went straight to removal and had to remove quite a big area on his underside. Thankfully he seems to be recovering well just quite sore. I guess I could ask them do they think they got it all. Thank you for sharing, hope she is doing well after the removal.

My dog also had a grade 2 mast cell tumour and we had it removed. It was a big op but it was all removed and she is completely fine now. We wouldn't have put her through chemo, the vet described what would have been involved and she would have been very distressed. Hope it works out well for your dog.

Usually removing mast cell tumours with wide surgical margins is sufficient to manage them, often this is curative. chemo is usually reserved for widespread tumours, ones which are difficult to fully remove or have recurred. There are some extra lab tests they can run on the samples to assist in grading the tumour and assess suitability for chemotherapy if needed. Try not to worry, your vet will be able to go through more specific information relating to your dogs case when they get the lab report back.

Thank you for sharing. Yes, I think we are best waiting to speak to the vet and ask did the pathology come back with clean margins and take it from there. He's in good form, bar a bit of discomfort hopefully when the stitches come out on Monday, he'll feel better. So that's positive.

Vet trip was a mixed bag. The lab tests showed clean margins which is positive but it is an aggressive type with high levels of cell division. We have booked him in for further scans and removal of the next lymph node to see if it has spread so more waiting and another op for him. The vet did take us through the vinblastine and what that would entail with the other at home meds as an alternative. He's the type of dog that is extremely prone to upset tummy and going off his food and gets very stressed going to the vets so I'm not sure we will go down those routes. So not sure if we are making the right decision for him, it's hard to know. But he still seems happy and in good form.