What are the symtoms of a enlarged spleen

[GypsyGSD]

Can anyone give me the signs of a enlarged spllen in dogs , what are the signs and how long would it take for a massive internal bleed to occour Gypsyx

[kita1]

Not totally sure but this is what happened to my GSD (she was 5).

One day I had gone to work as normal at 8 oclock, gave my dogs a handful of cooked liver before I left. Came home at dinnertime 12 ish. and let my dogs out. Sheba was sick in the back yard, I could clearly see pieces of the liver still whole. Took her to the vets that afternoon. The vet examined her and said that she thought the spleen felt enlarged, I could not feel anything unusual. Took her back two days later, another vet examined her, said he could feel something enlarged, but was not sure whether it was the spleen or the liver. Booked her in for an operation (this was Friday) on the Monday, said he was glad he was not operating!

The vet operated on Monday, said that dogs can survive well without a spleen, the operation should take about an hour at the outside. Two hours later she phoned me, said the spleen was massive and had twisted (torsion), she said it weighed about three times what it should, it was full of blood, but the good news was that it was smooth so there was no cancer.

My bitch recovered well, but sadly I lost her 6 months later with bone cancer in her hind leg.

My understanding is that the spleen helps the immune system, and I wonder to this day if removing it helped the cancer to spread more rapidly. I also wonder if the spleen being enlarged was a sign that it was overloaded trying to fight the cancer.

I think that the spleen helps to make and store the blood cells so that could be why it can give rise to massive internal bleeding.

The spleen, both in humans and animals, is still not totally understood, we are still not totally sure why it is there, or what it is used for.

[GypsyGSD]

Thank you kita for your answer it has helped a lot ,GypsyX

[ProperBoPeep]

I presume you are wondering about the possibility of a tumour on the spleen. It really depends - often a large growth may be detected by eithe rseeing a swelling or unusual look about the abdoman. However - a smaller growth you won't be able to detect.

Most splenic tumours are either haemangiomas or haemangiosarcomas. Both are bad news - because often the dog will show little or no signs of a problem until they start to bleed.

If the bleeding is slow, you may get signs of a chronic anaemia (tired, weight loss etc) but if the bleeding is sudden you may have a dog that goes from perfectly well, to suddenly collapsed, with pale mucous membranes, rapid thready heart rate and in real difficulties.

In almost all cases, the treatment is to stabilise using fluids and/or blood and/or blood substitutes and then investigative surgery. Then possibilies may include - partial splenectomy, complete splenectomy or possible euthanasia if there are signs that the cancer has spread.

Good luck and best wishes.

[kita1]

This is a case like BoPeep describes:

http://www.crescentcityvet.com/showpracfaq.cfm ?FAQID=117&Private=0

You did as much as you possibly could Gypsy, I know how you feel, Sheba was the first dog I ever lost, she was my soul mate, my 'special' one and I did everything I could to help her, but sometimes it is not to be.

I did what you are trying to do, learned from everything she went through in the hope that I can help other people understand and help their own dogs.

We expect vets to know it all and to save our dogs, but sometimes they are feeling their way too, they don't always get it right, they are human too and make mistakes, probably all we can do is hope they learn from them.

Take care.

[GypsyGSD]

Thank you for your answers It really has helped me decide my next cause of action , as you may already no I lost my gsd xmas eve , after I had taken him to vets 8 days before because he was un well , not himself ,instead of acting on his tender areas in groin and stomach I was adviced to have hip x ray not a ultra scan as I now no would have been better for him he was also given a drug for inflamation which can cause bleeding in the intestine ,and told to give it to him with out food I now no this was wrong advice also as my recent correspondnce with my vet has confirmed thank you all again Gypsy x

[GypsyGSD]

I would like to add I have owned and worked dogs for many years and I am able to accept thing can go wrong and we loose them sadly in this case I feel things could have been different if different options were given on the two visits I made prior to his colaspe GypsyX