Not sure if it was a cancer vs abnormal growth but when my Standard Poodle Sara was 9, I had her laying on her side for grooming. I felt down her ribcage and belly (her fav) and felt an apricot sized lump, more inside than externally.
I had my brother-in-law vet feel for it over Thanksgiving that weekend and he didn’t find it. I am persistent and knew what I felt so I got Sara in for an ultrasound that revealed a mass on her spleen. (My brother in law couldn’t feel it because the spleen flops into the ribcage at times.) They removed the spleen that week.
Sara lived to age 11 1/2 and walked in the 2016 PuppyUp Madison walk a week before she passed. Her final cause of death was from the Mast Cell Tumors taking out her ability to pee. We had been watching them for over a year.
My pets now have pet insurance so I don’t have to WATCH again. I want to act.
~ Lynda Nelson, CPDT – KA
