My dog is 16 and has a lump in the gum. What should i do?

[starshar]

My maltese is 16 this year. He has a swollen gum at the side of his mouth for many years, it swell to a lump.

Currently my dog is healthy, eating well (he has a big appetite in fact!), defecating and urinating have no problem. He also doesnt seem to be affected by the lump as well.

I would like to emphasis, he is 16, so we really wish to minimize his pain and discomfort. We hope he stays happy this way, since 16 is an old age and dogs' life spans usually stop around 16-18 for the lucky ones.


*I have done abit of googling, and it seems like it is a case of epulis. It can only be removed by surgery. Now my question is, do you think I should send my dog to the surgery? Or just leave it since it doesn't affect his daily lifestyle at all.

 

[boxermomof2]

Personally, I would take him to the vet and at the very least, have them do a fine needle aspiration to see if it's cancerous. Then you can decide how to proceed. No one knows your dog better than you, but you need to have a vet diagnose what it is.
They found a lump in my boxer's anal sac. I took him in for a biopsy and they confirmed it was cancer. I chose not to do surgery because of his age 12.5 years old (senior for a boxer), it would have maybe gave us a few extra months with him. I knew that was not the right thing to do for him.

 

[Cindi]

Definitely take him to the vet. It might be something as simple as an bad tooth or abscess. He might not show it but he might be in a lot of pain. Dogs are good at hiding illness. My 18 year old cat had a really bad tooth. She had it removed and came through just fine. She feels much better with it gone. I would find out for sure, know your options then make a decision.

 

[boxermom]

Yes, take your dog to the vet. He can diagnose the severity. You can weigh your options then. Sometimes with an older dog, surgery may be too risky, but you need all the information you can get.

Good luck!

 

[Ladybug09]

My maltese is 16 this year. He has a swollen gum at the side of his mouth for many years, it swell to a lump.

Currently my dog is healthy, eating well (he has a big appetite in fact!), defecating and urinating have no problem. He also doesnt seem to be affected by the lump as well.

I would like to emphasis, he is 16, so we really wish to minimize his pain and discomfort. We hope he stays happy this way, since 16 is an old age and dogs' life spans usually stop around 16-18 for the lucky ones.


*I have done abit of googling, and it seems like it is a case of epulis. It can only be removed by surgery. Now my question is, do you think I should send my dog to the surgery? Or just leave it since it doesn't affect his daily lifestyle at all.

Check out acupuncture. My friend did this for her lab who was older to help shrink fatty tumors, and it worked, and is non invasive. You may still need to do a check up though to certify exactly what the problem is. But for a dog that age, I would not do any invasive procedures.

 

[nori west]

I agree that a vet visit is warranted. I tend to be on the "over-cautious" side of things, so every small thing that I notice, my pets get dragged down to the vet.

For senior pets, the rule of thumb is, every 6 months, you should take them in for a senior checkup. At this stage of life, things can change quite quickly with their health. Very best wishes to you and your pup! Sixteen years old is quite wonderful!

 

[shalomjude]

I would visit the vet too…after taking Jude to our usual vet (of 10 years) we weren't happy with the outcome as she just kept giving antibiotics for a mouth infection. We changed to another one and he diagnosed Jude with an aggressive throat cancer within 3 days of doing blood test, biopsy and scan.

They were an excellent team and were so kind and caring towards Jude as she went on her new journey .. we visited them almost everyday in the last month of her time with us and more often than not there was no charge and during the last 2 weeks of her life the vet telephoned every evening to see how she was travelling.

Good Luck