I’ve been trying to think of something helpful to say but I know only too well there really isn’t anything that will make you feel better right now. We lost our lovely Oscar about this time last year and I’m only just able to talk about it.
Every dog is the best dog.
Do you have another pet in the house?
. After my little dog dies peacefully about the same age as yours, my cat, who had shared most of her life with the dog, grieved terribly - and I thought they shared a mutual loathing of each other… She still looks for the dog and I think she blames me for the absence.
The friendly ghost of my dog lives on and cheers me.
It will take time, sad for you.
We have another little dog. She is also getting on in years. Our main focus now is to make her the centre of attention.
I realised today that our dog is 9 years old. The kids wanted another dog and he’s pretty good but I still miss my best mate Ralph 12 years later. Vale Ralph 1991- 2007. Everybody loved Ralph. His last day 
Buy some Rescue Remedy for your doggie from the Chemist. Put some in her water, on her food and on her tongue and then, take some yourself. It works. It calms the CNS.
Our new lad Gus has been with us for ten days now. He’s settled in beautifully and is becoming a relaxed, well mannered young gentleman. He responds so well to lessons and is wonderfully eager to please. I suspect both he and we will benefit from each other’s company during the current restrictions and emerge in joyful anticipation of our first VFL game together. 
How old is he, Darli?
Been working from home for almost 2 weeks now & can’t believe how much our 8 year old Lab sleeps.
I know dogs sleep a lot but I reckon he’s nudging 18 hours a day.
What a life.
He’s 5 mate
Ta.
Was thinking, fark, why is my puppy so jumpy & mouthy, and Boot’s is all well mannered?
I would appreciate any comments that anyone here would like to make.
Marshall our Black Lab had further tests with bits of his liver and spleen tested for this Mast Cell cancer; and they came back clear, which is good news, so it seems this cancer has not yet spread… The biopsies from the tumour on his chest show that it is aggressive stage 3, and our Vet, who we trust, says that she can cut more away with surgery and hope to get all the cancer cells, but cannot guarantee anything and it is not likely that she can. It will be a difficult surgery and she will have to leave the wound open for a time as they may not be enough flesh to close it with stiches. We can then have chemotherapy and radiation treatment which would never cure Marshall but could extend his life.
I hate putting dogs through any surgery, as in my experience it is very stressful, and it may or may not extend his life. His quality of life would also be affected by the chemo drugs.
If anyone has any experience with this or wants to say anything, please do.
Personally mate, I wouldn’t do it to him. That’s a horrendous thing with no guarantee of success. I’d be more inclined to make sure he was comfortable and enjoy whatever time he has left. Hard choice my friend.
This is easy for me to say but avoid surgery if you can especially if the vet is 50/50
It takes too much out of them.
Good luck
Have to say, I was thinking the same as Boot here. What you described sounded just horrible.
All that stress & pain with little chance of getting right, makes it a fairly straight forward choice I think.
you sure boots had a hand in that?
Feel very sorry for you Bacchus. Such difficult decisions to make one way or the other. Many years ago our beautiful 6 year old Golden Retriever was diagnosed with a lymphoma that the Vet felt would respond well to chemotherapy. We took him to a specialist in Malvern and it was all just awful. He did not respond well and had lumps cut out of him everywhere. When we went to collect him after the final treatment he struggled to walk. It was absolutely heart breaking. It is a decision we regretted our whole lives. It also skewed our views with difficult surgery or treatment for our many other dogs. Having said all that, it was a long time ago (late 1980’s) and medicine had come a long way since then.
Whatever you decide to do it will be the right decision as it will be made with love and Marshall’s best interest at heart.
I just wanted to add that while they are the most loving, loyal & forgiving animals they don’t know that they have cancer. They just want to be with you and as pain free as possible.
I loved my dog to bits but felt the surgery was just delaying the inevitable. She had a cancer near her stomach, she didn’t appear to be in great pain so I tried to pick her up and she screamed and kept screaming. I rang the Vet and we took her down in the arvo and euthanised her. I did not want to put her through it but I didn’t want to lose her either. I had to make a choice and I decided I had to love her enough to let her go. It still hurts but I know I did the right thing for her maybe not for me.
Sorry for you as I know how much it hurts and how much you love your dog.
It’s so easy to look at it from afar and say - don’t put him through it.
At 9, he has had the best of his life and the surgery would be massive and do you want to have memories of his last few years recovering and battling this?
But then - when it’s your dog, it is so difficult to evaluate things because your love for them clouds your judgement.
I think everyone here will say don’t put him through it, but if you do go ahead then it is also totally understandable.
All the best.
I reckon he has a few good years left … I’m strongly in the ‘if there’s a chance it’s worth it’ camp.
Hard without knowing all the facts and talking to the vet but if it were my dog, I wouldn’t think twice.