Tumor

Question
I have a 12 an one half year old female German shepherd. We took her to the vet and he said that she has a tumor on her mammary gland. She is on 375 mg of clavamox two times a day. My questions to you is this do you think that she is in pain (she does not seem to be to me) and how long can she live this way. She is a very sweet girl and we want what is best for her and are willing to do what we can to make her last days easy. The vet does not want to do surgery because of her age. Is there any thing else that I can do for her. I clean her tumor every day two times a day. I clean it with warm water and then I put peroxide on it. There is open wounds on the tumor that is why I clean it with peroxide. I just want to do what is best for her. Thank you for your help.

Answer
How big is this tumor? We have taken off many tumors from dogs older than this. The problem is not her age so much as they come back no matter what youse  do.

These kinds of tumors generally are from a dog not being spayed or spayed too old, past the age of four.

Peroxide is very hot- it burn tissues.You need to dilute it 50% with water otherwise you are actually causing tissue damage to the area.

These tumors generally don't metastasize but they do spread and usually become pretty rotten. It is tough to say how long she will live. If she had this one removed she could be very comfortable for another year or two before it gets bad once again.

The open sores on these tumors don't heal well and just get worse. If your vet won't take it off maybe you should call around and see if another vet will.

If not, all you can do is make her comfortable until they are too much for either one of you to deal with.