mammary tumours in my dog

Question
Dear Jana,i hope you may be able to help me. 7 weeks ago i found a large lump on one side of my dog chakka(who is 16) lowest nipple,this has now become 2 oblong masses on both sides of her lowest nipples,which are huge red,inflamed,ulcerated and a brownish liquid or maybe even dried blood is all around this area and her nipples are so hard and bleed a bit and it looks terrible and like its rotting away,throughout this time,she has been regularly to our vet.We decided to see if we could opererate.The blood test,which was ok was done by my vet,but an chest x-ray wasn't very clear to him and he pointed out when he showed me the x-rays, various points where he said it could be nodules or maybe not-it wasn't as clear as he and i would have liked it to be,she is on carprodyl and tramodol tablets and he gave me fuciderm gel(which can only be used for 3-4 days) to rub in this area-she also has a cyst the size of a 50 pence piece on her right side near her armpit which has ulcerated and is oozing liquid and i also discovered under her armpit scaly patches dried and oozing brown liquid and many little nodules under and around both her armpits and above like a string of rosary beads-i know that the prognosis cant be good for my angel,but when i asked my vet about anything else i could do or how long she had left,he just said it could be 2 weeks or 6 months-it looks so bad underneath her and she is panting a lot and moaning and always licking that area-i just don't know what to do for the best,put her to sleep or keep going till she lets me know-she still eats a lot likes her walks,comes for love-i just don't know when i should say goodbye to her and let her go-i don't want her to suffer and its breaking my heart and i am confused and worried so much,thank-you Dorne Maskrey

Answer
Dorne,
I am sorry that this has happened to your sweet dog. I just lost my 15 yr old cat so I know the pain that this causes.
I always tell people that as long as their pet is eating, it has not given up yet. Once she does, that will be her way of telling you she is ready.

Now if she is moaning from pain that makes it harder. We never want our sweet pets to suffer and sometimes I wonder if they hold on for us.
I told my Crouton that it was okay to let go and the very next day she gave me the "look" that says I am done.

It broke my heart also but after she was gone I felt relieved that she was no longer suffering. She had kidney failure. Your dog has lung cancer that has spread from her mammary tumors. She cannot be very comfortable.

I know it's a very hard decision to make to end their lives but we are giving them a gift. That is how I felt holding my cat in my arms and she went so peacefully.
So know that while it is hard for us to make the choice, we need to know when to let go and stop their pain and suffering. To me it was harder knowing she was feeling so bad from her kidneys not working anymore that losing her was a small sacrifice to pay to do the best thing for her.

I miss her every day and night and you will miss Chakka also but you will sleep better knowing she is at peace. When she gives you the look or stops eating- you will know it is time. If her wounds on her belly become unbearable for her to keep cleaning and licking you may have to make the choice sooner.

What ever you do, know that it is the best for her and a gift of love from you. After the lifetime of love they have given us, we cannot give them anything less.

My prayers are with you both.