14 + yr old husky w/sore on his face

Question
My dog has a sore/tumor on the side of his face that started as a mole. I have been cleaning and putting antibiotic on it. Just as it starts to scab he rubs it open and it bleeds. Is there a good bandage for him that I can get to protect during healing? My vet wants to remove it by putting him under. One and most important....I do not want him cut on at this stage in his life. He has bad hips, eyes and under the skin lumps as well as other moles that are growing. I really am scared he will not make it to much longer and just want his last year (s) to be less painful for him. Two....I can not afford it! His mom passed a few years ago from cancer. He has a hard time getting up & down but once he does he is like a puppy!

Answer
Really, the only thing that you can do is put an E-collar on him so that he cant rub his head against something. Unfortunatly, because it is on his face it is not a good idea to bandage it, it needs to be open to heal. If you are loathe to remove it, and I understand not wanting to put your dog under at this stage in his life, then the only thing you can do is put an e-collar on him and keep him restricted until it dries up. However, if this is a tumor that will continue to grow, it will get to the point where it gets so large you HAVE to remove it, or uthenize him. It will be very painful at that point. While it is small you may want to really reconsider the surgery. Call around to other vets and find out if it can be removed with local anestetic. (if it is very small) many vets have payment plans, and there is also carecredit that allows you to put it on a credit card. Of course, this is all your decision but I wanted to make sure you had all the information available to you.

Good luck with him!