dog surgery
 

My 2 dogs live with my parents and I see them every Sunday when we go to their house for dinner. One of my dogs is rottweiler/shepherd and he's gotta be the best dog I've ever had. I got him for 50$ off a native reserve when I was in my early 20's.

About 2 years ago he started to get lipoma on his front left leg at the shoulder. We had it removed, it was benign, but the vet said there's a chance it can come back and the only way to guarantee it won't would be to amputate his leg. Obviously we decided to keep his leg because he's old and wouldn't be able to adjust. The lipoma came back and is getting large but the vet doesn't want to do the surgery saying that it's pointless and he may not wake up from the anesthesia. Even if it everything goes well and he's good after a surgery it'll start to come back in maybe a year. We're okay with knowing it'll come back so long as he can continue to enjoy his life for the time being.


My question is this, would you go with the vet or against his claim that the dog wouldn't wake up from anesthesia?
From every pet owners website and dogs health site I've read says that it's a major misconception that a dog is too old to be put under and there's only a .2% death rate which is rare. There's no such thing as a general anesthesia and everything is carefully monitored to ensure safety.

Do you think the vet is just saying it's not worth his time?
We've used this vet for as long as I can remember and we've always had positive results from him. I won't say the name of the place unless people are curious and possibly have reviews of vets in Burnaby.


Thanks!

perfectly fine to get a second opinion if you want.

side story; my buddy also has an old dog and he was really determined that he knew more than the vet, he decided to not go ahead on surgery and took the risk. Dog deteriorated really quickly and they had to put him down in a week's time. It was sad to say the least and its a moot point now. The vet are professionals and their advice does weight in some what.

I'm surprised your vet even mentioned amputating your dog's leg, considering a lipoma is benign and generally painless. I'd go for a second opinion if I were in your shoes.

However, the idea that anesthesia is taxing on a senior dog can be true. It highly depends on the health of the senior dog and whether or not they have any cardiac issues.

Why not get a second opinion?

My sister's dog lived to almost 15 with a half dozen lipomas. Amputation was never discussed.

PM me if you want a good vet 4 coworkers and a friend recommended when I got my second dog. (Original vet specialized in my first dog's breed)