By Heidi Clayton
In October 2022, my 12-year-old boy Ki ingested a plastic fur-covered toy mouse. Long story short, he had X-rays to see if the mouse was moving along in his small intestines. The X-rays taken were sent to a radiologist who found that Ki had some sort of “blemish” on his spleen. The blemish could have just been what his spleen looked like. However, the big worry was that Ki was growing a tumor on the spleen known as a hemangiosarcoma.
Known as the “silent killer,” hemangiosarcoma is a highly invasive cancer. It is the cause of about two-thirds of all reported heart tumors and is the most common type of splenic tumor in dogs. This aggressive cancer strikes mixed breeds at just as high of a rate as purebreds. They do tend to occur more in older dogs. According to the American Kennel Club’s Health Foundation, hemangiosarcomas are responsible for about 300,000 reported dog deaths per year.
In the majority of cases, hemangiosarcoma goes undetected until it becomes severe or terminal. This is why there is such a high number of reported deaths from it. Dogs with a tumor on the spleen, for example, exhibit almost no symptoms that a tumor is growing rapidly until it is often too late. In Ki’s case, it was only discovered after he ingested a foreign body. Otherwise, he showed absolutely no signs of being ill. Symptoms of hemangiosarcoma can be very subtle such as pale gums, lethargy, and weakness.
Several veterinary schools and health organizations are researching how to produce a reliable test to predict if your dog is predisposed to hemangiosarcoma, including developing a type of blood test. Currently, the only way to diagnose the condition is with X-rays, an ultrasound conducted by a skilled internist, or surgery that removes the affected tissue and then checks for cancer. If the hemangiosarcoma is attached to the spleen, then removing the entire spleen would be warranted. The splenic tumor would then be tested for cancer. The spleen must be removed without breaking it to prevent the spread of the disease. Often, due to the nature of the spleen’s job in the body, a blood transfusion is needed.
If the condition is caught early enough, younger dogs with splenic tumors can have their spleens removed. If the cancer has not spread, these dogs can go on to live long healthy lives. However, if the cancer has spread, it varies from dog to dog how successful cancer treatment and surgery would be. When surgery is not an option due to the cancer spreading, most dogs with this condition live about six weeks or so post-diagnosis.
I had scheduled an ultrasound with an internist for Ki two days after the X-ray. However, he ended up not living long enough to go to the appointment.
On the day he died, we had a lovely walk at the horse farm. He ate tons of horse treats and begged for a few bites of my dinner. Then he suddenly collapsed on the kitchen floor. His gums were just about white. I knew in an instant that the blemish was a splenic tumor. Despite immediately rushing him to Mount Laurel for surgery, the tumor had already burst. There was no alternative but to let him go. Since then, I have spoken with countless dog owners who have sadly lost their dogs to this silent killer.
I certainly don’t wish to scare everyone but rather inform you about this aggressive cancer. If you notice subtle changes in your dog like periodic lethargy or weakness, talk to your vet about the possibility of a hemangiosarcoma being present.
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at heidi@fouronthefloordogtraining.net.
Heidi Clayton started Four On the Floor Dog Training to provide positive, reward-based dog training in South Jersey. She breeds, trains and shows bull terriers under the SoraBully’s Bull Terriers kennel name. Email questions to heidi@fouronthefloordogtraining.net or learn more at https://fouronthefloordogtraining.net
