Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
my goat is 4 weeks old boy i notice after a week on the botom of his stomach some growth and after 3 weeks the growth become a huge hard lump the size of grapefruit hanging down .. what can i do .. thank u
Abscesses are very common in goats. It's likely nothing more than that, but only a vet can tell you for sure. If it is an abscess, it could be from a caprine disease called Caseous Lymphadenitis. This is zoonotic (can be passed to humans) and it can live in the soil and be passed to other animals. Caseous Lymphadenitis - Goats and Health - GOATWORLD.COM
If you don't have a vet that deals with goats, I would call NC State. Maybe they can direct you to someone.
I just realized you said the goat was only 4 weeks old. Is the abscess near the umbilical cord? Did you dip the cord after birth in iodine to make sure it didn't get infected? if it's possible it's an infection from the cord, I would call a vet immediately. An infection like that can kill a young kid.
My mother's cat just had a low grade soft tissue sarcoma removed from near her salivary glands. They've recommend her for treatment at NCSU and estimated it would be about $5,000-6,000 for a month of treatments.
The cat is 12, so she's wrestling with what to do. She can do nothing and the cancer is likely to recur, but since it's low grade there's little risk of spreading. The surgeon (her local specialist, not here at NCSU) said this particular cancer is rare in cats in this form, so they're not terribly experienced in treating it. They said radiation was the best course to follow, but that's a LOT of money for her.
There were other options for chemo which cut the price in half, but the chemo could have lasted years, from what I understood.
We spent $2K trying to save our 10 year old cat. The vet really wanted to save her since he knew her for years. He's a great doctor and hated to let her go.
After the surgery for lymphoma, he used chemo. It was too much for her to withstand, and she soon passed.
Both we and our vet agree that it's not always kind to buy a limited life extension by inflicting the torture of chemo on a beloved animal.
OP I have no advice, having never had an animal with cancer. However I wish you and your dog the very best - my cat is my baby and if he was ill and there was a chance of cure without pain/suffering, I would do it (he's only 7 as well). I hope you find a great vet.
(Edited to acknowledge that the OP does not want advice. I am not giving you advice, for only you can make this decision. Just wanted to share our experience since others in similar situations also read this thread)
We loved our dog very much, and in fact she was our baby for many years before the human kids came, but we chose not to go the chemo/radiation route. She was also a rescued shelter dog with a mast cell tumor. We chose surgery to remove the tumor, but I was adamently opposed to chemo and radiation because I did not want to subject her to the pain and suffering of the side-effects -- I would have absolutely chosen either or both if they provided good odds of prolonged life of high quality, but in our case the odds were not reassuring. In retrospect, we waited too late to surgically remove the tumor -- that is my only regret. Once we were told that this was a mast cell tumor (rather than a lipoma), we chose to do lab work and an xray. However, I knew that we would not treat based on biopsy info at that point. We decided that we would put her to sleep only if she lost bowel or bladder function, went into renal failure, or showed signs of being in pain. She did take a pain reliever and benadryl on a daily basis. We had a few months to spend time with her and say our goodbyes before her back legs suddenly became paralyzed -- it was heartbreaking to reach that point because she was suffering greatly right after her legs gave out (but no signs of pain prior to this) and I wish that we had chosen euthanasia just a little earlier. I realized then that dogs try to put up a brave front for their owners and not show weakness, and that being helpless may have made her feel like she let us down somehow (she kept trying to walk, seemed ashamed, it was heartbreaking and not something I wanted her to go through -- dogs are so brave and loyal). However, I am glad that we were able to take her to the dog park and spoil her for those last months without her having to deal with extreme fatigue, vomiting, or other side-effects from chemo.
Anyway, just wanted to let you know that limited treatment is sometimes a valid choice for your loved one. It is most important to have a good discussion with the veterinarian about the pros/cons of each of your available choices. Sometimes radiation or certain drugs are good choices, but sometimes they cause unnecessary suffering. You should then also have a better understanding of which diagnostic tests make sense, and which are unnecessary. Though you have the wonderful vet school there, a compassionate, knowledgable family vet can also guide you through this process. Ours was absolutely wonderful.
If you go into this with "quality of life" (minimal suffering) guiding your decision-making rather than prolongation of life, you will absolutely make the best decision possible with the information you will be provided. I wish the best for you and your love bug.
Last edited by west seattle gal; 04-01-2013 at 11:32 PM..
They charged us 248 bucks for pills that I found out after the fact that costs 68 cents a piece but my pup pup is fine now so alls well that ends well. If you go there id get them to write you a prescription and find any meds elsewhere.
Keep in mind the original OP posted a year ago. I'm sure whatever decision was made was made a long time ago!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
