Update: My dog has a mass in his intestine.
Last edited Mon Mar 23, 2020, 12:11 PM - Edit history (1)
A little while ago I posted about my dog having a tonsil removed as part of a workup on his esophagus. During that workup the tonsil was found not to be cancerous. However, he was diagnosed with pancreatitis and anemia. During the week after diagnosis, he had a vestibular disturbance, which I think was triggered by his pain meds. He's been on a low fat diet and doesn't always feel like eating.
Yesterday he had an abdominal ultrasound. It showed a mass in his proximal duodenum, which is near the pancreas. So this may not be a true pancreatitis, but rather the pancreas is reacting to the mass.
He's scheduled for surgery next monday. I'm worried, of course. The vets at my clinic have been awesome, and I am so glad they are still working.
After Monday, at least I will know what's going on with him.
Monday: I took him to the vet this morning, and they called me about 2 hours later. He reacted to the anesthesia by spiking a temperature so they could not do the operation. They need to find a place where he can get the surgery with an anesthesiologist present.
He's not eating, and without surgery I fear he will starve to death. 
= new reply since forum marked as read
relief and good news. So glad you have a good clinic 
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Good dog 
with my 12 year old border collie, Tag. Starting in December of ‘18...I thought he was having a stroke. He was drooling and wobbly. When I lifted him into the car, it was clear he was quite painful too.
I took him in to the vet and through blood work and an ultrasound, we found he had pancreatitis. He had none of the risk factors. He was very active, isn’t given anything to eat other than dog food...he wasn’t overweight. They gave Tag fluids, IV antibiotics and pain meds. It took a couple days and he was back to normal. Then, two weeks later, he went down again. An second ultrasound found a mass near his pancreas. The vet did surgery right away. I was told that messing around with the pancreas is something that vets prefer to avoid...when a pancreas is angry, all hell can break loose. Anyway, they sent the mass off to the pathologist and the results came back as an infection but no cancer, thankfully. Treatment going forward was a prescription ultra low fat dog food. The food is very expensive but what’re you going to do?
We had several bouts of pancreatitis over the next 6 months, all requiring a few days of hospitalization every time Tag went down. Last a July when they found a second mass near his pancreas. We did another surgery to remove a mysterious mass that pathologists agreed was not cancerous. The conclusion was that the mass had formed an adhesion to the pancreas that irritated it. Tag has been pancreatitis free since then. Still on the special dog food that costs a mint...but I don’t care as long as he’s happy and healthy. He’s 13 now.
Sorry for the long post, but wanted to tell you our story in case it might be helpful to you. The pancreas is a mystery and oh so sensitive. I’ll be thinking about you and wishing you well.
🐶
If your dog is fat you don't usually need a vet to diagnose it.
I hope yours does well with the knee surgery. Years ago I had a dog with torn ACLs on both hind legs. Had them repaired one at a time, 3 months apart.
What we do for love. 
I had to euthanize a cat because he had a mass in his colon. He was old, 15, and had other medical issues. Euthanasia was the best solution.
So glad to hear that surgery is possible for your baby.
