sproulman

toby my lab in oct of 2009 while we were hunting grouse acted like he hurt his front paw.
over years this happens to all of us while hunting.
so i got home and gave him baby aspirin.day or so later he was walking fine but licking his paw.
i looked at the paw and saw that one on his toe nails on toe was bro off.this has happen on dogs i owned for 46 yrs .its normal in woods hunting.
so he licked it on and off and i thought it was just nail exposing the quick.
i then smelled his paw last week, it had funny smell to it and looked like it was swollen.
black labs toes are hard to see difference from each other but it looked bigger than others.so i made appt with vet and went with toby.
vet first asked HOW OLD IS TOBY.i said 7 yrs old.he said BLACK LABS GET TUMORS IN THEIR TOES over 7 yrs old.
i was shocked to hear that.he took no test just squeezed the toe.he said,SPROUL I CAN FEEL SOMETHING HARD INSIDE TOBYS TOE.
next comment almost made me throw up.he said SPROUL I HAVE TO TAKE TOBYS WHOLE TOE OFF BACK TO FOOT.
I WAS JUST SICK, I ALMOST PASSED OUT.without testing he is almost sure toby has SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA OF DIGIT..
the digit is the TOE.
he said BLACK LABS get this and it can be on any toe..it can spread and go into other parts of organs etc.
i now feel bad i did not take him to vet in oct but i thought it was sore foot from nail breaking.
vet said, SPROUL WHEN A DOGS NAILS START TO BREAK OFF THATS A SIGN HE HAS SOMETHING INSIDE HIS TOE.they get brittle.
it was always that toe that nail bro off on .
i was ready to cry.dad is sick and now this,what next?

reason i put this on i may have risked tobys life by not getting to vet sooner.if this cancer is threw him he will need chemotherapy.8 months ago he started getting tumors ,2 on his side. vet said that they were just FATTY TUMORS,no worry.i believe that then cancer was showing itself.
those same TUMORS are getting bigger...
operation/testing will cost 1,000 dollars.then ,i hope not that it is threw him ..if so, he will need to go to cancer center.

what shock i had,i feel so bad for not getting him to vet sooner

take care sproul

roo3006

Sproulman, Dont beat yourself up over it. Theres been a few times I wish I would have gotten my dog to the vet sooner but, Most times things like that are what they appear.
I did loose a dog to cancer last spring. Like your pup she had some lumps that the vet said were- Just fatty tumers. Sure wish I could find a working crystal ball.

I did start a thread on Helping cure cancer in dogs. Please pass that info on to your vet. There's some really smart people there trying to do some good for are K9 friends.

sproulman

toby had his toe or DIGIT removed. they sent it to oncologist for testing.there is 3 stages of this.1 is it was benign and toby should live 5 yrs.2 is if he has cancer with radiation/chemo he could live up to 5 yrs ,26 months is area of to watch.
3 if its in lungs on lympohs its around 1 year .

3 stages.
i am hoping that its stage 1.toby is doing real good walking. first day he fell a lot but now he is doing much better.
here is another one. BLACK LABS get this more than yellow labs.
vet said he had a black lab that had 3 digets removed, 1 on each foot.
also outside toes are better to remove than the 2 inside ones. the inside toes are weight bearing ones.tobys was front inside toe or no. 3 .dewclaw is also toe ,no.1.
my next hunting american lab i believe i will get insurance.vet bills today are very expensive.

5 weeks of radiation is 4,000 dollars.3 times a week.vet felt sorry for toby and knocked 160 dollars off bill .he has 3 labs ......

so, thats where toby is now.
thanks for PM ,its nice to know you have friends on here.

take care sproul...........

Phil from Maine

I am sorry to hear about Toby Sproul.. I had missed this thread some how. My wife and I had a black lab that had the fatty tumors on her side. She was at the vets a few times ti have them removed. They were never tested and she lived to be a ripe old age of 17yrs. So the fatty tumors never really bother her none. I hope this turns out to be the case with Toby for you. The vet also told us the average age for a lab is around 9 yrs.. So I think you are taking good care of Toby and I am guessing he will continue to live quite a few more years as well.
I also hope that your dad is doing better as I know that gets hard to do as well.
Take care of yourself...

x-mountie

Sproul, I have a 9 year old weimaraner. Last fall we had to remove one of his "inner" toes. We, along with the vet5 thought it may be a form of cancer, so it was monitored very closely. Everything has been clearl and no further problems in that area ( touch wood ). I had also been a bit concerned about lumps on his side near the chest area. The vet did a biopsy of these and they were found to be fatty tissue. Because they didn't azppear to be causing him trouble the vet advised to just leave them alone. Today he is like a pup. Running and cavorting with the neighboours dog ( an 11 year old black lab ).

I hope it all turns out well for you, as I am susre it will. Good luck to Toby.

sproulman

thanks friends.......

Mite

Sorry to hear about Toby. My setter who turns 5 at the end of march also developed a .25" fatty tumor on her right side. Vet tested it and confirmed it, non-benign. A friend has a lab mix, and he's spent 7K on his dog, operated on both shoulders. That's when I decided to get insurance.

After looking around, Pets Best is the one I chose. $20/month for 80% of all cost and they are backed by one of the largest insurance companies.

Good luck with Toby, I'm sure he won't notice it when out hunting.

sproulman

most of tumors from what vet said are fatty ones. boy, some dogs they are big as tennis ball.boxers are very bad on tumors,my sisters boxers had them all over.

does insurance cover regular visits and like dental cleanings.toby had his teeth cleaned 2 times in 7 years.
i guess you have to get it when they are puppy.
i was planning to get another dog around time toby would be unable to hunt grouse.

those setters are great grouse dogs.my sisters boxer cost her 660 dollars just for tests last week.they then said it was old age, at 12 yrs old i guess boxer is old.

take care all........

Mite

My pet insurance is mainly catastrophic insurance. If sick or accidents then it kicks in and will pay 80% of cost. I have to pay first and they reimburst me. This is how most pet insurance work. They also don't cover pre-existing conditions or hereditary illnesses like Crucial Ligament injuries in labs. Some do cover them.

Any routine care is not covered by the plan I chose. There are additional riders you can buy that will cover those like teeth cleaning, physical, etc. That stuff I can usually do myself as I have a few friends that are vet techs. +1 reason to go to neighborhood dog parks.

PetsBest is just one insurance company. There's several more; VPI, Embrace, AKC insurance, etc. spend an hour and research the best for you and then decide if you really need it. Some vets will recommend not getting insurance (A vet recommended not to get insurance to my a friend, later his dachshund broke his back. He spend 4K in vet bills).

sproulman

toby pulled his bandage off today, i guess it itched.i was shocked to see the vet took off 2 digets not 3 digets.take your finger and count first joint as diget,next is diget and last is diget which is into foot.

boy, it looks awful missing.this is his weight bearing toes and he is limping on it.i may have to get a hunting boot for toby to wear from now on for support, dont know yet but i think i will do it.
so far he is getting around but limps after about 10 minutes on foot.
other than that his test on toe will be tuesday,hoping it will be benign or stage 1 at most.
take care sproul...........