Dog Community

Bleeding Rectal Tumors

Posted : 8/30/2006 9:04:54 PM

Hi everyone! I have a question I'm hoping someone here my be able to help answer. Our family pet Max, a 9 year old male Cocker Spaniel has a rectal tumor that has started to bleed.
We've tried various size bandaids, the liquid bandaid medicine, "new skin" liquid medicine, and even a spray on med for stopping bleeding - all these work to various degrees. Given the location of the tumor, which is close to Max's anus, it is really difficult to not only apply the bandaids (whether the traditional ones or liquid ones) but also to keep them in place. I feel like I need an extra set of arms to apply the bandaids!!

The tumor is somewhat conical in shape and about two weeks ago starting bleeding a little at the very tip. Some liquid bandaid medicine stopped the bleeding and a small bandaid did the trick - the wound started to scab over and seemed to be healing. I'm guessing Max started biting the area this morning before we let him out of his dog crate and the blood flow was a bit more pronounced - not gushing, but enough to warrant some gauze type bandages rather than a single bandaid.

I spoke to our vet and she said they typically use the liquid bandaid medicine situations like this, and suggested trying that and experimenting with various size bandaids. It's been difficult to keep the bandages clean and in place, since they sometimes get soiled when Max goes out to do his duty and then need replacing.

We haven't had any testing done to determine whether this tumor is benign or cancerous - Max has a number of other health issues, including Cushing's Disease, so at this point we're just monitoring the tumor and noting any changes in size, etc.

I have to admit that seeing blood coming from this tumor really scared me. Max means the world to me and my family and I could just be overreacting, but I am in need of suggestions on how best to get the bleeding under control (currently the bleeding is only a few drops here and there on the gauze bandages rather than the amount we saw earlier today) and how to keep the area bandaged.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions/input......

Xebby

Posted : 8/30/2006 9:11:29 PM

If you have a good connection with your vet then thats a good start. To keep it bandaged I might suggest a doggy diper. I've seen them used for dogs in heat to stop the blood from getting all over and in your case this might help some. They seem to stay on well. I hope you stay in contace with your vet and maybe even give him a call and tell him abou the bleeding and what he might suggest also.

calliecritturs

Posted : 8/30/2006 10:35:02 PM

You might use bitches britches with human continence pads in them -- fold them down about an inch from the end and affix them in the pad area so the pad sticks up and *almost* closes the hole for the tail. Then when you put them on make sure it seats directly up under the tail.

THEN TAKE IT OFF when he goes outside. (a sign on the door "take off his britches" will help ... been THERE forgot it more than once *sigh*)

Just don't tell him they are girls britches. Leave the guy SOME dignity!!

sallyhoffman

Posted : 8/31/2006 12:41:44 PM

Xebby and Callie, thanks for the suggestions. I took Max to the vet this morning, just to get things checked out - my main concern was that due to the location of the tumor and the bleeding, it is really hard to keep that area clean and I didn't want him to get an infection. The vet put him on antibiotics to be on the safe side and we scheduled a checkup for next Friday to see if the condition improves. If not, we may have to consider surgery to reduce the size of the tumor. I'm really concerned that the surgery may just be a temporary fix - from what I've read about rectal tumors, they tend to continue to grow and this particular surgery probably wouldn't remove all of the tumor. There are so many muscles in that area I'm concerned that Max may end up with an incontinence problem after surgery. Does anyone have any similar pet stories they'd like to share?

I went shopping this morning and bought toddler pullups, thinking that these might work as well as bitches britches (although I bought one of those too!). I tried the pullups when we got home but I had a tough time holding Max to put them on and trying to figure out where to cut a hole in the pullup for his tail - this job needs more than two hands, so I'll have to try again once my husband comes home from work! I did have success with the britches, using a woman's sanitary pad for absorbancy - so far so good! We had to get real creative last night in using a doggy sweater and dog harness to cover Max's behind so that he couldn't bite at the bandages - it worked, so the bleeding has been reduced significantly......

Callie, I want to thank you again for all the advice you gave me several months ago when I asked about information on how to help deaf dogs who recently lost their eyesight - your posts here and emails were a godsend! I am happy to report that Max did gain his eyesight back - we still aren't sure exactly what happened. During that time he had a tooth extracted due to an absess and his face was swollen, probably due to an infection. We don't know if his temporary loss of eyesight was due to the swelling of his face because of the infection, or if he had a bad reaction to the anesthetic during surgery to remove the tooth, the antibiotics he was given after the tooth extraction, a combination of these events, or some other unknown factor. It took a number of months for Max to regain his eyesight. At first I thought I was imagining things when I would walk down the hallway and Max would start to wag his tail - I kept thinking that he was either feeling the vibrations of my footsteps on the floor or using his nose to smell my scent. Then my children thought he would follow them with his eyes as they moved about the family room. The "ah-ha" moment was when my husband picked up some food from his dinner plate and moved it back and forth through the air - Max's eyes followed that food, tracking it to make sure it didn't disappear! After that we all realized that Max was starting to regain his eyesight - it happened slowly over time, but it did happen and I couldn't be happier!

For those that might not remember my earlier post, we adopted Max almost two years ago (it'll be two years in December) - he was a rescue dog that had been treated very poorly by his former family and he needed a stable, loving home. He was very overweight - 40+ pounds when we brought him home. Through diet and exercise, he was down to 23 pounds by that following spring. He is an absolute joy and such a wonderful pet - I've never owned a dog who wags his tail every single time he sees me! He is one special dog........