Doug is a 7 year old German Shepherd Dog who was brought into the surgery, in Crediton, by his owners when he became suddenly lethargic and off his food.

Doug was examined by one of the vets during morning surgery and found to be pale with a raised temperature, and more worryingly a large mass was felt in his abdomen.

After discussions with his owner, Doug was admitted for and exploratory laparotomy – an operation to open his abdomen and investigate the cause of the large lump that could be felt.  The mostly likely cause of the lump, considering its location combined with Doug’s paleness, and his age and breed was a growth on the spleen which can be a very serious, life threatening condition.

In theatre, Doug was indeed found to have a large growth on his spleen.  Splenic masses are difficult and risky to remove, due to the high risk of bleeding.  The lump on Doug’s spleen had already started to bleed quite considerably, making his operation high risk.  His owners bravely agreed to proceed with surgery to try and save Doug’s life.

After an hour or more in theatre, a 3.7kg splenic mass was removed involving the whole of Doug’s spleen.  Doug weighed 39kg, meaning this mass was almost 10% of his bodyweight!  Doug lost a lot of blood during the operation, and, although, he had already beaten the odds once by making it out of theatre, the vets were very worried for his chances of survival.

Slowly but surely Doug woke up from his anaesthetic, and after only an hour he was sitting up and well enough for his owners to visit!  He started to eat again the same evening and began the long journey to regain his strength and fitness.

The lump on Doug’s spleen was sent to the laboratory for testing.  Up to two thirds of dogs with a splenic mass have a malignant tumour, most commonly a type of tumour called a haemangiosarcoma.  Unfortunately, survival times, after, for dogs with hemangiosarcoma may be 2–3 months or less with less than 10% of dogs surviving for one year after surgery.  As you can imagine, Doug’s owners, as well as, the nurses and vets waited anxiously for the laboratory results.

As we all waited, Doug continued to improve.  Just 24 hours after coming out of theatre, he was well enough to be discharged to continue his rest and recuperation at home.  At his 3 day post op check, Doug had gained weight and was eating well, he was less pale and had more energy, although was still clearly feeling the effects of such major surgery.

A week after his operation, the results of the tests on Doug’s spleen came back. Everyone in the practice was thrilled that Doug is one of the lucky ones! His mass was benign and should be cured by the surgery to remove his spleen.  His owners were over the moon to receive these results.

Doug continues to improve, and by the time his stitches were removed, he was totally back to normal, enjoying life with his family and playing with his German Shepherd friend Kira, plus Gravy, Minimog and Theo.

We are all so pleased that this story has a happy ending!