My dog died suddenly from hemangiosarcoma. Could I have known earlier?

Question

My dog died suddenly and unexpectedly on July 2, 2017. He took ill very quickly. He collapsed and was breathing fast. We took him to the er vet. After many tests and ultrasound, we were told his liver was full of cancer and that he was bleeding into his belly He never acted sick until that day. I feel guilty that I never noticed signs of him being sick. If the cancer had been found earlier, do you think he could have survived? The vet told us he had hemangiosarcoma. We took him 4 reg vet exams. Pet's info: Dog | American Pit Bull Terrier | Male | neutered | 8 years and 11 months old

Jennifer Summerfield, DVM CPDT-KA · Accepted Answer

I'm so sorry to hear about Luigi's passing! How awful. Hemangiosarcoma is unfortunately a common type of cancer in older, large-breed dogs, and the scenario you described with Luigi is also common - many dogs with this problem show no signs at all of illness until their abdominal tumor suddenly begins to bleed, at which point they become very weak and collapse, and may die within hours. Even with regular veterinary visits, there is often no way that the tumor could have been detected - most of the time, abdominal x-rays and ultrasound are required to diagnose this problem in its early stages, and unfortunately many dogs are not showing any symptoms at all to indicate a need for these tests. If the cancer was in his liver, then it's likely that this would not have been a treatable problem no matter how early it was found - surgery on the liver is extremely difficult and high-risk, even when performed by a specialist at a referral center. So try not to feel guilty - this is a terrible disease, but there's no way you could have known that Luigi had it, and very likely there is nothing that anyone could have done differently even if you had known. Again, I'm very sorry for your loss.

My dog died suddenly from hemangiosarcoma. Could I have known earlier?

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