any experience with an enlarged spleen in GSD - Page 2

I have known of several dogs with haemangiosarcoma of the spleen including two of my own. I had one bitch however, who was almost 6 years old with an enlarged spleen. This was removed (and a gastropexy also performed) but there there were no tumours, it was just greatly enlarged. It was later discovered on a blood test that she had chronic lymphocytic leukaemia, which had caused the enlarged spleen. She was treated with chlorambucil and prednisolone and went into total remission and survived another four  years.

I hope this helps, Katrina

Nearly two years ago I took my then 3 year old female to the vets as she was lethargic, off her food, losing weight and losing hair. The vet discovered a large mass in the abdomen and exploratory surgery revealed the spleen about 20 times normal size, the tissue looked abnormal and there was fluid leaking into the abdominal cavity, he warned me that it was proably haemangiosarcoma, the spleen cancer that others have mentioned that is quite common in GSDs. However, he did not remove the spleen straight away as he had no experience doing this and as there is a huge blood flow to the speen it can be risky without the proper experience and facilities (I am in Ecuador, not the US). He took a sample for biopsy and meanwhile put her on strong antibiotics (injected) and kept her isolated with restricted movement to avoid risk of rupture as much as possible. We were devastated, this was our best show female as well as a much loved family member, but when the results came back it was not cancer but an inflammaory process. Then we had to decide whether to operate or not. The vet researched as much as possible and so did I. I learned that there are many causes of enlarged spleen other than cancer, including tick-borne diseases (which would cause blood platelet alteration) and bacterial infections. While we were researching splenectomy, the dog had started to improve and an ultrasound about 10 days later showed the spleen had reduced in size. Another week later it was virtually back to normal. She is still with us, completely back to normal, crazy as ever and has had two litters since! So I would say do not be too hasty, maybe a biopsy would be the first move? In our case it was almost certainly a bacterial infection as she responded to antiobiotic treatment. Your dod is older so the risk of cancer is higher but even so there are many other causes and the spleen can go back to normal. Good luck and let us know what you decide.

Thank you to everyone for all their information and experience in  regards to the spleen issues.

It appears there is no clear answer but based on everyone's experience and input I am able to at least come to a pretty clear descsion as to what to do.

I will meet with my Vet again tomorrow and where I was originaly wanting to put off the removal of the spleen until I was more convnced that it is the only thing to do, now I am more inclined to " bite the bullet" and do it and also as so many mentioned make sure the stomach gets tacked at the same time to prevent problems later on.

Thanks again for all the valuable input

Jeffrey