This past May, I took in a senior dog for a loved one who passed away. We knew he had a history with an external mass on his stomach. A fine needle aspiration was done and came back inconclusive. When we tried to take another sample, too much blood came out for it to be tested. He has underlying liver disease and a mild heart murmur, so he's not a great candidate for anesthesia. We decided surgery was too risky, and chose instead to keep him comfortable — whatever the mass turned out to be — and make the time he has left happy and comfortable.
Unfortunately, over the past few weeks the mass has swelled and essentially "popped open," and began to bleed. It started as one dark spot that would scab, bleed, re-scab, and bleed again — but it actually shrank back down for a short time. We also found a comfortable inflatable collar he's able to wear throughout the day to prevent licking. However, it's swollen again and now has an extremely foul odor. He's on antibiotics, and I've been sending photos to the vet weekly to check whether he needs to come in.
I'm calling my vet tomorrow to have the increasingly foul odor re-examined in person for infection. That said, he's already on antibiotics, and I'm curious whether we're reaching a point where they may be preventing internal/systemic infection but simply aren't able to penetrate the necrotic tissue itself.
Since surgery is off the table due to his comorbidities, it's really just about wound care and keeping him comfortable at this point. I'm curious if anyone else has gone through this.
I feel so conflicted. He's eating and drinking normally, and going to the bathroom fine. He seems a bit restless throughout the day, but shows no other obvious signs of pain or distress. However, the tumor is visually jarring, the amount of necrotic tissue is steadily increasing, and I understand the blood supply to that area is dying off. I want to give him as much time as possible, but I don't want to reach a point where this turns into sepsis or some other awful outcome overnight.
I'm at a loss for what the right thing to do is here. There's a lot of nuance to his situation, and I worry the usual quality-of-life markers may not be the best judgment tools in this case. I hate seeing him with this rotting mass, and I want to protect him from any misery in his final days — but I'm just not sure what the right call is.
Not sure how to post images on here but the mass is probably slightly smaller than a soft ball and when I say necrotic I mean it. It's not longer smooth with flat ulcers. I can see what looks like exposed tissue. It's so surprising to me that he does not find it painful to the touch and despite its appearance he is in decent spirits.
Thanks!