Written by: Dr. Lisa Peterson

Over the last few months I have had the pleasure of working with many wonderful furry family members. Two special Golden Retrievers had very similar experiences in my care. Maggie is a 9-year old, spayed female Golden and is part of the Bill and Jore Dreyer family. The Joe and Jennifer Bartolotta family have Bubba, an 8-year old male neutered Golden. While these two dogs have likely never met, they have something unusual in common: I have removed both of their spleens. Removed their spleen you ask? Don’t they need that? Surprisingly neither Maggie, nor Bubba are missing their spleen will continue to live full active lives.

The spleen is part of the immune system. Its main functions are to produce, filter and store blood. This organ is located in the front part of the abdominal cavity on the left side, nestled next to the stomach. The three major situations that a veterinarian would deal with the spleen are injury, (i.e. hit by car), twisted blood supply (in conjunction with a twisted stomach) and masses on the spleen.

There are two major categories of splenic masses; benign and malignant. Benign masses are ones that will not spread disease to the rest of the body like a malignant mass. Unfortunately, there is no way to definitively tell if a splenic mass is benign or malignant without removing the entire spleen and having it analyzed at the lab.

Maggie and Bubba’s stories start quite similarly. They each were vomiting and both were evaluated by abdominal ultrasound at the Wisconsin Veterinary Referral Center in Waukesha by a veterinary radiologist as part of the medical work-up to figure out the reason for the vomiting. While each dog’s vomiting resolved, a mass was found on their spleens. The decision on how to proceed with each dog was made after long discussions between me and the owners. The benefits of surgical removal of the spleen are potentially removing a serious cancer before it has a chance to spread and/or preventing the future rupture of the mass which can be potentially life threatening. The negatives of surgery are the inherent risks of major abdominal surgery, and the potential that the dog might never experience any major health problems due to its splenic mass (depending on what the mass actually is) and thus could have avoided surgery.

The disease that was looming over both Maggie and Bubba’s heads was hemangiosarcoma. This is a devastating malignant cancer of the spleen that is very common in large breed dogs, especially golden retrievers. Often times, I am only able to diagnose hemangiosarcoma when it is too late. The owners will have noticed their dogs have been feeling bad on and off for a few days, to weeks. The patients may come in after collapsing. By this time the splenic mass has ruptured and the prognosis is grave. We usually humanely euthanize these pets the same day they are diagnosed.

Maggie and Bubba’s families each discussed the pros and cons of surgery with their families. Each family came to the conclusion that they would like me to remove their dog’s spleen. Both patients did very well for the surgery. It is a major abdominal surgery, but our team at New Berlin Animal Hospital did everything we could to make sure they both did well during the surgery and recovery. Five days after each dog’s surgery I was able to call the family with great news; their dogs did NOT have cancer! Neither family will have to worry if their dog’s spleen will cause their beloved family member grave health concerns, and are thoroughly pleased with their decision.

Maggie now has a new little “sister”, a precious golden retriever puppy named Kaycee. Bubba is back to playing with his three golden retriever “siblings”, Stella, Sophie and Rufus. Luckily, dogs can live completely normal lives without their spleens. Their bodies have additional mechanisms that can mimic many of the duties of the spleen. They won’t even know its missing! The story of these two fabulous dogs are just one reason why being a veterinarian is the best job!