Dogs with stage II hemangiosarcoma can experience a ruptured mass that causes life-threatening bleeding requiring emergency intervention.
To make it worse, clinical signs can be subtle or involve sudden collapse in 20-80 percent of dogs with this condition.
Maui, a 9-year-old female Goldendoodle, is one of the lucky ones, although it came with some serious complications. Hemangiosarcoma is a very aggressive cancer of the cells lining blood vessels and is the most common cancer to occur in the spleen of dogs.
The dog was diagnosed in July of this year when she was presented to her primary care vet for on and off lethargy and anorexia. Bloodwork confirmed that Maui had severely reduced red blood cells and clotting cells. Further tests revealed a large, cavitated mass within the spleen that had ruptured and was bleeding into the abdominal cavity.
Maui underwent emergency surgery to remove her ruptured spleen, which classified her as stage II. This is the most common stage that dogs with hemangiosarcoma are diagnosed.
“Emergency surgery removes the source of bleeding, but the cancer also has a very high rate of metastasis to the lungs, heart and other abdominal organs,” said Dr. Jessica McCall, oncology resident in the Hixson-Lied Small Animal Hospital. “Average survival times after surgery alone are often around just three months.
“Chemotherapy after surgery delays the onset of metastasis and improves survival time.”
Maui underwent intensive chemotherapy treatments at the Hixson-Lied Small Animal Hospital over the summer and fall. She received doses of doxorubicin every three weeks for 4 ½ months.
The treatments have worked and just this week Maui was confirmed to be in continued remission.
“We will now monitor her for cancer recurrence and spread every eight to 12 weeks indefinitely,” McCall said.
November 2025