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Dog without tongue!

Hi,
My 8 years old dog (golden retriver) has melanoma... She had few big tumors on her tongue and we had to amputate her whole tongue and we did it last Friday. Her vet said she'd learn to live without it but I am very worried about her cause there is a very big problem with feeding and drinking. I wonder have you ever heard about case like this and I am begging you about help (how to feed her and what can i do to learn her to live without tongue)

Thank you for help.

Jacob

PS.

I know there are vaccines in France which inhibit the progress of the disease. What do you think about them in her case?
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Avatar universal
thank you  for your posts, my German shepherd dog has already had one tumour on her tongue and partial removal and now has a second tumour.  This means removal will leave her with half a tongue...I'm devasted.   Your link has been really helpful.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
So sorry to hear about your golden.
I think it is very important to talk with your vet and deteremine exactly how much of his tongue is gone
He should be able to direct your on how to feed your golden safely.  Removal of part or all of the tongue will definitely affect the dogs swallowing ability and pose a risk of choking.
My st. poodle has melanoma in his mouth also but we chose to not do any radical surgery; as the vets wanted to remove the upper left half of his jaw.
Anyway, we did investigate the melanoma vaccine.
It was two years ago but at that time we would have had to have gotten the vaccine from the USA for about $3600.00.  It was several doses given in timed intervals.  I'm not sure if it was every 3 or every 6 months.  Because we chose to not do the surgery the vets told us the vaccine wasn't an option.
I did a quick search on a pet with tongue amputation, here is a link you may find useful and get some info your looking for.  

http://handicappedpet.net/helppets/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=11145

Wish you and your golden all the best, and paws crossed for a safe and full recovery!
Helpful - 0
974371 tn?1424653129
I am so sorry to read this.  I have not heard of anyone having this done.  Has she been able to eat and drink since the surgery or does she have a feeding tube?  Does she have elevated feeders as this might help.  I assume your Vet recommended a diet?  A soft food diet that you may even have to hand feed?  As for water, you could always ask your Vet for a large syringe ( no needle on it) for feeding.
I don't know anyone that has used the vaccine but know it is very expensive and didn't seem tp prolong life that much longer, sorry to say.
Best you can do is research it yourself and consult with a canine oncologist.  
Wish you luck.
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