Prostate Problem

My 12 year old Labrador has an unsymmetrical mass on his prostrate. He is on Pardale V, Norovac Antibiotic and Lactulose. This only happened 6 days ago. He has responded well. Vets say they need to do an ultrasound costing nearing £800. He is not insured due to age. The C word has been mentioned. Please could someone advice what to do as he is an older dog. I’m in bits

Hello!   I cannot make this decision for you;  everyone is different and sometimes what is right for one person / dog partnership is not right for another, and sometimes what might be right in other circumstances, is not right for the bank balance or when other practical issues are considered.  However, I can give you some questions that you might want to ask your vet, that may help to clear this haze of conflicting facts and possibilities, so that you can make a clear-headed decision that is right for you.    Things to ask your vet (who can usually ask their pathology lab if they are not sure) are as follows:

What percentage of one-sided prostate masses turn out to be cancerous, vs benign? Is there anything further you can do to find out for definite? (will the ultrasound tell you for definite, or is an ultra-sound biopsy needed, for example?  Is that covered in the price?) Supposing that it is cancer, what is likely to happen?  Might there be chemotherapeutic options for prostrate cancer?  What would that involve?  What if you aren't interested in chemotherapy?  What are your options then?  What are the treatment options? Roughly (numbers of noughts, perhaps) what costs are involved. If it is benign (prostate hypertrophy of similar), what is likely to happen next?  What are the treatment options? By now, you should have a rough mental decision tree:   (('If it is cancer, a scan will help because..... and then we have a choice between this and this......    If it isn't cancer, the choices are between this and this.   The liklehood of it being cancer is roughly this.  The liklihood of it not being is roughly this.  The costs are......')) It is possible that none of the possible branches of that tree are pleasant or appealing to go down;  there are difficult decisions to be made.  But it is likely that some branches (possibly £800 ultrasounds for example? - or perhaps depending on what that ultrasound might achieve?) just aren't right for you, and others are. Whatever you decide will probably be okay with your vet - it's a common misconception that vets think that money is a limitless well.  Remember that we all did five years or more as students.  As long as your lab is out of pain as much as possible, and happy for whatever length of time they have left, and you are properly supported in your decisions, your vet will consider that they've done a good job (it's a popular misconception, but vets are not paid according to what they earn for the practice - it is illegal to pay vets on that basis.  They are there to support what works best for the patient and client).