How Long Can a Dog Live With a Brain Tumor?

If your dog is having a seizure that lasts more than five minutes, or has several seizures in a row without recovering in between, go to an emergency veterinary hospital now.

How long a dog can live with a brain tumor depends mostly on three things: the type of tumor, where it sits in the brain, and how it's treated. With comfort-focused (palliative) care alone, the median survival in a prospective study of 51 dogs was 69 days. Location changed that picture sharply. Dogs with tumors in the front of the brain lived a median of 178 days, while dogs with tumors in the back of the brain, near the brainstem and cerebellum, lived a median of 28 days (Rossmeisl et al., 2013).

Treatment can extend that time considerably. In the largest study to date of dogs with presumed meningioma, the most common type, median survival was 696 days, nearly two years, after radiation therapy and 297 days after surgery (Geiger et al., 2025). For gliomas, the second most common type, stereotactic radiation was associated with a median survival of about a year from the end of treatment, while palliative care alone gave a median of only weeks (José-López, 2023).

These are medians. Half of dogs live longer, and half live less. Your dog's veterinary neurologist or oncologist can give you an estimate based on the MRI, your dog's signs, and the treatment you choose.

Key points

• Meningiomas and gliomas are the most common primary brain tumors in dogs (University of Missouri Veterinary Health Center [MU VHC], 2016).
• With palliative care only, median survival was 69 days overall (Rossmeisl et al., 2013).
• Tumor location was the only significant predictor of survival in palliatively treated dogs: 178 days for tumors in the forebrain versus 28 days for tumors in the back of the brain (Rossmeisl et al., 2013).
• For presumed meningioma, median survival was 696 days after radiation and 297 days after surgery in 285 dogs (Geiger et al., 2025).
• For glioma, stereotactic radiation alone was associated with a median survival of 383 days, measured from the end of radiation, while palliative care alone gave medians of 25 to 94 days across studies (José-López, 2023).
• Seizures are the most common sign of a brain tumor in dogs, and a first seizure in a dog older than about 4 should prompt investigation (MU VHC, 2016).

Detailed explanation

Why there's no single answer

"Brain tumor" covers very different diseases. Meningiomas grow from the membranes covering the brain and often press on it from the outside. Gliomas grow from the brain's own support cells and infiltrate brain tissue. They behave differently, respond differently to treatment, and tend to affect different dogs. Meningiomas are more common in long-nosed breeds such as Golden Retrievers, while gliomas are more common in short-nosed breeds such as Boxers and Boston Terriers (MU VHC, 2016). Gliomas make up over 35% of primary brain tumors in adult dogs and tend to affect middle-aged to older males (José-López, 2023).

Brain tumors are common in dogs over 9 years old (MU VHC, 2016). Our brain tumors in dogs hub covers types, signs, and diagnosis in more depth.

Many survival figures come from dogs with a presumed diagnosis based on MRI, because confirming the tumor type requires tissue from the brain. That's one reason numbers vary between studies.

Survival with palliative care alone

Palliative care focuses on comfort: steroids to reduce swelling around the tumor and anticonvulsants to control seizures (MU VHC, 2016). It doesn't remove or shrink the tumor itself.

In a prospective study of 51 dogs with primary brain tumors treated this way, median survival after leaving the hospital was 69 days. The location of the tumor was the only factor that significantly predicted survival. Dogs with supratentorial tumors, in the larger front part of the brain, lived a median of 178 days. Dogs with infratentorial tumors, in the back of the brain near the brainstem, lived a median of 28 days. Seizures were the most common sign in dogs with front-of-brain tumors (73%), while balance problems were most common with back-of-brain tumors (Rossmeisl et al., 2013).

For gliomas specifically, studies of palliative care report medians of 25 days in dogs with confirmed tumors and 37 to 94 days in dogs with presumed tumors (José-López, 2023).

Palliative care is a valid choice, especially for older dogs, dogs with other health problems, or families for whom referral treatment isn't possible. Our articles on palliative care and steroids for dog cancer explain what that care involves.

Survival with treatment for meningioma

Meningioma has been studied most. In a 2025 study of 285 dogs with presumed meningioma from 11 specialty clinics in three countries, median survival was 696 days after radiation therapy and 297 days after surgery. Statistical modeling estimated a 29% decrease in survival with surgery compared with radiation, and tumor location and size weren't associated with survival in that analysis (Geiger et al., 2025). The authors concluded that dogs with suspected meningioma have substantially better survival after radiation than after surgery.

Older figures are often quoted too: a median of about seven months after surgical removal alone, and roughly 11 to 28 months when surgery is combined with radiation (MU VHC, 2016). The newer, larger study is the better guide to current outcomes, but the choice between surgery, radiation, or both depends on the tumor's location, your dog's condition, and what your specialist recommends.

Survival with treatment for glioma

Gliomas are harder to treat because they grow into the surrounding brain. A 2023 review of glioma treatment summarized outcomes across many small studies (José-López, 2023):

• Stereotactic radiation alone: median 383 days from the end of radiation
• Stereotactic radiation plus the chemotherapy drug temozolomide: median 420 days, which wasn't a statistically significant improvement over radiation alone
• Surgery alone: median 66 days after surgery
• Surgery plus lomustine: median 165 days
• Lomustine as the main treatment: median 39 days in confirmed gliomas and 135 days in presumed gliomas

The review concluded that surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy each provide a significant survival benefit over palliative care alone in confirmed gliomas (José-López, 2023). Many of these studies included fewer than 25 dogs, so the numbers are rough estimates. Our article on lomustine for dogs explains that drug.

Signs that can change the timeline

Signs depend on where the tumor is and can include seizures, behavior changes, altered awareness, loss of coordination, and circling. Seizures are the most common sign in dogs, and a tumor should be considered when a dog has its first seizure after about age 4 (MU VHC, 2016). MRI is the preferred test for diagnosis (MU VHC, 2016).

As a tumor grows, seizures may become more frequent or harder to control, and neurological signs may worsen. These changes often mark the point where families begin talking with their veterinarian about quality of life. Our quality of life scale and our guide on when to consider euthanasia can help you think through those decisions.

Making sense of the numbers

A median survival time is the point at which half of the dogs in a study had died and half were still alive. Some dogs live much longer than the median, and some live much shorter. Studies also measure time from different starting points, such as diagnosis, hospital discharge, or the end of radiation, so numbers aren't always directly comparable. Our article on how long dogs live with cancer explains these statistics further.

When to contact a veterinarian

Go to an emergency hospital now if your dog:

• Has a seizure lasting more than five minutes
• Has more than one seizure without fully recovering in between
• Can't stand, is unresponsive, or has trouble breathing

Call your veterinarian the same day if your dog:

• Has a first seizure, especially if older than about 4
• Has seizures that are becoming more frequent or more severe
• Shows new circling, head pressing, stumbling, a head tilt, or a sudden personality change

Questions to ask your veterinarian

• Based on the MRI, what type of tumor is most likely, and where is it?
• Is my dog a candidate for radiation, surgery, or both?
• What survival time might we expect with each option, and with palliative care alone?
• How will we control seizures and brain swelling at home?
• What signs would tell us the tumor is progressing?
• Should we see a veterinary neurologist or radiation oncologist?
• How will we know when my dog's quality of life is no longer good?

Sources

Geiger, R., Mankin, J., Volk, H. A., de Decker, S., van Asselt, N., Randhawa, K., Ehling, T., Maitz, C. A., Naramor, A., Coates, J. R., Stalin, C., Johnstone, L., Morris, J., Plessas, I. N., Forward, A., Garosi, L., Scarpante, E., Cherubini, G., Harcourt-Brown, T., . . . Jeffery, N. (2025). Comparison of survival after treatment of presumed intracranial meningioma by radiotherapy or surgery in 285 dogs. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 39(2), Article e70011. 

José-López, R. (2023). Chemotherapy for the treatment of intracranial glioma in dogs. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 10, Article 1273122. 

Rossmeisl, J. H., Jr., Jones, J. C., Zimmerman, K. L., & Robertson, J. L. (2013). Survival time following hospital discharge in dogs with palliatively treated primary brain tumors. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, 242(2), 193-198. 

University of Missouri Veterinary Health Center. (2016). Brain tumors. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://vhc.missouri.edu/small-animal-hospital/neurology-neurosurgery/facts-on-neurologic-diseases/brain-tumors/