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Has anyone seen anything like this?


silhouettestable
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My mom's collie Buddy has something going on that I've never seen before and I'm wondering if anyone else has and might have any ideas about what's wrong. Friday afternoon she was doing some grooming on him and when I talked to her that evening she told me that she had discovered a swelling on him. I couldn't exactly picture it on the phone from what she said, but I saw him today and I've never seen anything like this. I thought maybe she meant some kind of lump, maybe a lipoma or tumour but she said it felt soft like it was fluid filled. Well, it's not a lump, but the whole posterior area of his abdomen that seems to be fluid filled (way back behind the rib cage, between the hind legs). Instead of the skin being tucked up it's all droopy and full of...something :rolleyes:

 

We don't have a local emergency vet, though if you have the vet paged you can get 24 hour vet service. He seems to be otherwise okay, happy, feeling good, eating, drinking, all systems seem to be functioning, though his gums seemed a little deeper colour than normal, more of a reddish pink than the typical salmon pink. That might be somewhat normal for him though, they were pretty reddish before she had his teeth cleaned a while back and I'm not sure they ever really went back to the lighter pink colour. Since everything else is okay she's not treating it as a life and death call-the-vet-NOW emergency but she is calling first thing in the morning to get an appointment. I'm really wondering what's going on with the poor guy though and thought I'd see if anyone else has seen anything like this.

 

Buddy's an older dog, he was estimated to be 4-5 years old when she adopted him. I've lost track of exactly how many years she's had him now but he'd be about 10-11 by my best estimate.

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I agree and think a vet trip is in order. Our old Aussie had a "swollen" but soft abdomen, and it turned out that he had a cancer on his spleen that had grown quite large. I am sure there are a number of things that might be causing this in your mother's dog but it seems serious enough in nature to require a vet's exam.

 

Best wishes to you both.

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Well Buddy went to the vet today but my mom didn't really get a definitive answer about what his problem is. I would have liked to go with her but I had my physio appointment. She says that the vet was surprised that this came up suddenly, that my mom hadn't noticed it before. Also, the vet thought maybe it was some kind of fatty deposit. :rolleyes: I'm not sure if my mom passed it on accurately to me, sometimes she hears what she wants to hear or only really picks up on a few points of a whole conversation. She's getting older, not senile by any means but just a little harder to get a point across to and for her to give a clear and accurate representation of things. Apparently the vet gave Buddy a shot (she thinks it was antibiotics) and she has antibiotic pills for him. Also some spray that is for his skin, he's been getting some hot spots. She's to take him back next week to be rechecked and x-rayed. I'm going to try to go with her for that one, or maybe meet her there. She has to have him there at 8:30 in the morning and I have to be in that area for physio at 9:30 that day.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Update - Buddy went back for his recheck and x-rays and a sample was sent off to be tested so my mom had to wait some more for the cytology report. It turns out that it was just fatty tissue, he's got a lipoma. :rolleyes: I never would have guessed because of where it is/how it presents. I've seen them several times before, in fact my old collie had a big one on her side but it was a very circular firm lump between the skin and muscle layer whereas on Buddy it seems as though he's got this soft droopiness between his hind legs. Maybe there is a firmer lump somewhere in there that's weighing it down and making it seem soft and droopy. Anyhow, it's good news as it's not likely to have much effect on him, it's not really in his way and there was nothing cancerous about it.

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