MaryP Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 I was away for the weekend and got home a little while ago. I was spending some time with Ollie in my room and he rolled over so I could scratch his tummy. I immediately noticed a pretty obvious, quarter-sized or slightly larger lump on his abdomen, midline. It's solid and seems to pretty much "stay put" when we manipulate it. It's not painful and he is otherwise acting completely normal. When he was a puppy, he had a canine cutaneous histiocytoma and it went away in a couple of weeks. My vet said it was something commonly seen in very young dogs. This looks different, though. Ollie also had two surgeries when he was younger (he's just over a year, now) for an obstruction. The surgeries were within a week of each other. This lump appears to be a couple of inches "north" of his surgery scar. I'm kind of freaking out a little about what this lump might be. Ollie has had a handful of unusual health issues since we got him as a puppy. So, I always get nervous about Ollie's health. I've always been nervous that he might be genetically predisposed to health problems. But, that could just be paranoia on my part since we had some scary episodes with him in the past. I'm also completely in love with this dog and anything wrong, or possibly wrong, with him scares the he'll out of me. Does anyone know what this might be??? I'll be calling my vet first thing tomorrow morning, but I'm kind of hoping someone might find this story familiar and be able to set my mind at ease. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz P Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Without seeing it I couldn't give you much of a guess. Could be a hernia, reaction to old suture material left in his body, fatty tissue growing at the site of an incision scar. It could also be something more serious. You should definitely have a vet look at it and do any required testing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryP Posted June 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Wouldn't a hernia be painful, though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz P Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Not if it is just fat herniating out. If it's where I think it is, there is a ton of fat right there (falciform ligament becomes fatty as they mature). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted June 27, 2011 Report Share Posted June 27, 2011 Did you see the vet today? If so, what did s/he determine? J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 Darn. There's an awesome web page for pupper mom worry warts to mull over pre vet visit. So hard to browse on this thing. I think if you Google pet center dog lumps and bumps it will come up. It's a pretty exhaustive couple of tables that sorts these things by physical characteristics, location, rarity (remember not to look for zebras!), and under what circumstances they appear. It's a real stress saver. I found a giant, hideous black lump on the shoulder of my oldest LGDs one day while I was grooming out her winter felt cover (good reason not to let that job go!). I was sure it was malignant. It just had to be, how it looked. No, white colored dogs apparently get these ridiculously hideous pigmented benign growths over old scar tissue sometimes, especially on the shoulders and flanks. I remembered the scar quite easily. A bear family that kept sauntering through the neighbor's cattle fields. Vet visit and aspiration confirmed this. Thanks to the site it was a calm, pleasant visit and I was able to help keep Lu calm, instead of collapsing in a corner crying. I was also able to make a rational decision to aspirate rather than put my freaking out eleven year old sheepdog through surgery. Now I knew what it was, it wasn't hurting her and it's not ugly any more to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryP Posted June 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 Out of laziness, I'm going to copy and paste the update I put on my Facebook page. We are back at work now. The vet thinks it's a spider bite. It had gotten so much worse than it was last night and I got nervous and took him in 45 minutes before our appointment. It had become real red and swollen and was starting to ulcerate. At first the vet said that it could be a mast cell tumor and should be removed because they can be aggressive. I immediately began to panic. Then she said that it could also be a histiocytoma and I said, "Yeah, yeah, he had one of those as a puppy." So, then she was leaning towards that diagnosis but wanted to aspirate it to look at it under the scope. When she tried to do that, all kinds of blood and pus came out - I mean, A LOT. She said that she could see two little puncture marks, so she thought it was probably a spider bite. So, he is on antibiotics (baytril) and the worse thing that might still happen is he might need to have the area debrided in a few days. But, the good news is, no surgery and it's not a malignant tumor! And here is a photo of him that I took at the vet. He is trying so hard to convince me that we should just leave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bc4ever Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 So happy for your good news! And look at those eyes. So pathetic. He's a beautiful dog. Hope he feels better soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz P Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 Some of those spider bites can be really ugly. Don't hesitate to take him back in if it gets worse all of a sudden. I'm glad to hear it should heal up with appropriate treatment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journey Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 Thanks for the good news Mary! Here's hoping all goes well and nothing else is required Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rushdoggie Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 Oh good. Spider bites are probably uncomfortable but a better answer than tumors. What a sweet face! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urge to herd Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 Glad to hear it's something relatively simple. I agree with Liz, though, some spider bites can cause a lot of problems. Check it at least 2x/day. If it were my dog, I'd measure it and make sure it wasn't getting bigger. Give the poor boy a tender little scritch for me. Ruth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShoresDog Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 Whew! Spider bites are awful, but considering the alternatives, it sounds manageable. Ollie's sure a handsome boy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShoresDog Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 Whew! Spider bites are awful, but considering the alternatives, it sounds manageable. Ollie's sure a handsome boy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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