tumor scare

[sluj]

I just got home (my parents) after my grandmothers funeral, ready to finally get some rest and hopefully salvage Christmas, and what do I find while the dog is giving me the welcome-back-hug, but a LUMP. It's about the size of a marble, on the base of his ribcage, and he doesn't like for it to be handled. Mom says it's been there a while, and the vet says it's beniegn, but on the other hand it has grown some, and there are two much smaller ones next to it that she hadn't known about. I'm terrified for him, it's not the best time to get a hold of a vet (we are in a rural area and things tend to shut down during the holidays), and Mom is probably too overwhelmed to deal with this right now. She said she didn't get it removed because the squirt didn't seem to bothered by it, and the anesthesia seemed like a larger risk.

 

Can anyone give any thoughts on this... situation? On lumps, on procedures, on the dangers of anesthesia, anything? He's about 9.5 years, 45 lb heeler/bc mix (we think), and he's always seemed pretty active and healthy.

 

Thank you all, and I hope your holidays are going much, much better than mine are so far!

[nancy]

According to my vet, 9.5 is no real risk with anesthesia, especially the new ones.

 

I say get it looked at ASAP. One static tumor can be OK. But if it's grown and gotten buddies, I'd sure worry.

[Rosanne]

If it is a fatty tumor, I believe they can usually just stick a needle or something into it and drain it a bit to make sure it's only fat inside. That shouldn't require any anaesthesia at all...

 

I believe they say that generally if you can move it around with the skin (like it's not attached to anything inside) that it's probably just a fatty tumor. They can grow too, but as long as they don't get big enough to bother the dog they are usually fine.

[donna frankland (uk)]

tikki has fatty lumps and they did biopsy the 1st to check. just using a needle and syringe like rosanne said.

the other thing my vet said was that he would feel happier about the lump if tikki had others, meaning if a dog has several lumps it is generally more likely for them to be fat

the one on his ribs is quite solid, but the vet said it is because of its location. he has one on his chest and that is movable and has grown quicker, i did end up getting this one biopsied as he was having to go under for other unrelated tests and it was free!

[sluj]

Thank you all for your replies. I got Mom to promise to get Squire in to the vet for another look in early January. It sounds as though it is a fatty tumor, but I wasn't familiar enough with them to make that distinction. In any case, worth knowing for certain.

[Liz P]

Measure the size NOW in mm so you will know if it grows.

[diane allen]

My BC mix has a number of fatty tumors, and they continue to scare me, after many years of knowing they're there! She has quite a few (thankfully, she has really long hair so they don't stick out like on a Vizla or other shorthaired breed, and look awful!), I've had them all checked, a couple more than once (worry-wart that's me), and even had a map drawn, so I could remember which ones had been checked. A couple are quite large - maybe the size of a golf-ball - but none seem to bother her at all. She has one right behind a front leg, and the vet said if it got huge, he might want to take it off, just because it would be in her way. But that one seems to have stabilized in size.

 

Anybody know - do fatter dogs tend to get more of these than thin dogs? This girl has always tended to plumpness, though I've managed to keep her relatively in good shape.

 

Hope that's all your dog's are.

[AK dog doc]

Any dog, fat or thin, can get lipomas. Fat dogs with lipomas who lose weight still have lipomas after they lose weight, though the lipoma may be smaller than originally. I have no official numbers to back it up, but my clinical impression is that fat dogs may get slightly more lipomas than thin ones, and dogs kept very lean all their lives seem to get the fewest of all - but I've seen lipomas even on working sled dogs, who are generally so lean that most of us would think them way too skinny. If they've been aspirated and proven to be lipomas, I generally leave them alone unless they're bothering the owner or bothering the dog. (Owners, usually for cosmetic reasons, dogs usually for "use" reasons - such as ones that interfere with activity, or are where the collar rides, etc.)

 

Signs of badness of a mass:

1) Pain, itching or irritation

2) Recent, rapid growth

3) Ulcerated, non-healing wounds

4) Loss of hair

5) Change of color of skin

 

Any of the above is my signal to look at it sooner rather than later. Bear in mind that these are rules of thumb, not guarantees, and the only way to be sure what a mass is, is to take some cells out and look at them under a microscope. Also, bear in mind that while age is not a disease, things accumulate over time, so older animals are more likely to have "bad" masses than young dogs are - but any age dog can have a malignancy, and there are plenty of old dogs out there with perfectly benign and well-behaved non-cancerous masses. There are also tons of dogs with little seromas, little abscesses, little sebaceous cysts, etc, which are not masses at all but accumulations of fluid of various sorts that only FEEL like masses.

 

Just being movable and confined to the skin is not proof that it's not dangerous, BTW.... mast cell tumors are very often confined strictly to the skin and are mobile, but they can be extremely bad. I've seen perfectly benign lipomas that felt firm and fixed, as well. You have to look at the whole picture.

 

Measuring it is an excellent idea, BTW, so you can have an objective number to apply to it and don't have to rely upon your impression. It's best not to compare the size to food, though... like, if it's the size of a grape, is that a Thompson's seedless, or a Concord grape we're talking about? Using something that never changes size - like a dime, for instance - or (best yet) using a ruler or a caliper is the way to go with that.

[Sue R]

Our old dog, Mac, has a number of these lipomas (not visible due to to coat but mainly on chest, belly, and ribcage) plus a visible cyst on his head. I agree with you, they are scary but he's had them for years, they grow slowly, and they are not worrisome now that I know what they are.

 

Sorry that this scare had to add to other sad occasions for you that occurred during this holiday season. Best wishes!

[sluj]

Thank you again for the advice (and wishes). I am here only once or twice a year, so have not had all the details, but here is what I now know: one lump appeared several years ago, and was aspirated in September '04 and found to be a fatty lump. Since it has grown and only recently developed secondary masses, we have measured them, and will get them tested again on the 2nd for any changes. Squire (pictured below) had a full blood panel in October and checked out fine, but we had all been away for several weeks and only recently discovered the new lumps. Sudden changes never seem to be a good sign. We'll be hoping for the best, and very much appreciate knowing there is something to hope for!

 

 

[sluj]

Just wanted to check in, and thank everyone again for their wishes and valuable advice. The lumps were both aspirated, and found to be predominently fat. There was some "other" in there as well, which the vet used to push immediate treatment, without discussing any possibilities for what it actually was. Mom promised to get the lumps removed soon (it will hopefully be an easy one, as the growth does seem confined to the skin. Far easier, in any case, then trying to keep him quiet during recovery), but only after getting a second opinion. We were not happy at all with the attitude of the vet, or her refusal to discuss any matters in detail. Wonder how hard it is to fly a dog from DC to Alaska this time of year

[MaggieDog]

Hey if you're in the DC area, I know a GREAT vet in Alexandria. I used her for my dog this past summer while I was an intern in Arlington and was quite impressed. As a bonus, the vet visit was relatively reasonably priced and she's a holistic practioner.

 

Let me know if you'd like her name and number.