Actually, it's two tumors. Yesterday, I saw a 12 yr old Golden Retriever to remove 2 tumors from her, a huge one about the size of a grapefruit on her left thigh and one on her right ankle about the size of a walnut. Here is a picture of each of them.
Actually masses can be either cysts or tumors. Cysts are hollow masses filled usually with sebaceous (skin) debris and they are benign, though they can grow. Tumors are solid masses that can be classified as either benign or malignant(cancerous). Most people want to know when they should have tumors removed from their dog or cat. I have different recommendations for each. Tumors in cats are usually not good, so if you find one on your cat, you should take it to your veterinarian to have it evaluated and removed. If you find a mass on your dog, I recommend that you 1. Watch for it to grow. Rapid growth usually indicates a more serious tumor and it should be removed quickly. 2. If a mass is slow growing and is in an area that has plenty of extra skin, then you can just continue to watch it. However if it starts growing, changing shape or firmness, or color, then you should have it checked out and possibly removed. 3. If you find a mass in an area that has very little extra skin (i.e., feet, legs, ears, eyelids, tail, nose) you should have it removed. If the mass does grow it may be impossible to remove it completely AND have enough skin to close the incision, which is what happened in this dog with the one on the ankle. The one on the hip was equally difficult to remove because of how large it was and it was attached to her thigh muscle. In this case, both of these were benign tumors, however, they can still locally recur (come back) if they are not removed completely. It is easier to remove masses completely the smaller they are. This picture shows the size of the two masses in comparison to someones thumb.
Actually masses can be either cysts or tumors. Cysts are hollow masses filled usually with sebaceous (skin) debris and they are benign, though they can grow. Tumors are solid masses that can be classified as either benign or malignant(cancerous). Most people want to know when they should have tumors removed from their dog or cat. I have different recommendations for each. Tumors in cats are usually not good, so if you find one on your cat, you should take it to your veterinarian to have it evaluated and removed. If you find a mass on your dog, I recommend that you 1. Watch for it to grow. Rapid growth usually indicates a more serious tumor and it should be removed quickly. 2. If a mass is slow growing and is in an area that has plenty of extra skin, then you can just continue to watch it. However if it starts growing, changing shape or firmness, or color, then you should have it checked out and possibly removed. 3. If you find a mass in an area that has very little extra skin (i.e., feet, legs, ears, eyelids, tail, nose) you should have it removed. If the mass does grow it may be impossible to remove it completely AND have enough skin to close the incision, which is what happened in this dog with the one on the ankle. The one on the hip was equally difficult to remove because of how large it was and it was attached to her thigh muscle. In this case, both of these were benign tumors, however, they can still locally recur (come back) if they are not removed completely. It is easier to remove masses completely the smaller they are. This picture shows the size of the two masses in comparison to someones thumb.
I actually could not remove all of the mass on the thigh because I would have had to take too much skin and muscle. This would have affected the dog's ability to walk and my ability to close the incision. This dog will most likely have this mass come back in the same area because it was let go for too long. Even though it is benign, the dog will have to endure surgery again and the pain of losing some more muscle as well.
So, the lesson is, if you find a mass on your dog or cat, don't just assume
"It's NOT a tumor"!
Wow. Poor pooch.
ReplyDeleteThat was gross but I do love these lessons.
ReplyDeleteThat was gross but I do love these lessons.
ReplyDeleteI love your blog! I learn something everytime!
ReplyDelete