Vet Lesson 102: It's Not a Tumor

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.

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"!

In The Dog House

I don't know exactly WHEN it happened, well, I guess it did start with my first mastiff, then I got a chihuahua rescue from work, then I got a beardie mix rescue from work, then the mastiff died and I got another one, then she died and I got another one, and now I am getting yet another one. All that to say, our house has now become The Dog House. Everywhere you look, there is evidence that dogs live here, sleep here, eat here, play here and definitely are being spoiled here! Just see for yourself:











Now, since I do REALLY love my dogs, I guess this is something I tolerate in order to have them. My house will never make the pages of Beautiful Homes. I am sure that all of you dog lovers out there can relate. But, as if it isn't enough of a sacrifice of space and time cleaning up their hair, drool, poo, toys, and the money to feed them, they have to destroy things as well. That one is a little lot harder to take. I guess with the hugely successful film/book about the destructive lab named Marley, nobody, especially a dog owner, should be surprised by their ability to destroy the indestructible. Over the Christmas break, since I did not want my poor dogs kenneled up in a cold, sterile concrete room without the comfort of home, I got a pet sitter to come to my house 4 times a day. FOUR!! In the 8 days we were gone, Huck, my english mastiff, chewed up 8 windowsills. One for every day we were gone I guess.





I can't say definitely it was him, but since he is the one that can most easily reach my windowsills, and he is the puppy of the three, I think it was him. Still, I love them almost as unconditionally as they love me. I love them so much in fact, that I can't wait to get another one! I mean, look at this face, how could you not want one of your very own?




Just don't ask my husband that!