Question for any Veterinarians...

Factual Questions
1

I’ve got a dog - she’s 10 years old, going on 11. She’s in good health, always has been, despite being the runt of the litter found on a street corner (abandoned). Complete mutt, no real idea of how much of what mom and pop were.

A few months ago, we noticed a cyst or something on her left side, right in back of her front leg. Took her to the vet, he said it was just a benign, fatty tumor, nothing to worry about.

Recently, though, it’s swollen in size pretty big - big enough that it kind of interferes with how she walks/lies down. She hasn’t been in any noticable pain, and it doesn’t seem tender at all. But still, I worried, so dad took her to the vet last night (they take walk-ins on Tuesday night). I couldn’t go, because I was kind of sick and had a boatload of homework.

The vet apparently said that he’s sure it’s still a benign growth, but wants to remove it for her comfort. I’m very scared about this, because I’m way to attatched to my dog, and don’t want her at any risk that’s not needed. Since my dad was horrible and didn’t take notes (which I specifically asked him to do), can anyone tell me about how long this would probably take, what sort of risks are there, and whether or not I should be totally stressed over this? has anyone had a dog/cat go through a procedure like this and have a tale to tell? Is there any chance of this tumor un-swelling and the vet not needing to cut my beloved sweetheart open?

FTR - she’s a little overweight. Not enough to be concerned about, but could stand to loose a pound or two (she’s kinda old and lazy). Also - she currently has a very dry, chapped nose (I told you, I worry way too much about her). Other than that, she’s in good health. THe thing that has me really worried is it’s over her ribs, right by her heart and lungs. I know it’s probably a baseless fear, but would this increase the chance of complications?

2

IANAVet, but as with people, you can always get a second opinion from another vet. Especially when it comes to surgical procedures. My guess is that without actually seeing your dog, it would be hard to give you a thumbs up or down.

Good luck and I hope the tumor is really nothing to sorry about.

3

You really need to call your vet and ask him/her all those questions you have. Shame on dad. :wink:

4

Wow. My life is falling apart. Only two beers into the night, and I read this topic and think, “Hey, I used to be a vegetarian!” So I come in, and it took me until the end of the post to realize this guy wasn’t planning on eating his dog.

5

IANA Vet either, but I’ve assisted on a few procedures similar to what you describe, on a few different species. (Veterinarians have this fabulous free slave labor resource that they tap into…Pre-vet student volunteers)

A vet can tell a lot about what layer of tissue is affected by a growth by palpating it. Most of the procedures I assisted on were subcutaneous, but not deep enough to involve nearby muscle or other tissue.

I’m assuming that this growth is similar. A vet would not casually propose an agressively invasive procedure into your dog’s thoracic cavity. A simple incision and extraction just below the skin is another, much simpler matter.

Under general anesthesia, a football-shaped incision is made around the growth. This results in a clean line of sutures with no bumpy “gathers” when the vet gently stretches the sides of the incision over the former location of the growth and sews it up. The margins of the incision are as close to the margins of the growth as possible, only taking the small amount of unaffected skin necessary to get the all-important football shape.

Once the incision is made, the vet will start to examine the margins of the growth, determining the best approach for removal, if it is highly innervated or vascularized, or if removal is the best option. If they choose to go forward, it is simply a matter of carefully cutting away the growth tissue from the body and closing off any blood vessels that are large enough to warrant it.

After that, it’s just a matter of making good, straight stitches and it’s over.

There is an inherant risk when it comes to any anesthesia, but the odds are quite high that your beloved pooch will come through the simple procedure a little groggy, a little sore, and once healed…a lot more comfortable than she is now, with a big thing stuck to her side.

6

We had a dog that got a couple lipomas (benign fatty tumors) every couple years. She’d get them on her back, so they were funky to look at, but otherwise harmless. As far as we could tell, she didn’t feel the things - presumably, she’d have been scratching or nibbling at them if they were bothering her.

Here’s an encyclopedia entry on canine lipoma.

7

My GF is a vet…let me get her.
Ok, she says it is common among older dogs to get them and they are harmless. She also says a white boxer came in and had 6 removed from all over it’s body. Besides being groggy for the next few days and the shaving, otherwise the dog is fine. It will have to wear a cone until it’s healed or you can probably spray sour apple around it so the dog won’t lick it.

BTW, my aunts dog had a few removed from it’s back and it was out of it for a few days but it was fine a few days later.
-M

8

My wife is a vet, and one of our dogs - a five year old - recently had a small lump un her back that started to grow. My wife took her to work, removed the lump and looked at it under a microscope. She didn’t like the look of it (kind of granular) so she took no chances and removed a 3cm margin all the way around the lump. She sent the lump off for testing and it came back benign a week later.
The dog is doing fine - she initially had a pretty ragged looking stitched cut (due to the 3cm margins - that’s a >6cm patch of skin removed) which she persistently tried to lick but an E collar and a bit of scolding stopped that. My wife did put her on antibiotics for the duration just to minimize the chance of infection. The incision cleaned up nicely in about 10 days.
This should give you an idea of what a vet will do when the patient is thier own dog and they don’t have to pay for any of it. We both absolutely love this dog.
One thing to be aware of - chubby dogs are a pain to perform surgery on because once you open them up the freaking fat layer is really in the way - it kind of expands and makes it more awkward to work in the area.
I wouldn’t worry about the procedure if I were you. For your peace of mind you may want to request the lump gets tested, and be prepared to let your dog lead a nice sedentary lifestyle for the post op week - no running up stairs, jumping on beds, frisbee…etc (this was tough in my case as our girl is a border collie and we have another border collie at home who always wants to play but it’s possible.)

9

My dad has a 10 year old chocolate lab, and he just got a few lumps removed over the Christmas holidays. One on his lower eyelid and another on his leg.

He was fine after the grogginess and general Elizabethan-collared clumsiness. (He would knock over the other lab with his huge lampshaded head, and on purpose too I imagine.)

He’s got a bunch more lumps, but unless they’re bothering him, my dad just leaves them now. He also doesn’t get them tested anymore.