Lumps on dog - WWYD

Caramac71

Caramac71

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I found a small lump on my dog 2 weeks ago. Went along to my vet practice on the Friday, saw a vet who I hadn't seen before. She aspirated the lump and sent it off to the lab. The following Wednesday I found 3 more lumps on my dog, had a panic!, phoned the vets and saw the head vet there.

Results from the first lump weren't back yet. He advised they were most likely lipoma's and reassured me that they can appear in multiple literally overnight. He said we'd wait for the results of the first lump and if that were found to be a lipoma then we could safely assume the others were too.

Results finally came back today and are inconclusive. There were very few cells found and mostly fatty substance. Vet explained this supported his thoughts that it is a lipoma but unfortunately isn't conclusive.

He said the choices are we watch and wait for a month and see if any changes to the lumps he has, or if any more lumps appear.

Or he removes one (or all) of the lumps under GA and sends them off for a definitive diagnosis.

Dog is 10, seems fit and well (although a bit overweight) but I dont like the thought of a GA and procedure unless absolutely necessary. However, I suffer from anxiety and I know I wont cope very well leaving it for a month, I will worry like mad and will forever regret that decision if we discover the lumps are cancerous but have left it too long for successful treatment.

I asked whether it's possible to aspirate the other lumps and see if we get a better sample from the others, and vet agreed this would be a good half-way decision. So that's the plan, although I know I will still be anxious until the results are back from the lab and there is still a risk the results will be inconclusive.

I just wanted a bit of reassurance that I'm doing the right thing. The anxious, control freak part of me wants the lumps whipped off and a definite answer, but I dont think it's fair to put my dog through a procedure just to ease my worries.

WWYD?
 
In all honesty I woud do the same as you and then go from there. Hopefully they are just fatty lumps and will cause no further problems xx
 
I wanted at least half of Frank's willy lopped off so I didn't worry about the lumps but the vet said no ;) just so that you know you aren't the only one on that! :D :D

In your case my logical thought is that if the others came up so quick there might be more to come in which case if you decide to have them removed better to have one GA and deal with them all in one go perhaps? Taking samples from them in the meantime seems like a good plan to me!
 
I would never put a dog through chemo at the best of times, so I would wait and see.
If you really will put yourself through the mill over it then you have to decide what is best for you, while taking the dog into account.
 
I've always been told/observed it to be very well tolerated in dogs Clodagh have you had a bad experience with it?
 
A friend treated their Boxer, it became as ill as any dog I have ever seen that was still alive and lived for another 6 months past the vets original quote overall so not a great result. I appreciate some might be fine, but I thought it was like slow chemical torture.
 
Mine has a few lumps. Vet said they are more than likely lipomas. We have gone with the wait and see approach. He said If they are anything worrying they will likely grow whereas lipomas tend to stay the same just increase in number. He was reluctant to put her through GA when it probably isn’t needed and I wouldn’t put her through invasive treatment anyway (she’s 12).
 
Some dogs are prone to them (fatty lumps) and do get worse as they get older..she is ten so it may just be one of those things that happens with age and agree with others that I wouldn't do anything invasive in terms of diagnosis or treatment...if she is otherwise fit and well, try not to worry x
 
I had a labrador that had a lump on her back leg.........vet said it was a lipoma. She had it for a few years then suddenly one day it enlarged and was hard, I thought maybe she had knocked it and it had bled. Took her to vet and to cut a long story short found out it was a mast cell tumour, had the tumour removed but a few months later developed overnight a massive swelling in her groin (same leg as tumour). The poor dog was in agony so I had her PTS immediately we got to the vet. She was 12yrs old and I would never have put her through further surgery/chemo. Mast cell tumours are horrendous.
I often wonder if I should have had the lipoma removed but the vet wasn't concerned and said she would develop a lot more bumps before she was through.
 
My 10 yr old flatcoat has had a lump about the size of a 10p on her back for at least two years. When I first found it, I consulted the Vet and we agreed to monitor it. It has never changed, she has one other now but we are pretty sure they are just fatty lumps. I wouldn’t leap in and have them removed immediately.
On a previous flatcoat I had biopsies on three lumps and they were all just fatty. I hope it’s the same for your dog.
 
My 8 yr springer has a lump on her side, about the size of a large marble. Vet looks at it a couple of times a year and we keep an eye on it. IT seemed to appear quite quickly and hasnt got significantly bigger in 2 years, she is bright and well in herself and vets advice is to leave it alone unless it changes its appearance. He is 99% sure its a fatty lump, we can palpate and wriggle it a bit and she doesnt flinch so happy to go with his opinion. Im a worrier too when it comes to my animals and Id quite like to have it removed, however, chances are more will appear as she gets older, so unless she appears unwell Im trusting the vet.
 
My 8.5yo GSD X had a lump under her lower eyelid. Because of the location it had to be removed so we didn't do any tests on it beforehand. The vet was 99% certain it was a lipoma, just in a stupid location. We were worried for the GA but that part went fine. The recovery was a bit tough and took a few days longer than it should have (lots of throwing up and confusion) but once that passed she was back to normal. She is a very large girl and considered "elderly" by both vets and insurance!

(the lump did turn out to be a mast cell tumour so it was good that everything was removed. We are paranoid about the location now and the poor dog gets poked and prodded a lot. So far so good but it wasn't that long ago ...I know everything there is to know about the very rare mast cell tumours in the eye! )
 
Have had a couple of dogs (interestingly, father and son) who had fatty lipomas. Both started at about the age of 9 or 10 and by the time they were PTS at 12 and 13 respectively they both had numerous ones of varying sizes. The only one I wish I had had removed was one that developed in the armpit and grew to the size of my fist over a period of four years. However, by the time the lump was of a size to impact the gait the dog was having other issues and surgery wasn't a possibility.
 
I'd get them removed, got lumps removed off my then 9yr old greyhound and they cam back as fatty and one benign (3 in total). In Jun ethis year I found another more suspicious lump on his jaw, had it removed and tested and it was lymphoma (bcell, focal). A couple of months of chemo and he has been in remission since Aug and we are all clear still one month past treatment, he tolerated it very very well and our vet was superb, only one minor blip where he got a slight bladder infection but apart from that you wouldn't have known bar a slight lack of energy some days (but then he isn't the most energetic to start with!)
 
Thanks everyone, I've decided to go ahead with further needle aspirations first. Unfortunately the earliest appointment I could get is next Tuesday and then it'll be another week + wait for the results - so somehow I'm going to need to control my anxiety for another couple of weeks.

If the results remain inconclusive then I think I will opt for having the lumps removed, but I'm really hoping it wont come to that.
 
I think your approach is a sensible one, given the vet's advice and also taking your anxiety into account. Many older dogs suffer with fatty lumps and they cause no problems at all, so hopefully that is all these are. Try not to worry too much.
 
WorkingGSD said:
I think your approach is a sensible one, given the vet's advice and also taking your anxiety into account. Many older dogs suffer with fatty lumps and they cause no problems at all, so hopefully that is all these are. Try not to worry too much.
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Thank you. My vet is amazing and I totally trust his advice, and if he thought there was a strong chance it was cancerous I know he would be recommending surgery as a first option. I just have to keep reminding myself of this!
 
Dunno why you're having to wait so long for results: mine were done pretty much overnight.

Big dog had a lump removed when his brother had just been PTS due to cancer. It was a lipoma. He's had others aspirated (paranoid owner), all lipomas. Some are growing, more keep appearing.

Zak now has a fairly mobile lump, aspirated, lipoma, plus one that's attached to his sternum. Unless they begin to impede him, I'll leave them. The vet told me overweight dogs are prone. Zak is currently lean. A lot of springer owners mention lipomas on the breed group I use.
 
Such weird timing, I just stumbled on this thread and am rarely on hho these days. Our 10yo jack Russell X had aspirations taken from 3 lumps last week. Got results this evening - the biggest (and softest) one is fatty but the other 2 which are very close to her mammary glands came back as “benign / borderline low malignant” On vets advice we are taking no chances and she’s booked in for surgery on Monday. She has many other lumps so we can’t test them all but the vet isn’t happy with the ones near her mammary glands. She’s very fit and otherwise healthy, so hoping it will be straight forward with a quick recovery for her. Have definitely noticed her showing her age slightly this year but only by sleeping a bit more and looking slightly stiff if she over exerts herself. The vet said the risk of not removing them is much higher than the surgery risks but of course it’s still a worrying time.
 
cinnamontoast said:
Dunno why you're having to wait so long for results: mine were done pretty much overnight.
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I was told results would take up to a week but it was actually nearer 2. I don't think it was helped by the fact that it was originally done on a Friday evening - so probably not sent off until the Monday. Vet said lab seems to be especially busy at the moment.

googol said:
Such weird timing, I just stumbled on this thread and am rarely on hho these days. Our 10yo jack Russell X had aspirations taken from 3 lumps last week. Got results this evening - the biggest (and softest) one is fatty but the other 2 which are very close to her mammary glands came back as “benign / borderline low malignant” On vets advice we are taking no chances and she’s booked in for surgery on Monday. She has many other lumps so we can’t test them all but the vet isn’t happy with the ones near her mammary glands. She’s very fit and otherwise healthy, so hoping it will be straight forward with a quick recovery for her. Have definitely noticed her showing her age slightly this year but only by sleeping a bit more and looking slightly stiff if she over exerts herself. The vet said the risk of not removing them is much higher than the surgery risks but of course it’s still a worrying time.
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Hope all goes well for your dogs procedure on Monday and she makes a quick recovery.

Mine did have a lump removed a couple of years ago - it was a lipoma that had grown around his microchip. Vet didn't want to mess around that time, he whipped it off straight away without doing any prior tests as apparently there there is a small risk with the older microchips causing cancerous tumours. Luckily his was harmless and he was fine after the surgery; he'd not done so well after previous GA when he had an op for luxating patella so I was really worried, but I guess lump removals are very quick and therefore they aren't out for long as he was completely his normal self when I collected him.
 
meleeka said:
That’s interesting. Mines a Springer. She seems to get a new one when every time she gains weight.
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My older lad, 14, is covered. Zak has 2, his brother has a very small matching hard lump, size of a hair bead. Zak had put on some weight, but was then put on short rations again, I don't like his joints being under unnecessary pressure.

This is the springer group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/5895284963/?fref=nf
 
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