Lumpy Dog!

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benm3evo

Original Poster:

383 posts

180 months

Friday 19th September 2014
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Hi,

I'm hoping I might be able to get some opinions on a lump our Dog has on her back please.

It is on her back near where her tail 'joins' her back. It has been there a month or so & was about the size of a pea. In the last week it got bigger so we (my Mum) took her to the vet.

The following information is a bit second-hand as I wasn't there but basically the vet was sure it was a cyst. They took a sample with a needle but didn't think there was much point sending it off for analysis, just said to keep an eye on it & bathe it with salt water.

I am in no way questioning our vet as we're very happy with them but I'm not sure the right questions were asked by us. My main question is whether it is best to have these removed. Apparently the vet was slightly hinting at this to begin with but didn't say it's absolutely necessary. I know my Mum would not like the idea of having it removed, & if there's no real need then we wouldn't do it, but we will obviously do what's best so I'd be grateful for any opinions.

Now for the nasty bit! After the vet had taken the sample they squeezed it a bit & a dark brown/black liquid came out. My second question is is it best to try & get the rest out? Or best left alone? The lump now is about the size of a small grape. It moves around quite easily & doesn't feel too attached to anything under skin. The Dog shows no signs of discomfort or pain, even when touching the lump & she's her normal hyper self.

Thanks for any advice or suggestions.

Cheers, Ben (& Millie the Dog!)

paul_y3k

618 posts

207 months

Friday 19th September 2014
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Ben,
Not sure it helps but our own dog, Dickens has several lumps - that have developed with age. As he's a rescue we don't know his history but the BlueCross assured us that these lumps were just fatty deposits. They feel a bit yuck in that they 'move' around under his skin but he feels no discomfort. It's almost as if they are little bubbles or bags under there and I do wonder if they could be drained.

However every time he visits the vets whose keeping an eye on some other stuff - the vet has a quick poke and then ignores them as he doesn't think of them as an issue.

Could the black stuff, be blood from the biopsy ?


Anonamoose

442 posts

134 months

Friday 19th September 2014
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paul_y3k said:
Ben,
Not sure it helps but our own dog, Dickens has several lumps - that have developed with age. As he's a rescue we don't know his history but the BlueCross assured us that these lumps were just fatty deposits. They feel a bit yuck in that they 'move' around under his skin but he feels no discomfort. It's almost as if they are little bubbles or bags under there and I do wonder if they could be drained.

However every time he visits the vets whose keeping an eye on some other stuff - the vet has a quick poke and then ignores them as he doesn't think of them as an issue.

Could the black stuff, be blood from the biopsy ?
Our rescue collie has a couple of these now, the vet said they are fine. They would only need to be drained/removed if they got so big to cause movement problems. He has had them for a few years now and they haven't gotten any bigger.

Our pedigree poodle had a smallish lump on her back, one day she started biting at it. Ripped it open, loads of pus came out. Once that had happened we took her to vet, who said just let it heal. So we did and it has disappeared. Rather gross though!

2.5pi

1,066 posts

181 months

Friday 19th September 2014
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Ours has lumps and bumps all over and she's a 15 year old retriever , they are fatty cysts and can be drained but I'd be wary of surgery as the risk of infection is greater than the risk that they ain't fatty cysts according to our vet.

We noticed her first lump at 1 year old or so

benm3evo

Original Poster:

383 posts

180 months

Friday 19th September 2014
quotequote all
Thanks for the quick replies.

It sounds very similar to what Paul describes...& yes, I guess the black stuff could well have been blood as it had recently had a needle stuck in it! I'll mention it to Mum later as I didn't see it myself (thankfully!)

Thanks again.


Hooli

32,278 posts

199 months

Friday 19th September 2014
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Do keep an eye on them & see if they cause discomfort though. One of my dogs had these years ago, all I could feel was a small lump in her 'armpit' but it gradually started to cause her discomfort. When the vet removed it, it was the size of an orange, but had been hidden by the shoulder muscle.

benm3evo

Original Poster:

383 posts

180 months

Friday 19th September 2014
quotequote all
Hooli said:
Do keep an eye on them & see if they cause discomfort though. One of my dogs had these years ago, all I could feel was a small lump in her 'armpit' but it gradually started to cause her discomfort. When the vet removed it, it was the size of an orange, but had been hidden by the shoulder muscle.
Blimey, I bet that came as a shock.

So far our Dog is happy for us to prod it etc, she doesn't even bat an eyelid so I'm sure it's not painful...at the moment.

Cheers, Ben

Catz

4,812 posts

210 months

Saturday 20th September 2014
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Our retriever has 4 lumps to date, I'm going to have to start taking a note of them at this rate!
They've all been checked by the vet and are just fatty deposits. She has one above her rib cage which is really large so I did question the vet about removal. I was told getting an anaesthetic would be far more dangerous than having a fatty lump so looks like they're there to stay.

I believe they only remove them if they're causing discomfort or restricting movement.

imagineifyeswill

1,223 posts

165 months

Saturday 20th September 2014
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Some dogs are more prone to these lumps than others, our springer is full of lumps and bumps, I would advise leaving them alone. We took the vets advice when we discovered the 1st on about 5 years ago and she ended up with a huge operation wound which wouldnt heal and turned septic, she had to undergo a 2nd op to reopen the wound and insert drains and was very poorly for a while, never again.

GokTweed

3,799 posts

150 months

Saturday 20th September 2014
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Vets can never reliably say what a lump is without removing it and sending it off for cytology. Depending on the size, feel, location and appearance may give clues as to whether it is more likely to be a nasty one or not but at the end of the day you can't be 100% sure I'm afraid.

OP I'd say if it is as you described and a sample has been taken with the results showing it is of no major concern, Then you certainly aren't doing the wrong thing by keeping an eye on it and monitoring whether it starts bothering the dog or increases in size.

Edited by GokTweed on Sunday 21st September 14:00

benm3evo

Original Poster:

383 posts

180 months

Sunday 21st September 2014
quotequote all
Thanks for the replies. I've passed the info onto Mum & we're going to just keep an eye on it for now. She has been bathing it with salt water & it's not getting any bigger as yet & Millie is still showing no signs of discomfort so ok so far.
Thanks again. Ben

benm3evo

Original Poster:

383 posts

180 months

Sunday 21st September 2014
quotequote all
Thanks for the replies. I've passed the info onto Mum & we're going to just keep an eye on it for now. She has been bathing it with salt water & it's not getting any bigger as yet & Millie is still showing no signs of discomfort so ok so far.
Thanks again. Ben

benm3evo

Original Poster:

383 posts

180 months

Monday 3rd November 2014
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Hi all.

Bit of an update on this topic.

The lump on Millie's back seems to be back to it's original size (grape sized). It had originally reduced, I guess due to the vet drawing some fluid out. My Mum has continued to bathe it with warm salt water but there doesn't seem to be a 'hole' so no fluid etc is coming out.

We're in 2 minds as to whether to return to the vet & have it removed. It still doesn't cause Millie any pain at all.

I was just after some more opinions please as to whether we should take her back to the vet or not. I'm a bit concerned it could get bigger under the skin so best to get rid sooner than later.

I've also seen after searching on the Net that some people have 'lanced' a cyst themselves & drained (taking sterile precautions) but I guess this isn't advisable?

Thanks, Ben

moorx

3,480 posts

113 months

Monday 3rd November 2014
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I wouldn't touch any lump without being told it was safe to do so by my vet.

Sounds like they did a fine needle aspiration, which my vet did on a lump once on one of my dogs - they didn't bother sending it for analysis because they could tell by putting what came out on a microscope slide that it was just a fatty lump (it was a clear, oily liquid).

There was no dark brown/black liquid involved. That would suggest 'old' blood, rather than fresh, to me.

The only cyst I have experience of is a sebaceous cyst - but I would expect white/yellow material in one of those.

My vet has generally been of the opinion to leave lumps alone until they give cause for concern (change size, shape or cause the dog problems). The only time they removed a lump from one of my dogs was when he had one on his rear leg that increased in size and was getting knocked and bleeding. They removed that by freezing it - it dropped off within a day or two and left just a little pink bald spot on his skin. The vet was reluctant to subject him to a GA as he was quite elderly and wobbly.

Personally, I would be going back to the vet to get it checked out again.

Thevet

1,787 posts

232 months

Monday 3rd November 2014
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Do not attempt to lance a lump on your pet!! it is effectively illegal and probably not the right course of action due to the small size you descibe. I think it odd that the original FNA or fine needle aspirate of the lump wasn't sent off but I wasn't looking at it to know if the sample was appropriate/good. Until you get a name for the lump or a n accurate description of its behaviour (it's growing fast/slow or is changing quickly or is ulcerating/painful etc) then I can't say whether it should be removed. There are some lumps and bumps that can easily be diagnosed on simple clinical examination, they don't all need histopathology, but the majority do. So, ask your vet for a repeat FNA and send it off for analysis. There is a chance that the bit you sample may not give the info you want, which might need a whole lump to be removed for full analysis, but it's so simple and relatively cheap, used successfully on my old lab and avoiding surgery as a result. HTH

benm3evo

Original Poster:

383 posts

180 months

Tuesday 4th November 2014
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Hi,

Thanks very much for both replies above.

We will take Millie back to the vet & ask them to send a sample of for analysis this time so hopefully we will know more of what we're dealing with. I wasn't at the Vet last time so I'm not sure why this wasn't done in the first place.

The things I can be fairly sure of is it's not painful to Millie (she's a bit of a wimp so would soon let us know) & it doesn't appear to be changing size as it's back to the original size of when we took her to the vet in the first place & isn't getting any bigger....just maybe slightly firmer so I do wonder whether it might burst on it's own before much longer, nice!

Thanks again for the advice.

Ben