Some reminders about Cell tumor tissues in your dog

[ShardaBaker]

Hello everyone,

I received an email from a subscriber about her dog's experience with this sort of condition and she asked that I should share it with everyone.

You may recall I wrote about my dog developing a mast cell tumor that looked like a wart on her back .. If appropriate, you might caution your readers to have their vet aspirate and do a culture of the cells before "freezing" the "wart" .. A MOHS type surgery must be done to totally remove the tumor and get all of it .. going so far to come up with clean edges ..
One vet totally missed it and fortunately didn't "freeze" the spot .. Our Dallas
TX A&M vet took the appropriate action and probably saved my dogs' life.
Thanks,
Mary Bredlau

[Sarah]

Thanks for that Sharda. I can't count how many times that we just mistake "warts" to be due to old age or nothing important.

[jude09]

Yes, I understand what you mean Sarah, we can never be too sure about this sort of things.

Another suggestion is that to consult with 2 -3 vets about this sort of "wart" before dismissing it.

[Sarah]

I agree Jude!

[jude09]

Our dog also had this sort of bump on his side Sarah, we were really frightened because we really love Fafner so much
and to think he was still a year old. But the good news is that the bump was nothing but a side effect caused by injection
for his yearly shots.

The bump is now gone but our vet is really a great person, she asked 2 - 3 of her colleagues about the bump before
she made a conclusion. It took a month for the bump to disappear completely.

[Sarah]

Nice to see you Jude. Did she explain why it happened? I think Fafner was allergic to whatever the shot was, and the body's natural defenses was fighting against it. This is normal, but it takes about an unspecified amount of time, usually a week, but a month is ok too.

Glad to know that Fafner was ok though Jude. Watch next year when he gets his shots and see if it happens again. It may not because his body has already immunized him from it.. make sense?

[MaryAnn]

Jude...glad to hear Fafner (love the name) is fine and it was nothing serious. All unusual lumps and bumps found on our beloved pets should be checked out by a Vet at an accredited hospital. Most cities and/or large towns refer their patients to a university vet which is wonderful.

Anything unusual that I notice on my gal...I take her in for an exam....it is a small price to pay. As we all know with our own health ... it is good to catch "it" early if there is a problem.

[jude09]

Hello and welcome back again Mary Ann!

Sarah, the vet said that it was just a reaction since Fafner got 2 shots on the same day(for rabies and for immunization). The bump didn't bother him
too much but the also mentioned that if the bump didn't disappear after a month that we should have it checked further (that actually scared the living
daylights out of me and my sisters). We still check his body regularly for any bumps or abnormalities during grooming time and we will also check for any bumps
during his next yearly shot.

Mary Ann, I agree, as what Sharda always tells me, prevention is better than cure and it's better to check it out early than to be sorry.

[MaryAnn]

We recently found a couple of unusual bumps on my gal and the one tripled in size within a few days and so she had surgery to have both removed. Her Vet also removed surrounding tissue to be sent off to the Lab to be tested. She is great now...as we are back to attending our training classes in Agility / Rally / Obedience. The only thing she wasn't crazy about was wearing her E-collar for 2.5 weeks, but other than that she was great. We even practiced Rally and Obedience here at home with the E-collar on. I wouldn't allow her to be totally "lazy"....afterall...her legs were fine. She still went out to potty outside...we kept her routine as normal as possible. Even attended classes to observe until the collar came off.

[jude09]

Oh my! It's great to know that she's fine now Mary Ann. How old is your gal who had
bumps?

I'm very glad that she's back conquering the agility course.