Hi All some advice needed if anyone has ever experienced this or heard of it before. My family dog since I was young is now roughly about 16 years old. For the past couple of years she has had lumps on her belly area. Last year the vet said these are normal and appear with age and are something to do with glands etc. In the last fortnight it has swelled an awful lot, we took her to the vet again and he said that she is in good general health and suggested he operate to remove the lump, as if it ulcerates or breaks the skin (which he said it will do) her chances of pulling through are minimal. He has operated on much older dogs with bigger lumps and they have been fine so he thinks her chances of surviving the op are fair. We have booked this for wednesday coming. The problem is since then I keep looking at it and it seems to be getting bigger almost daily, it actually looks like a small tennis ball poking out of the skin in her mammory area. I am terrified of it bursting before wednesday and dont know what I should do for the best. The skin is so stretched and redish.
Does anyone know what signs to look out for or what to do as id hate for it to break the skin and her for to be in such pain. She doesnt seem to be in pain now , just seems to be making her walking about lopsided.
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Health worry about a very old jack russell
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Hiya. What I am going to say is probably going to be a bit upsetting and you must remember that my opinion is based purely on your one post.
I can't understand why your vet has not wanted to remove these lumps before. Unless your dog was spayed before her first season (which wasn't really the done thing 16 years ago) then its highly likely that the lumps you describe are mammary tumours and they should have been removed. If you are worried about this recent rapid growth then you should get in touch with the vet. It may be that for now they have to remove the masses one at a time so that there is enough skin to suture the wounds closed but I would discuss the possibility of a chest x-ray before anything like this to be sure that her chest is clear. If it is clear and she is fit and well in herself then at 16 then you could still have many happy years with her after surgery.
Like I said, I don't want to upset you and I am posting based on limited information but I would question why these lumps have been allowed to grow. x
Thank you so much for your reply, i have been to two seperate vets about these over the last few years. The first one basicaly said they happen in older dogs, that he wouldnt reccomend operating because of her age and that they may break the skin in the future which could mean having to put her to sleep. This was 2 years ago. Then about two months ago we took her to another vet for a general check over and mentioned the lumps while we were there, he basically said the same and said they are nothing to worry about generally, its just if they burst its a problem. At this time they were still tiny. Then last week they looked larger so we took her back, and he suggested operating, did blood tests to make sure everything was working properly internally and said all her tests where fine so her chances are fair. Since we booked the op they seem to be getting even bigger, its horrible - they are now just like one large mass. We are going to phone back on monday and try and get her in before wednesday for the operation because they really look like they wont last that long, the skin looks like it could break quite easily.
Also, if the worst happens and it does burst what do we do? I have no idea about things like this, do we just call our normal vet and hope to get in or would this be classed as an emergancy? Sorry for all the questions x
Hi again, I think its unlikely that anything as dramatic as that will happen. Its generally fluid filled masses such as abcesses that burst and then it tends to be leakage of the fluid. If they are growing so rapidly now then there is a chance the skin could spilt but again I think until tomorrow you will be ok. It would probably be best to keep her reasonably calm and quiet for now, I guess though she's not moving too much as they are limiting her mobility anyway. It sounds like shes in for a big operation so be perepared for that but I agree, if you are worried then get her rechecked in the morning. Please let me know how she gets on x
Thanks for replying again, the vet couldnt reschedule the operation so we have to wait until wednesday. She seems generally ok, but it just looks awful!! I will message you after the op let you know how it goes x
Quoted:
Thanks for replying again, the vet couldnt reschedule the operation so we have to wait until wednesday. She seems generally ok, but it just looks awful!! I will message you after the op let you know how it goes x
Posted by happyhunibunny
Posted by happyhunibunny
Not sure how relevant this is to your situation, but when our dog was 14/15 he developed a mass on one of his testicles. The vet said similar to you and just to keep an eye on it...I was only little so I'm not sure how long the timescale was, but over a course of time the little peanut-sized mass gradually morphed both testicles into one giant one...However he lived a happy life till nearly 18!Typing that, I hope I've not worried you more :s, I was just trying to reassure you that despite what you see, you may have many years left with her...
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