Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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OMG, just a few minutes ago I was checking Cadence like I always do daily, running my hands over her body and just getting a feel for what she is like normally and checking her out, when my hand ran across this pebble like bump on the skin of her ribs. If I pull her skin, it is in the skin and not attached to the muscle, but I am freaking out. It is really hard and pebbly, circular, and no bigger than a pea. What is this!!? I have a half of mind to run her to the vet tonight. This dog has never had a thing on her beside her cancer and I am worried now! Any thought on what it could be? Thanks
Cadence's Mom
Cadence Faye: Born 10/30/04, stepped into our hearts 12/23/2004. Rear leg tumor found 7/24/11 by mom and dad, Xray on 7/25/11, Osteosarcoma suspected 7/26/11, amputation 7/29/11, Carboplatin started 8/23. Met free so far!
It could be a benign cyst. I can't remember the technical name for them, but Tosca has two -- one on her side and one under her eye. They are calcified skin cells, and it sounds like what you've described. Either way, one more night isn't going to make or break the diagnosis, so I wouldn't spend the extra money on an after-hours visit.
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~ ~ Rio ~ ~ |
Not a vet, but I can describe the non-cancerous "lumps" on Chloe
1) warts. She has a few skin warts (3) the size of a couple mm in diameter. They haven't grown in the last couple years I first noticed them. They are hard, same color as skin and really do look like warts.
2) lipoma. She has a squishy lump on her remaining back leg the size of a small grape. You can pull it away from the muscle (since embedded in skin) and can roll it between your thumb and index finger. For this lump we did have the vet do an aspirate (stick needle in it and remove "inside" fluid) for confirmation. This too hasn't grown during the last year I have noticed it.
Advice (as an owner, not vet):
1) If you are worried, schedule an appointment with your vet. No sense in letting something "go" if it is something that you wish you had gone to the vet earlier (down the road). And to clarify, I didn't mean tonight, just at some point in the future.
2) Keep track of size to see if it is growing. Take a piece of paper, lay on top of bump, trace pen around mound (as best as you can with a wiggly dog) and mark the date. Do this regularly even if you go to the vet, maybe once a week or every couple of weeks and track to see if it is changing or not. Options: can cut circle hole "out" and lay over lump to see if any change or draw new circles and keep in a journal or something.
3) When to get removed: with learning about Chloe's benign lipoma (not cancerous), the vet said to keep track of the size and if it gets too large (not sure what "too large" is quantitatively, but he did say non-quantitatively i.e. size where it might interfere with daily activity, like mobility) it would need to be removed. Like I said, I have been keeping track of Chloe's lump regularly. It is still the size of a small grape and has been about a year.
4) Keep doing rub downs like you are! Older dogs tend to get lumps and bumps etc… so keep up the good rub down work!!
-Chloe's mom
Chloe became a rear amp tripawd on 7-29-10. Another tumor was removed on front leg 2-20-14. Found 3rd tumor on neck 2-2015, but she's still kicking cancer's butt at age 14. Chloe's blog
I hope you find out it's nothing and just a benign bump!
Keep us posted. Sending pawsitive Team Tripawds thoughts your way.
Jackie, Abby's mom
Abby: Aug 1, 2009 – Jan 10, 2012. Our beautiful rescue pup lived LARGE with osteosarcoma for 15 months – half her way-too-short life. I think our "halflistic" approach (mixing traditional meds + supplements) helped her thrive. (PM me for details. I'm happy to help.) She had lung mets for over a year. They took her from us in the end, but they cannot take her spirit! She will live forever in our hearts. She loved the beach and giving kisses and going to In-N-Out for a Flying Dutchman. Tripawds blog, and a more detailed blog here. Please also check out my novel, What the Dog Ate. Now also in paperback! Purchase it at Amazon via Tripawds and help support Tripawds!
Cadence and mom
It could be a few things, but there really is no point in taking her to the vet tonight, unless you just just aren't going to sleep. But you'd probably have to wait for dogs needing more urgent care to get looked at. Even if they do a needle aspirate tonight, you probably won't get results until at least tomorrow.
A round, mobile lump - not attached to the muscle - is probably the best kind of lump to have. However, given you are one of us and you say the lump is hard (I assume Cadence has OSA), you should get it checked. The vet can probably do a needle aspirate to see if the cells look okay or are questionable.
As Chloe suggests, if the vet doesn't think it is anything serious, just keep an eye on it to see if it changes. Even benign lumps can grow to be large, but obviously we have more reason than most to be alert to these things.
Hi Heather -
We had the same issue with Ginger a couple weeks ago. I freaked out and took her to the vet - she was due for bloodwork and check-up any way.
Dr. Greene checked her out and said the bump was just a fatty mass/lipoma and was nothing to worry about. Ginger's is on the side of her stomach. I guess Dr. Greene found another one that I didn't even know about.
It is probably nothing but if it makes you feel better - I say take her to the vet. Is she do for a check-up anytime soon??
Dr. Greene is used to me calling and freaking out about every little thing!!
Annie
Oh Heather, I really hope it is nothing. Let us know, okay? I'm with Annie, call for everything.
http://tate.tripawds.com/
August 16, 2006 to November 28, 2011
TATE ~ Forever in our hearts.
Don't get too worried. My Nova has lumps like you describe in several places and I have had every single one aspirated, and they were all benign. But I was just like you, and freaked out every time I found one. I know it's unnerving to find a lump, but chances are good it is no big deal.
Sue and Queen Nova
Dane Mom Sue at nova.tripawds.com and Mom to Beautiful Great Dane Queen Nova, a Blind Tripawd, who kicked cancer's butt from 11/08-03/13. The Queen is Spirit Nova now, but her legacy lives on here at Tripawds!
Finchy, our non-cancer dog (but still just as important-take that monkey dogs!), has a couple of those lumps on him. I freaked out every time I found one- and this was before Chili Dawg's cancer. I had each one checked out by our vet every time. Each time it wasn't anything, BUT, I would still get it checked out for peace of mind. I'm not saying go tonight, but I would still get it checked out. It's better to know then not to know, is what I tell myself, even when I really don't want to know.
Hang in there and let us know how it turns out.
Jenna & Spirit Chili Dawg
Diagnosed with OSA: 5/2/2011 Ampuversary: 5/11/2011 OSA returned in hip: 8/26/2011
Chili Dawg crossed the Rainbow Bridge on 8/30/2011 & is now pain free. He was my heart dog, and I miss him every day.
I had to do a little research to remember what they call Tosca's bump. It was a keratinized cutaneous cyst. Benign, but a mouthful. It's basically a hair follicle that goes wacko. There are several different kinds, all benign, but I don't remember the specific type that she had. When they said "benign," my brain kinda shut off......
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~ ~ Rio ~ ~ |
I got nothing.
But I just wanted to send my best to Cadence! We'll be thinking about her until we hear good news!!!
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
Roman has a pea sized bump on the skin of his back leg, he licks it occasionally but it hasn't changed at all since I noticed it six or seven months ago. That's not much help but I was concerned about it for awhile. He is also fairly riddled with fatty tumors, several warts or moles and other various mystery lumps that he's developed over the last 3 years. He's 12 yrs old and a big dog so I try not to sweat the little bumps too much. If you get it diagnosed as something I'd like to know what it is. Hope its nothing serious
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Hi all, thank you for your concern about Cadence. You guys are great. I am taking her into the vet this week. Thankfully it does not appear to be getting any larger and is not bothering her at all. She is not licking and bitiing at it. Especially with this OSA she has, finding something like this is especially troublesome.
I feel like I am always waiting for the ball to drop. Does anyone else feel like that sometimes? Even though you try to be pawsitive, you feel like at any moment something bad is going to pop up. We took her to Santa Paws this weekend and I got emotional thinking about all this. She never was even afraid of Santa and she just rested her head on his lap and leaned against him just like she does to all people who are kind to her and smiled for her photo. She is just a loving dog and I started to think again about when the cancer comes back and how it is going to suck not having her with us. Ugh! I wish I could just get these thoughts out of my mind. Especially with this holiday season that ugly thought keeps popping into my mind that this could be her last Christmas with us.
Chloe's Mom: On the skin colored warts she has, are they out of the skin, or just underneath? From the photos online it looks like most of the warts are hanging out outside the skin, like skin tags. Cadence's are under.
Cadence Faye: Born 10/30/04, stepped into our hearts 12/23/2004. Rear leg tumor found 7/24/11 by mom and dad, Xray on 7/25/11, Osteosarcoma suspected 7/26/11, amputation 7/29/11, Carboplatin started 8/23. Met free so far!
Rio's warts are on the skin, but Tosca's keratinized whatevers are underneath. They are like a tiny marble under the skin -- hard, but moveable.
And it's normal to feel like you're waiting for the other shoe to drop. I think I posted somewhere about cancer being such a life altering event, that you can never again return to the state of idealism that you lived in pre-cancer. You know, where you hear about this awful stuff happening to other people, but it doesn't ever cross your mind that it might happen to you? That's where I lived prior to Rio's cancer.
Even after the first surgery, I didn't really believe that it would really come back. I mean, statistically, yes it was a possibility, but I don't think I gave those statistics a second thought. After getting blindsided by the second tumor, I swear I became obsessed. I was checking Rio daily, sometimes more, because I knew that nasty cancer was just there, lurking, waiting for me to become complacent again. And you know, after a time, I did, because it still caught me off guard...
What I've learned after all these years of dealing with this cancer, is that it's okay to be worried, and it's okay to have the occasional meltdown-freakout-fear fest. Give yourself the time and permission to freak out, and then pull it together, make a plan and get on with your day. Gaze into Cadence's beautiful eyes, and allow her to reassure you. You can't control life (or cancer), but you can control how much it eats away at you. (I know, easier said than done!!! This roller coaster ride is not for the faint of stomach.)
We hope Cadence's bump turns out to be nothing serious.
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~ ~ Rio ~ ~ |
Thanks RiosMom. Her appointment is tomorrow so hopefully I will know something by the end of the week. You are right that pre-cancer you do live in idealism because when we first found it and went to the vet to get the X-rays, the thought never crossed my mind that the diagnosis would be cancer. I was in such shock that whatever the vet said after she showed me the X-rays was like when the adults talk on Charlie Brown (wah wahwah wah wah....u know.) and I could not even listen to anything she said.
Since I found this new lump I have been easy to bring to tears and moody. I don't even have zest about the holidays. I am getting stuff ready but it is like it is with a heavy heart. I keep trying to put it into perspective that she is seven years old and is starting in her senior years and may start getting bumps, especially since she is a poodle, but it is almost unreal to think like that because she is so happy, has zest, energy and acts so much like a puppy even though she is a tripawd, its like she is ageless.
I hope it's nothing too. Thanks for your post.
Cadence's Mom
Cadence Faye: Born 10/30/04, stepped into our hearts 12/23/2004. Rear leg tumor found 7/24/11 by mom and dad, Xray on 7/25/11, Osteosarcoma suspected 7/26/11, amputation 7/29/11, Carboplatin started 8/23. Met free so far!
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