Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi all,
I'm sorry to be posting so much; I'm thinking/hoping mostly I'm just being a nervous puppy-mom. But I was just petting Sophie and noticed a little bump under the skin on her neck on the side where she just had her amputation, about four inches forward from where her incision is, and approximately across from where the top of her shoulder blade/beginning of her neck is on the other side (although a little hard to estimate exactly what was where pre-op). Looking on-line it seems to line up with where a lymph node would be. The bump is sortof oval/circular, circumference maybe a little smaller than my (small) thumb pad. It doesn't appear to be very deep.
Does anyone know if lymph nodes might get a little bigger post surgery to do their work? Or maybe the size I described is their normal size? I don't feel anything similar on other side, but her coat is very thick there.
Of course I'm jumping to worse case scenario. Have left message for vet. Would welcome thoughts.
Christine & Sophie
p.s. on positive side, she seems even brighter today than yesterday, sat outside in the sun and sniffed the air for a good hour this afternoon, and is getting around really well.
Hi Christine,
Is the lump on Sophie somewhere near location #3 in Superficial lymph drainage of the dog?
Not really sure if the nearby lymph node would enlarge after the surgery, but I imagine it is possible. The immune system probably has detected some activities/objects not from within the body but because of the surgery, and it may be just trying to fight.
Depending on where exactly the bump you found is located...The muscles all around where the amputated leg had to be "reorganized/rearranged" because of the missing part, and that the bump on Sophie possibly is one of the muscle strips overlapping the other, or even could be some stitches among the muscles underneath the skin.
That said, I am not a vet, and hopefully Tazzie's mom will check in soon before you can get hold of your vet to offer her professional opinion .
Try not to worry too much for now. Good luck!
Hi Genie,
Yes, it is in #3 area. She's long had a fatty deposit between her whithers, and I'm hopeful that with the surgery everything just shifted downwards. But to be honest, this would have to be pretty far downwards. I'm just trying to stay relaxed until I hear back, stay calm and hang out with her.
Actually, in the time before I started this post and now, a friend who is an informal dog expert came by and felt the bump. He pointed out that you can easily move it around, and pick it up with your fingers, so looks to be right under the skin, so he thinks it's a fat deposit- that a lymph node couldn't do that!
One other q- Sophie seems a little more lethargic/less interested in walking today, and I wonder if she is slightly favoring hind leg on same side as amputation. I'm wondering if she's just stiff from adjusting to using muscles differently; have others noticed this a few days post surgery?
thank you thank you thank you
Good to know that you could pull the lump with the skin away from the muscles. If that's so, yes, that is likely lipoma, and they mostly are harmless. It would not hurt to ask the vet the double check just for the peace of mind.
Genie had lots in her body, and being so paranoid, I actually marked them and their size and the date of discovery on a canine anatomy diagram, and asked the vet to feel each of the new ones!
It's been only 5 days since her surgery? Give her time to re-adjust. She needs to spend a lot of energy to re-train her muscles and body structure for the new way of walking.
Buster's lymph was slightly enlarged pre- surgery.( Thank you Genie for the chart.) A total body check is usually given prior to surgery. Keep us posted. Probably just a fatty deposit as mentioned before, you can have the vet do a needle biopsy in the office to rule out anything. It's simple and low cost.... and you'll get an answer usually on the spot.
Worrying serves no purpose...
Kim&Buster
Kim & Angel Buster
"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened."
–Anatole France
Sophie,
Sounds like a lipoma to me! Tazzie had some shifting of her tissues post-op and she now has fatty deposits over her thoracic inlet/jugular vein area that definitely weren't there before. Even if it is the prescapular lymph node, it could easily be enlarged due to inflammation at the site. The surgeon probably removed this lymph node anyway, and metastasis wouldn't happen in only 5 days.
Good for you for noticing this! It is always good to palpate your dog all over and note any changes or new bumps. It is usually easy for your vet to do a fine needle aspirate of the mass and tell you in a matter of minutes what the cells look like.
I'm glad that she is feeling better.
Pam and Tazzie
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