My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

The doghouse

What would you do? Nearly 11 YO dog with lumps in mammary gland. EPIC post, sorry but need help.

11 replies

CallerIDBingo · 28/06/2014 21:27

Just want some opinions really on what you would do if this was your dog.

Took my dog (Collie Cross) to the vets this week to get her checked over and make sure it's ok to give her anti-histamines as she's been really snorty and sneezy lately. It's not a new thing, it's happened on and off over the years and I think she's reacting to pollen or some other allergy.

Vet says half an AH is fine, and it's definitely helped. I'm not giving it every day but on the days she's most snuffly, it seems to work.

Vet also checked her over as I pointed out she has a short patch of hair above her tail on her back - figured that could also be allergy related as she spends most of her time in the garden and likes crawling under bushes and trees.
Could also be clipper burn as we had her groomed late last summer and it never really grew back properly there.

Vet starts checking her over. Says her glands are up in her neck and her nose looks swollen on one side but her airflow from her nose is fine.

Then she finds lumps in one of her mammary glands - three of them. I have a feel and I find two more in the same gland. I've since felt her over at home and I think she has a couple in another one (both back teats).

I'm pretty sure I noticed she had lumpy teats at Christmas when she had a phantom pregnancy. Vet examined her then and didn't mention them.

Vet then asks if she's drinking a bit more water than usual. She probably is, but it's been really hot. But she never has accidents indoors and doesn't drink excessively.

So vet says she may have Cushings disease (weight gain, thin patch of hair, drinking more) Sad
And that the lump in her nose could be something serious.Sad
And that she needs antibiotics as her glands are up.Sad
And that the mammary gland and possibly glands around it will need to be removed asap.Sad

She aspirated two of the lumps with a needle and said that they weren't fatty lumps, but that having them tested for cancer was usually inconclusive so she said it was "best to just do the operation next week to remove the gland and possibly other glands" to be sure.

Now, I'm not sure if I need a second opinion from another vet.

I just can't believe I can take an otherwise happy and healthy (but admittedly aging) dog to the vets and come out with three potentially terribly serious diagnoses.

Money is not an issue and I can pay for whatever she needs.


But I've seen that the mammary glad removal (they may need to take more than one gland away) is a big operation and that she'll need drains in the wounds. She's full of beans and it will be hard to keep her still while she recovers.

She was a rescue, so we can't be completely sure about her age either. She's currently playfighting with DP in the lounge and barking her head off Hmm Her tail rarely isn't wagging.

Yes she's slowing down - but that is only really showing itself in that she struggles the day after a big walk, which I've put down to a bit of arthritis in her older age. She's still loves to chase a ball and goes crazy when we get her lead out.

She may or may not have had these lumps for six months.

She really is happy in herself. Completely mad most of the time in fact.

So.

Second opinion from a different vet? Proper biopsy before going ahead with an op?

So what would you do? Any advice gratefully received.

I've stopped crying about it and now trying to be logical while doing what is best for her.

OP posts:
Report
MuttonCadet · 28/06/2014 21:30

I'd get a second opinion in your situation. I'm really sorry that you 're going through this. Thanks

Report
CallerIDBingo · 28/06/2014 22:08

Thank you for the Thanks MuttonCadet

I know that there's a 50% chance the lumps are cancer.

But I'm just so torn. I don't know if the vet (very efficient, newly qualified I believe) is being too cautious.

I don't know much about the practice even - simply because Jess never been ill.

She's been there once with a phantom pregnancy last December, no treatment required and she was fine afterwards. At our old vets she only ever went in for issues with her dewclaws.

She's snoring away next to me and has just destroyed one of her teddy bears. Stuffing and body parts everywhere Grin

OP posts:
Report
tabulahrasa · 28/06/2014 22:26

I'd get a second opinion from an oncologist.

IME they know way more about treatment options than other vets (understandably) and it may well be that there's something less invasive available...they should definitely be able to give you a more firm diagnosis anyway.

Report
CallerIDBingo · 29/06/2014 13:15

I feel bad about it, but yes, I think I need to get a second opinion.

Vet also said she had a heart murmur Sad - forgot to mention that.

Again, that wasn't picked up when she went in December and I specifically asked the other vet to listen to her chest because she snores. She said she found nothing to worry about - and now this!

I think I'm still in shock. She seems so well in herself!

OP posts:
Report
MuttonCadet · 29/06/2014 17:19

All my dogs (5 in total over 30 years) have had heart murmers. I really wouldn't worry about that.

But the lumps need attention from an oncologist

Report
Thegoatprophecy · 29/06/2014 22:06

My 12 year old Ridgeback girl had a large mammary tumour and a smaller one removed over a year ago. It looked quite nasty, so an op was the obvious course of action. It was biopsied as malignant with guarded prognosis as they may not have removed enough surrounding tissue. I consulted a top dog cancer specialist who said that he would suggest a mammary strip, which would consist of two brutal operations. Although he said if it was his dog he probably wouldn't do it. I then got one more opinion from another general vet who advised to let her enjoy her last few months then PTS. I decided against further intervention and over a year on the dog is still doing fine; she had a few more little lumps removed when she was spayed due to a womb infection earlier this year. Despite her age she recovered well within days from both ops even though the initial lump removal left a big 6" wound. I would get another opinion or two to help you decide.

Report
CallerIDBingo · 29/06/2014 22:55

Thank you. Good to hear your girl is still doing well TheGoatprophecy.

I'm going to take her to another vet this week for a second opinion - not just on the lumps, but also the Cushings, heart murmur and her nose.

My feeling at the moment is to ask for only the affected glands to be remove, unless they find anything massively untoward.

I'm not going to get her spayed at the same time as even though they'll do it half price as she'll already be under GA Hmm, I think an extra wound is too much for her to deal with.

She's been swimming today and met some new dogs in the park.

She's played her dad up while taking her antibiotics (I take it her painkillers for post-op will be syringed liquid - because we'll have no chance getting pills down her with a big wound!)

Then she's spent the afternoon fishing in the big pond in our garden. She's happy enough Grin

OP posts:
Report
frostyfingers · 30/06/2014 08:35

Was one of the first questions "is she insured?"..... If so beware, it does seem to make a difference with some vets as to what they suggest treatment wise.

I also think sometimes that newly qualified vets are very hot on the diagnosis and treatment, and not so good at interpreting what is right for the animal - which I imagine is something that comes with experience. A while ago we had two cats, one of which died quickly from a liver condition and when his brother started showing the same symptoms I took him in and said to run the tests and if it was the same we'd pts as it was untreatable.

Poor kitty deteriorated very quickly, was put on a drip and the vet said "we can try this, that, the other" to which I consistently said no - please put him to sleep, she was very disgruntled and implied that I wasn't giving the cat the best chance.

After the event I spoke to a senior partner and said that whilst I didn't want to complain directly to the junior vet I wasn't especially happy with how the issue had been handled. He looked at then notes for both cats and agreed that I'd done the right thing - he later reported that he'd spoken to the treating vet and she'd not looked at the notes for the previous cat (despite my reference to them) and not taken on board the likely outcome. All she'd seen was the clinical signs of this, that and the other and not put them all together. A lesson learned, and hopefully the next time round this vet would remember to look at the whole picture.

I vowed then that all my animals would only be seen by a senior vet wherever possible - and that remained the case as long as we were in the area, and they were fine about it.

I think to go over your dog's case with a more experienced vet pointing out your concerns about the impact on the dog, and could all of these issues have come up so quickly since a reasonably clean bill of health not that long ago is definitely the right way to go. Treatment and endless medication isn't always the best thing - quality of life is priceless and you have to weigh up the pros and cons.

Report
Aque1ven · 30/06/2014 18:27

One of mine was found to have a couple of small lumps in one mammary gland at a routine checkup for her booster when she was nine. Was worried when the vet said most likely malignant & took his advice for an operation, mammary strip. Had blood work done before it to check for anything adverse for a GA. She came through the op fine, seemingly, for a few days but then began to slow down quite worryingly. I had her back to the vet every day for a week during which time was told she'll be fine, just taking a bit longer to recover. Then she suddenly died in the afternoon after I'd been told this just that morning, again.
I wish I'd never agreed to the operation.

Report
ineedsomeinspiration · 30/06/2014 21:47

It's a hard choice with an older dog. If she's not been spayed then quite likely malignant lumps I'm afraid if not fatty tissue.
What's she like at the vets, ours would do biopsy with sedation for our Old girl(also had a heart murmur) and have quite a few ultrasounds of our current boys heart with nothing at all.
I think perhaps X-rays to check her heart and lungs may be a good idea too before making a further decision.
Just bear in mind if she is older and getting phantom pregnancies then there is a higher risk of a pyometra so spaying may not be a bad option.
I too agree that young vets are often working out of the text book rather than by experience and older vets will access cases on a more individual basis.
We found out our old girl had Kidney failure long before most people normally would and she had a while of being quite normal. When she got sick we decided to pts. Could have ekkked her out for a bit longer with drugs but seemed awful, our vet felt the same too but I think some younger vets may not do the same.

Report
CallerIDBingo · 26/07/2014 00:34

A bit of an update, I hope you don't think I'm awful.

I haven't yet taken her for the second opinion. I simply can't face it Sad The vet did say one of the options was to leave it four weeks and see if the lumps got bigger.

I felt the "lumps" again last night, no change AFAICT. They are no bigger. In fact I think they are the same as when I noticed she was a bit lumpy in her teats in December (I thought I was just feeling an internal organ to be honest, there is a collection of small spongy lumps in one area).

She's a bit lumpy anyway -when I give her a good feel all over, she does have the odd wart and lump in various places, which she's always had, nothing new there.

The sniffing and snorting and sneezing has stopped, no more AHs. Her hayfever (as ridiculous as it may sound) seems to coincide with mine and I've not taken any either. It's not just me projecting, when she's snuffly she keeps us awake so we can't ignore it.

I've changed her food and she's lost weight, in fact she looks really good Grin I recognised we were feeding her too much simply because she's picky and it took ages to find something she really loved to eat. Also cut down on bones and titbits, she's on fish only and no meat products.

We monitored her drinking over a week and it was less than five litres, including emptying her bowl in between. So she's definitely not got excessive thirst or hunger, which would indicate cushings.

And the patch of hair I mentioned to the vet is growing back nicely - she's had her summer moult come in and the patch has caught up while the rest is coming away.

So. I don't really know what to do. I've had a really good vet recommended but I'm finding it very hard to do anything when she seems so well in herself.

OP posts:
Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.