DOGGIE DOG BLOG

Posted by: David Harris

Video by: David Harris

Just over four years ago I noticed a very small lump on the side of my personal dog.  Not much bigger than a small marble, it garnered very little attention from me at the time.  Felt sort of like a pimple under the skin.  Over the next year it grew to the size of a large marble.  On a routine visit to my vet I had him take a look and give me his opinion.  It’s nothing to be concerned about was his reply.  My reply was to ask what was it?  He simply said that he didn’t know, but that he thought it was harmless and nothing to be concerned about.  Not being the type of person to be overly concerned about such things anyway, I put it out of my mind.  But, it just kept growing, so this nagging feeling I had would not completely go away.  Over the next year the lump grew to the size of a golf ball.  I had another two vets look at the lump and got the same opinion.  Don’t know, don’t worry.  So, I didn’t.  Hady competed in AKC and Schutzhund, traveled to Germany, was enjoying life and had three litters of puppies.  Our bond grew and her lump continued to grow as well. 

In December of 08 she will be seven years old.  She is in excellent health, loves to run and still has some good work in her.  I have the goal of getting her AKC tracking titles, and hopefully a UD.  She has been trained to this level for the better part of three years, but hasn’t had the opportunity to compete due to my schedule and her busy reproductive schedule; we just haven’t had an opportunity to get in the ring.  Now our schedule is open, but the lump is in the way.  Big time.  With each litter of puppies the lump grew dramatically.  Between litters the lump would remain about the same size.  I naturally associated the growth of the lump with the increase of calories I was feeding her, but the vets could not confirm my thoughts.  So, I finally decided to have them open her up and see what was in there. 

The following video link shows the entire surgery from beginning to end.  So, it is not for the weak of stomach, but is educational and informative.  For me the news is that I should have had the surgery done two years ago.  The surgery was less invasive than a spay.  She was up and recovering from the surgury in less than twenty four hours.  The flip side of that is that what we found when she was opened up (a fatty lipoma) is totally harmless and she was in no danger or pain from it.  The only reason to remove it was that it was altering her gait due to its size and location.  Had she been a less active dog this lipoma could have easily been ignored.  More information on Lipomas can be found at:

http://www.goaskalice.columbia.edu/2300.html

 Surgery video: http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=LjfH6anxZ8M

 My hope is that this experience and this video can help relieve the concern someone may have over their dog’s lumps and bumps.

 As always please feel free to ask questions and post comments.

 David Harris