Last year Chrismukkah Card
Oreo has had a few bumps & lumps the last few weeks. She seemed to be getting a few more and some were not disappearing. I decided to bring her into her favorite place (yea…right) the VET! They did a needle aspiration, where they use a needle to take a sample from the lump or bump. It’s very easy for them to do, without needing to sedation or anesthesia.
Most of the time vets can get enough good cells from the lump to take a good look and make a diagnosis by looking at the cells on a slide. They can easily diagnose tumors such as mast cell tumors, lipoma, cysts, histiocytomas, and lymphoma. Occasionally, the vet will not get the cells from the lump, or not enough and this can lead to no conclusion or the incorrect one (doesn’t happen too often).
I would say Oreo has at least 5-6 lumps now. Some are small, round and soft. There are 2 which are more concerning to me which seem a little harder. They tested 3, and tried to get the 4th but it was too deep. The one from the neck is probably a cyst they said. They did not draw enough cells, but said when they did the fine needle aspiration yellow came out, which is usually from cysts. The second lump is different from the others. It is red, raised, and seemed to be filled with pus which came out and now it’s beginning to flatten.
The vet diagnosed the leg bump which is read as Histiocytoma, which is a benign skin tumor. These are common with dogs, especially dogs under 2 years of age (she is 2).
Symptoms of Histiocytoma:
- small, firm, dome or button-shaped mass
- autoimmune blistering
- solitary
- non-painful
- fast growing
- usually found on the head, limbs, or ear edges
Treatment
- Remove the mass
- or wait, it usually will regress and disappear within 3 months
We have decided to wait, since it has already flattened and looks like it has started regressing.
The 3 bump concerns me much more, it is on the back leg. It is larger and has been there for 3 weeks. The vet pulled a sample and got white blood cells, but not enough to be conclusive. It did bleed a lot afterward…she thinks they may have hit a vein or something. She said it doesn’t look like lymphoma or mast cell cancer (phewww I sure hope not). She said we’ll keep an eye on it for 2-3 weeks, then move from there. If it stays the same or gets bigger we will have to do a punch biopsy with a local anesthesia (yikes). I discovered 2 more bumps on here, a small on her side, and a large bump on her stomach.
I am very confused by how many she has in such a short time. Within the last month 6 seemed to have “popped up”. They are not skin infections like before, they are inside and more concerning for me. I have lost sleep worrying about them! I can’t believe so many showed up in such a short time, and she is only 2 years old. I do have some theories….I hope she doesn’t have cancer. She seems to be happy and nothing seems to be bothering her health wise.
A theory I have is that she has had too much Omega 6-fat. I have been adding extra virgin organic coconut oil to her meals and I switched to a different recipe that seemed to have more fat in it last month. I am thinking perhaps that could be the culprit after some research. So I have switched the food to less fat and less coconut oil in it. I also think perhaps it is something she is missing or getting too much in her diet. Or…I asked the vet why she is getting so many in such a short time, when she never had one before. The vet said we would have to do a punch biopsy, but since Oreo is super nervous and afraid of the vet we will wait a few weeks, unless it gets bigger. She said it could also be inflammation. I am thinking it may be inflammation, she could be trying to fight something. I wonder if it could be related to all the ticks that were on her… or her diet, since those are the 2 things that changed around the time of her lumps.
As you can tell I worry about her a lot, she is like my daughter. I have done so much work with her so that she can be a happy dog and live a long, healthy life (the best she can). We have finally gotten to a calm, happy place with her. So I am hoping these lumps/bumps decrease with the change in diet, if not, we will be going for a punch biopsy in a few weeks. If you see lumps on your dog, my suggestion is to go in and get them checked out-better not to worry like me! However, you may have to wait anyways, but better safe than sorry! Spend time with your dog, make them happy, like they make you happy 🙂 I’ll keep you updated.
Apprehensive Oreo 