Big red bump on back of Brick's leg. Worried.
I just noticed a pretty good sized red bump on the back of Brick's right rear leg at the first major joint (is that the elbow of the rear leg?). Before I actually saw it, I lightly squeezed it and it seemed kinda hard. Then I looked at it and was like, whoa! What the heck is that?!? It's pinkish to red, seems to have a darker red spot in the middle, not squishy at all, doesn't smell, is a bit damp. When I blotted it with a damp tissue, I got just a tinge of red from it. Here's some pics of it (sorry if they're out of focus, the camera doesn't have a very good macro setting).           I just groomed him about 3 weeks ago and it was not there then. He's never had anything like this before. So my questions are: 1) what is it? 2) is there something I should be doing to it? 3) should I take him to the ER or wait until Wednesday & take him to his regular vet? |
|
|
| I'd say if its causing noticeable pain or discomfort hit the ER; otherwise see the regular Vet as soon as you can get in. Not to freak you out but our Bentley had a cancerous growth pop up in less than a week and this was cancer that took him down. His cancer was not near as noticeable as what you've found on Brick. Bent key's was actually in the bone so there was only the lump to feel. Good luck with this one. Vance |
| Chap had a growth that looked like that between his toes. It was very fast growing but did turn out to be benign. We had to remove it rather quickly because of the location - there wasn't any extra skin to sew together if it got any bigger, and then he would have needed a skin graft. I agree if he isn't hurting I would wait for his vet on Wednesday. If it changes drastically tomorrow, then I'd go to the emergency vet. |
| It looks better today. Doesn't seem to be red at all. And it doesn't seem to be bothering him at all. |
| Sorry to hear, I hope Brick gets better soon and you find out what it is. |
| Just saw this now, glad it's looking better. Maybe an infected area or a boil? Hope it behaves! |
| Almost looks like he may have gotten nicked getting groomed? I would put some antibiotic cream on it and unless it really seems to be causing pain I would wait to see the vet until they are open. Good Luck. |
Poor Bricky, glad he isn't in distress with it.  |
| Well, he opened it up. There was blood on the back of his leg. I threw him in the tub, washed it, and dried it and it seems OK for now. We'll go to the vet tomorrow. |
| Mark, sounds like it might have been a cyst. Put some ointment on it to keep it clean until you get to vet tomorrow. if he is licking, try a sock...Hope he's okay and thinking of you. |
| It looks like a cyst Jack would get and worry until it opened up, drained and then closed.......only to reappear some weeks or months later. Hopefully that's it. Have the vet look at it and learn how to keep it clean. The trick is to keep the dog from worrying it.....licking it. Sometimes that's OK but can lead to bigger problems. |
| Glad it isn't causing him pain. Hope all goes well at the vet tomorrow. |
| We just got back from the vet. She said it was difficult to make a diagnosis. It could be something as simple as getting something stuck in there and it swelled up; could be an infection; could be a cyst, or she indicated it could be a benign cancer, although she's not thinking cancer because there would be other symptoms that he does not have. For treatment, she offered 2 paths, a conservative one or an aggressive one. The conservative one includes a steroidal anti-imflammatory shot, antibiotics, keeping him away from the site, and just watching it. The aggressive one includes either a fine needle aspirate or just cutting it off. I opted for the more aggressive treatment. I don't want to be screwin' around with this thing. The vet will just cut the whole thing off and send it to pathology. So I have to bring him back first thing tomorrow morning and will be able to pick him up tomorrow evening. Fingers crossed that the procedure goes smoothly and it's not cancer. |
| Thinking good thoughts for Brick today. I would have chosen to have the growth removed as well. If it anything serious, which is unlikely but possible, the treatment is removal. When we find anything strange growing on Oscar, out it comes. They have all been benign, but Oscar's autoimmune disorder would make cancer treatment nearly impossible, so we are proactive. Laurie and Oscar |
| Just thinking about you and Brick. I'm glad that this is almost over and you will get a definite diagnosis. So much worry when our little buddies have something wrong. Sending positive thoughts your way. |
| Glad you are getting it figured out. Good luck to Brick tomorrow! |
| He's at the vet now. We had a good snow storm overnight so a lot of the vet's appointments canceled, so he may be done earlier. They're gonna knock him out completely and cut the bump off while trying to get good margins. It'll be difficult because there's not much tissue on the back of their rear elbows. I may be able to pick him up this afternoon. It doesn't help that we had a foot & half of snow overnight or that I'm sick. <sigh> |
| Good luck to Zeke! And you feel better too...  And that would be his hock  |
| Thanks Dawn. I see the doctor tomorrow. They said they could see me today (probably had a lot of cancellations due to the storm) but I said no. I have to be on call for Brick. I'm afraid my cold may move into pneumonia. Everybody keeps making me do stuff. I had to shovel & snow blow the driveway after I dropped Brick off so my mom could get to work. I had to watch my niece yesterday when the rest of the family went to see a movie. And after they left their lights on at the mall, I had to go rescue them. No wonder why my cold is getting worse. And thanks for the dog anatomy lesson. What is the next joint up called? Is it the knee? |
Hope it comes back as nothing.  |
| I called the vet a little bit ago. They said he is waking up. I can pick him up around 4:30 - 5 PM EST. The girl that answers the phone referred to the bump as a tumor. I asked her if that's what the vet thinks it is and she said yes. I didn't ask about margins but I will when I go to pick him up. So it's off to pathology with it but I won't know the results until next week. I'll update after I pick him up. |
CamVal1 wrote: I called the vet a little bit ago. They said he is waking up. I can pick him up around 4:30 - 5 PM EST. The girl that answers the phone referred to the bump as a tumor. I asked her if that's what the vet thinks it is and she said yes. I didn't ask about margins but I will when I go to pick him up. So it's off to pathology with it but I won't know the results until next week. By definition, it was always a tumor, so don't get too worried about her calling it that now: Quote: Noun A swelling of a part of the body, generally without inflammation, caused by an abnormal growth of tissue, whether benign or malignant. A swelling of any kind. It really does look just like the one Chap had and it was benign - so focus on that and try not to worry!  PS I hope you feel better, too! |
| Hope you get good news on Brick and you feel better. We have the stomach flu going thru our family. |
| We're home. The vet said she did not get large margins due to the nature of the area (back of hock; not a lot of spare tissue back there). She sent a note with the sample to the lab to let her know how the margins look. If she needs to get more, I'll have to bring him in to be re-cut. If we have to do that, it will have to be healed as an open wound, which is difficult and takes a long time. So we need to cross our fingers for 2 things: good enough margins and non-cancerous. But he did great otherwise. And now he has a great BIG cone (a 30). Now that's an Airedale sized cone! |
| Angus had the cone thing going a couple of months ago from his cyst operation. His was on his back thigh area. He had a pretty big incision because they took extra tissue out for biopsy, too. Would it help to maybe put a sock on Brick's leg to cover the area? I would put a sock on Pooh Bear's leg because he had a couple of cysts he would always lick and he wouldn't bother it with the sock on. He never tried taking the sock off either. Those cones always bump into everything. Angus was always bumping into things with it on. Will be thinking you wating for the results for Brick. Sending positive thoughts your way! I cried when Angus' came back benign, I was so relieved. I guess I never got over the shock of Pooh's cyst coming back cancerous. |
| Pathology results aren't due back till sometime mid-week next week due to the holiday. |
| I had to wait 5-7 days for Angus' results, too. It's not easy because it's always on your mind. |
| Hoping that they got enough and it comes back benign. And to further muddy definitions - my basset Simon had one removed that was called a benign malignancy. It was malignant, but encapsulated, so the removal effectively cures it - no spreading, etc. No chemo or rad needed. Next joint up - stifle. |
| Glad this part is over for Brick, poor fella. The worst part is starting now for you. Getting Brick healed without mishap and waiting for the report. It will be a long and tortuous 5-7 days for all of us. Sorry that you are not feeling well either. At least you are not in a cone |
| Pooh Bear's lymphoma cyst was luckily encapsulated, too. So, it's a bummer and a blessing at the same time. His was under his front leg armpit area. |
| Waiting is always the hardest...praying for good news. |
| And they can't be sure about the margins until they do the pathology - it may be better than you think. Lots of positive thoughts for both of you to heal/get better quickly. |
| hugs to Brick. Glad the surgery is over and he is home. fingers and paws crossed that all is good news from the pathology. |
| How is Brick doing today, Mark? |
| He seems to be doing alright. He was quiet when he came home from the vet on Thursday; a little less so yesterday, and perked up by last night. He has a stuffie that I rarely give him because he goes immediately to tearing it apart. I let him have it Thursday evening and he's just been carrying it around in his mouth. I have a picture I'll post up later. But he started pulling at it this morning so I took it away.But he never lost his appetite at all. He ate almost a full meal right after getting back from the vet and has been pottying just fine. |
| Well, that sounds like a good recovery! |
| Good to hear, hoping the results come back as nothing. |
| Sounds like Brick is coming around, hope you get positive results soon. |
| Just catching up on this post. Any news on Brick? Keeping paws crossed everything is okay. |
| Hi Diane, Probably won't know anything about the bump until Wed or Thurs of this week. Otherwise, he seems fine. The area where the vet worked bothers him now & then. I don't know if it hurts, burns, itches, or maybe a combination of all 3. When he doesn't have his cone on, he looks at it intently and cries a little bit. Like he wants to lick it but knows that I will get mad if he does. The area doesn't look swollen or red. Just looks normal with 3 stitches poking out. |
| See this post to see him & his stuffie, as promised in my earlier post. viewtopic.php?f=16&t=39693 |
Glad to hear that Brick is on the mend. Oscar has had a myriad of lumps and bumps removed over the years, and they have all been benign. There was one that the vet was 99% sure was a malignancy, and had it biopsied thoroughly, but it came back as as a benign tumor.  Hoping for the same for Brick.Our first OES, Quincy, had elbow surgery when he was 18 months old (elbow dysplasia). That area is tough to stitch, and tough to keep stitched. Quincy's incision was stapled. I think he had about a dozen. He healed up beautifully. When Oscar has growths removed on his legs, I now have a system to keep him from licking. I cover the incision area with a non-stick gauze pad. I wrap it with the bandage wrapping that melds to itself. Then I cut the foot part off a tube sock, and use the elastic tube that's left to hold everything in place. It works wonders, and I am able to get rid of the cone. Even if Oscar gets a few licks in before I stop him, he is only really licking the tube sock. Now, there's no telling what would happen if left to his own devices for any length of time, so I would never leave him unsupervised with just the sock on. on the biopsy results...Laurie and Oscar |
I'm sorry to hear about Brick's boo-boo.  Oh, how they make us worry.Hoping you'll get good news soon! Big hugs to you both. |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|