Hi all you knowledgeable and experienced people. My sister has discovered a lump on her cocker's hind leg. It's on the most meaty part. He's been to the vet, who did three fine-needle aspirates (?) on it, and she's expecting the results in three to four days. She's clearly very worried, but hoping that it's just a fatty lump. The thing is, the vet seemed concerned that it was very well connected to the muscle and has said, whatever the outcome of the tests, she'd like to remove it. Obviously, if it's cancerous, it will be removed in a flash, but if it is just a fatty lump (fingers crossed), is there any benefit in having it removed? She's been asking Google, as you do in this sort of situation, and she can't find any benefits of a fatty lump being removed if it's not impeding movement (which it's not). She has, though, found some information that suggests that it is likely to regrow exactly as before if it is removed. He is a very (very) clingy dog, and being parted from my sister for surgery would be very traumatic for him, so she wouldn't want to put him through that if it wasn't necessary. Obviously, "ask the vet", but she felt she didn't have enough time to process everything while she was there, so I said I'd ask on here to see if anyone had any experience. He isn't fussing it, or showing any interest in it whatsoever, so it doesn't sound as if he's in any discomfort from it. She did say that, from what she'd read, fatty lumps (if that is indeed what it is) can appear where there has been trauma, even very mild, to muscles. He spends every minute of his walks chasing tennis balls ( ) so it's entirely possible that this has caused enough trauma for one of these lumps to "break through". He's still quite a young dog, at five and half years.
My previous dog had many fatty lumps and had two bouts of having lumps removed (one was impeding movement under his armpit and the other was a big mass over his ribs). As I recall one lot regrew slightly and the other lot not at all (after 5 yrs). Most (or maybe even all...) of his fatty lumps were free moving, as in not attached to muscle, but were kind of detached capsules. The lumps that we had removed were uncomfortable and my dog gained a new spring in his step once they were gone. But eventually more developed in other places and by then he was too old for another op. I would not bother having a benign fatty lump removed that was not causing discomfort or interfering with movement. The effect on the dog of having surgery and the need for wound care wouldn't be worth it, IMO. I hope it's just a simple thing that needs no treatment. I'm sure it's a very worrying time for your sister, waiting for test results.
Removing a fatty lump I think depends on where it is and if it's likely to get bigger. If it's in a place the dog can get at or somewhere where it could get knocked or damaged its probably better removed while its small then there is less of a wound. My old lab had a fatty lump on his flank which was removed because it suddenly grew, became an abcesss and burst. When the lump was removed and tested it was caused by an infection in the fat layer usually caused by a foreign body like a grass seed embedding. The vet told me that from the position of the lump the grass seed probably worked its way out of his bowel !!! There was a chance the lump could regrow if any had been left behind but now they knew what it was (sorry can't remeber technical name) it was treatable with antibiotics so another op wouldn't be necessary. My cousins dog had a lump removed off his back leg last year. Like your sisters dog that was connected to the muscle and had got quite large. The lump was removed and tested it was Trichoblastoma which is an infection of the hair follicle but blastoma means it grows so it had to be removed or it would've continued to get bigger and then cause problems. Dogs get lots of lumps and bumps I'm sure your sisters dog will be fine.
PS. Bearing in mind the nervous disposition of my dogs if the vet said remove it I'd have it removed. If your sisters dog would be very anxious maybe the vet would allow her to take him in just before the op and stay while he sedates him. He will still be groggy when she goes to pick him up so will probably not have noticed being apart from her.
Hmmm fatty lumps are not usually attached to muscle. If that were my dog I'd remove it for sure even if the fine needle aspirate indicates just fat - FNA are great for giving you an idea what the lump may be (and hence tell you what sort of surgical margin to take) but may not give a definitive diagnosis. For example, a benign fatty lump (lipoma) may look similar to a malignant liposarcoma on FNA. I'd see what comes up on the FNA but if it is attached to muscle I'd go with the vets advice and remove - Jen's suggestion of having a pre-med in the waiting room and the owner waiting until he goes sleepy is a good one and something most vets will do as routine.
Thanks for your replies, everyone. I've passed your comments on to her. Fingers crossed the results come through as nothing too scary.
Well, it does appear to be just a fatty lump, which is good news. The vet is still advising removal, but my sister wants to have a conversation first to get her head around why this is the recommendation. She's very grateful to you all, especially for the suggestion of being able to stay with him until he goes to sleep, which has really put her mind at rest if the surgery is necessary.
Hattie had a lump removed earlier in the year, it wasn't attached to the muscle but it she said it felt like something different so the vet advise removal. It turned out to be a fatty lump but I was glad I had it removed as then there's nothing to worry about. Charlie has a lump on his gorgeous face which was aspirated(?) and it's nothing to worry about at all, he also has a small lump on his rib cage, again aspirated nothing to worry about but if either grew in size I would opt for removal.
My sister's main concern is that, from her Google research (FWIW), it appears that a larger percentage fatty lumps that are removed reoccur. I didn't find the same results when I did a quick search on lipoma recurrence in dogs, but hopefully the chat with her vet will clear it up.
I guess the worry might be that it is not actually a fatty lump (as per Lochan's info that you can't always distinguish fatty lumps from other not-so-benign-fatty-things). If there is any ambiguity about the lump I'd have it removed. Anyway, I'm sure they vet will explain any issues
I'm with you; if the vet says remove it, remove it! She's just super stressed at the thought of him having surgery, so needs her vet to talk her through the reasons why it's necessary and answer her concerns.
Yes, I'm sure that the thought of her dog being so anxious at being left is very much at the front of her mind.
Sorry Fiona,I've missed this....glad it isn't anything sinister...hope the chat she has with her vet reassures her about what to do x
