I ran across your post a short while ago & just had to create an account to respond.I'm in the US, not Australia so I hope that's okay. Over the last 30-35yrs, I have had more than a handful of female dogs with this problem along with a couple male dogs too. All still had reproduction intact beforehand. This vet cared for a lot of rescues, which is how I came to find him. I've brought home & have had more than a few rescues brought to my home. Our vet says it is higher in unspayed dogs, but once they go under surgery, it's best to have everything done at once so as not to subject them to another surgery, but also not to subject them to unnecessary anesthesia. There have been a few male dogs over the years with issues too. In more cases than not, upon examination it discovered that the dogs had at least one, if not both, testicles that had not descended. The risk of developing testicular cancer was too high not to take precautionary measures. This included removing the undescended testicle along w/the one that was intact & where it should be. I wanted to add that in more than a few rescue cats there have been what the vet explained as fatty tumors that were of no harm to the animal unless the tumor began causing discomfort. Some I have cared for and a few others I helped place have lived a long, otherwise healthy, life with the fatty tumors. A few did have to have a couple removed over the years but in those cases, it was done only to alleviate discomfort or irritation. The dogs with problems such as the one you describe (teacup, toy, & full-size breeds) had their tumors removed when it was questionable & while in surgery, they were spayed to reduce the high risk the tumor would return or trigger the growth of more. Best wishes & all my hopes your little girl will get through this fine.
