sigzephyr Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Last night I found an ugly, sore lump in Ms. Sig's ear. I took her to the vet today and he is not sure what it is. It is crusty and very sore when it is touched. He is not sure if it is cancer, or a scabby wound that has healed strangely. I have a few options. She can be sedated and they can scrape it away and hope it heals ok. Or he prefers to put her under a GA and remove the lump fully, and biopsy it. The lab will be able to tell us if it is cancer. I am nervous about her going under GA at her age (she is 10), and don't want to risk losing her, only to be told it wasn't cancer. I'm really not sure what i should do. He says if it was his dog he would go with ther biopsy. This option costs a lot more, but that is not a factor. Here is a pic. Hope you can make sense of it. Have any of you seen something like this before? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheree_e4 Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 If the lump is really sore ask the vet to sedate her and do a fine needle aspirate,that will give you a better idea of what it will be,then IMO it should be removed under GA.I would also reccomend you getting her full bloods done.ie major pre anesthetic should cost an extra $75 approx but well worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xiaorose Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 It look pretty nasty to me but not sure if it's cancer lumps. Manman's cancer lump was very different to this one. I would suggest to get another vet or 2 to double and triple check or best get a referral to a cancer specialist to confirm. If you're in Melbourne, I can give you the details of a specialist in dog cancer that we went and ask your vet to refer you to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puggy_puggy Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 It does look a little sinister. Could your other dog have bitten her? My two have the occasional tiff that has led to a scab on the ears inside. Could it be skin cancer from her sunbaking? I wouldn't worry about her going under GA to much if she is healthy and you have a good vet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sigzephyr Posted February 1, 2008 Author Share Posted February 1, 2008 It does look a little sinister.Could your other dog have bitten her? My two have the occasional tiff that has led to a scab on the ears inside. Could it be skin cancer from her sunbaking? I wouldn't worry about her going under GA to much if she is healthy and you have a good vet. No the other dog hasn't bitten her. She does sunbake, but it is weird that it is inside her ear. I only worry about the GA as whippets are very susceptible to anaesthetic. I think I have almost decided to go with the more complete option which involves the GA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricey Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Get your vet to excise this lump, and then get the lump checked out pathology-wise. Stop worrying about something you don't have a clue about. It might be benign, and it might be malignant. Who knows? Not you nor me until the path results come back. ricey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormie Posted February 1, 2008 Share Posted February 1, 2008 Get your vet to excise this lump, and then get the lump checked out pathology-wise.Stop worrying about something you don't have a clue about. It might be benign, and it might be malignant. Who knows? Not you nor me until the path results come back. ricey totally agree... don't worry about the fine needle aspirate - no point putting her through two procedures. Have the lump excised and sent away. Shouldn't take too long under GA either. We operate on dogs and cats >15yo quite often without complications. Vets are also very aware of effects of certain IV anaesthetics on greyhounds and similar built dogs like whippets, so can easily just use the gas to put her under, which also means a much faster recovery time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staffyluv Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 Get your vet to excise this lump, and then get the lump checked out pathology-wise.Stop worrying about something you don't have a clue about. It might be benign, and it might be malignant. Who knows? Not you nor me until the path results come back. ricey Agree with ricey... Get the lump checked and then decide what to do. The dog will not need to be GA'd to do a needle aspirate and they can check the cells immediately... If it is not conclusive, then they could do a local (because it is in the ear) and remove the lump and send it to pathology. My lad had a small lump removed from his eye with a local - no need to knock them out if you don't have to. Just for the record; there are apparently two types of anaesthetic that are used, one is a little more expensive than the other but they wake up better from it... My boy has had a few operations (Mast cell cancer) and we always use this type of anaesthetic now that I know about it. Can't remember what it is called but the vet knew what I was talking about when I told him that apparently they wake up better and there are less issues with it... Ollie is 11 in June... His last operation was 2 years ago... Best of luck with it and let us know how you go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riayn Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 Propofol is the name of the anaesthetic we used on older dogs when I was working as vet nurse (June last year). It is also used in human medicine. The dogs wake up a lot nicer from it than using Thiobarbital. I agree with everyone who has said that you should get it biopsied. That way if it is nothing, then the lump is gone and if it is cancer, then it has also been removed. This should save multiple operations. I hope it is nothing too serious. Please keep us updated on how it all goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sheree_e4 Posted February 3, 2008 Share Posted February 3, 2008 We use Isoflurane to gas down for every op,it is very safe and the pets wake up very quickly within 2-5 mins of being off the gas.With thiobarbital it takes a long time to wake up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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