shekhina Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 (edited) Daegon has had a lump come up on his lower leg joint, it looks big and knobbly. He has limped for a little bit before it popped up and now I'm very concerned that it may be osteosarcoma. He's off to the vet in a couple of hours to get checked out, and then if the vet feels the need for an x-ray that will happen on Tuesday. He plays with a big hard ball a LOT, he will kick it around with his legs for many hours during the day. Is it possible that he's caused some kind of build up from hitting his leg on the ball so much? I guess I'm probably grasping at straws here, I just don't know how I will cope if I lose another dog to this awful cancer :D Edited November 27, 2010 by shekhina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allerzeit Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 Oh, God, no - please, no!! Thinking of you, and praying that it's not! :D :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shekhina Posted November 27, 2010 Author Share Posted November 27, 2010 We're leaving now. I don't think I can take this with another one :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavNrott Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 Please God no. No more osteosarcoma in our beautiful Rotts. What an evil disease it is. Shek I'm thinking of you :D :D and sending positive vibes to Daegon that it's nothing at all serious. I'll keep checking in for an update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheridan Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 I hope things are okay. My Grumpy has a big lump on his lower back left leg; it's just a fatty lipoma so it's not always bad news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shekhina Posted November 27, 2010 Author Share Posted November 27, 2010 The vet feels that it's a soft tissue issue. She said it's most likely from him playing so hard and long with the ball that it's a body response to wear and tear. She still wants to take x-rays and said she would do a aspiration of the areas to be completely sure. She was also going to take biopsies of a few skin tag type things that Daegon has had come up on his tummy (he likes to sun himself), but feels that they're probably not something to be overly concerned about but that they might remove them. I made an appointment to have this all done on Tuesday and then asked for an estimate of how much it would be. I was told $750. Wasn't quite expecting that! There are many people here far more experienced with this kind of thing that I am, does all this seem necessary? If it is, I will find a way to get it done ASAP, but I also don't want to go overboard and no only put my dog through an anesthetic (which always carries some risk), or burn a rather large hole in my bank account if it's not really needed. Opinions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allerzeit Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 Oh thank GOD! It sounds promising so far, fingers crossed your vet is right and it's just a soft tissue injury from Daegs being a nutter! As for is what she's suggesting necessary, well I guess it's peace of mind and knowing for sure - but I do totally understand where you're coming from in both the GA risk concerns and the costs involved. I would be doing the same umming and ahing in your shoes, but I think I will still have to rob the credit card and go ahead with it, just to know for certain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shekhina Posted November 27, 2010 Author Share Posted November 27, 2010 Yes, it was quite a sigh of relief!! Yep, umming and aahing about what to do. I don't have that much money at the moment, so it wont be able to be done on Tuesday. The vet said she was confident it wasn't anything to worry about, but I know I will still worry So yes, not too sure where to go from here really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 I'm glad that first diagnosis is not cancer,shek. I hope you don't have too much of a struggle in finding out a definitive diagnosis ..and hope it is indeed from his soccer playing .Shinguards for him now .. just to protect the area Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 do at least a fine needle aspirate first then go from there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shekhina Posted November 27, 2010 Author Share Posted November 27, 2010 I could see Daegon in a stack hat and knee pads So not the x-rays, just go straight for the aspiration you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 (edited) If the lump is your main concern, priority and $$ wise I would get a fine needle aspirate done. Get her to take a couple of samples and see what she thinks. If she's on the fence about it then x-ray. Conversely, as I did with my dogue, I just got his lump cut out with huge margins because the aspirate came back pretty nondescript. Saying that even the vet said a FNA is not 100% it's just there to give them an idea but in your case it could show a cyst or an infection especially if he bats the ball around a lot it would hurt a lot! Since he had 3 close relatives die from pretty aggressive cancers that started with a lump I just got it out and off to pathology. It too came to money for me so this was the cheapest and long term safest way to see what was going on. Edited November 27, 2010 by Nekhbet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shekhina Posted November 27, 2010 Author Share Posted November 27, 2010 Thanks He has a lump on the other side in the pretty much exact same place, it's a bit smaller though. I'm pretty sure that it's like the vet said and from him always bashing his ball around, especially given it's on both sides in the same spot. I do want to get it looked at though, as well as the sun spots on his tummy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavNrott Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 So glad to hear the vet wasn't too concerned Shek. I've been thinking of you all afternoon. It brought back memories. I agree with Nekhbet I would do the FNA before going further at this stage. I wonder why the vet didn't do it when you were there today. When you get the results from pathology you can decide whether or not you should take it further and do the xrays. How old is Daegon now? Skin tags are pretty common in older Rotts. Faith had a few benign skin tags but I understand you'd be more comfortable knowking exactly what they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shekhina Posted November 27, 2010 Author Share Posted November 27, 2010 Daegon is 5 1/2. Can they do the aspiration without anesthetic? I think she was wanting to do it under a full anesthetic. It just seems like a lot to put poor Daegon through when it's probably overkill. Daegon is quite nervy at the vets, the only place he's not full of himself. Perhaps that's why she wanted him anesthetised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cavNrott Posted November 27, 2010 Share Posted November 27, 2010 Yep, my vet does the FNA during a consult. The needle is quite fine and doesn't seem to bother the dogs at all. A biopsy needs a GA so if you have him xrayed the vet can take the biopsy at the same time. If she wants to give him a GA I wouldnt even bother with a FNA, I'd go straight for a biopsy. A biopsy is far more reliable because more cells are available for pathology. He's still a young chap. Faith was much older when she had the skin tags. From memory I think Chance was about 6yo when she came here and she had some huge ones on her ribs and on the belly. I had them taken off soon after she arrived here. They were all just benign skin tags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted November 28, 2010 Share Posted November 28, 2010 O_o you def dont need an anaesthetic for a FNA. It's simply putting a needle into the site and sucking up a few cells or liquid with the syringe. cavNrott is right if the vet is going that far for a GA you might as well get a biopsy saying that if he has one on the other side too it probably is from the ball. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rappie Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 It would depend on what she was doing the FNA of. If the vet is confident that it is a soft tissue mass then an FNA can be done without GA. If there's still a chance it is a bony mass covered by soft tissue, then a GA and xrays would determine whether there is bone involvement. Although the best sample in this case is a bone biopsy with Jamshidi needle, it is possible to get a sample of abnormal bone with a needle aspirate in some cases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stolzseinrotts Posted November 29, 2010 Share Posted November 29, 2010 (edited) Shekhina, I am sorry that you are having to go through this. I can say that our Tilli did the exact same thing as Daegon and it was caused by the big hard orange ball. You should have seen the lump that came up it was the size of a kiwi fruit. It was fluid build up with hardness in it as well. It was where she belts the ball with her legs. The fluid went down after a few days of her not playing with the ball. The other leg has a hard lump on it as well. Both lumps and fluid is caused by the hard ball and the enthusiastic play that the Rotts do. If you want to see pictures of Tilli's legs to compare I will take some for you. I wouldn't be worried too much as I have seen it here with a few of mine.......all caused from the ball. ETA; The ball is a great toy for the dogs to play with and the stimulation and pleasure they get from it far out weighs me taking it away from them. I live with the hard lumps / callous type things as they enjoy the ball to much and it has yet to affect one of my guys movement. Edited November 29, 2010 by Stolzseinrotts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shekhina Posted November 29, 2010 Author Share Posted November 29, 2010 Thanks for all the replies, it is much appreciated Interesting SR that you've seen it on your dogs as well! The vet did say the second she felt it, 'oh, that's soft tissue!' so I'm feeling a lot more confident, especially after seeing your reply, that it is just Daegon's hard playing causing some kind of fluid build up or something similar. The vet said she was quite confident that was the case, especially given that it is on both legs in the same spot, she said it was extremely rare to get 'matching' tumours. I think I'll take the ball from him for a little while and see what happens. He will be so miserable without his ball though, he just loves it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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