elevenelevenxo
05-28-2009, 05:27 PM
Minor surgery, but surgery none the less!
I have two Shelties and my younger one (8 years or so) keeps developing these super ugly masses on her face. The first one was a small red bump on her lower lip. Had that removed earlier this year at the same time she had a dental done. A couple months or so, this one appeared just below her right nostril and got to be about half the size of a dime. My vet wanted to keep an eye on it....didn't think it was cancerous - that it was just a histiocytoma (benign tumor), but wanted to watch it. Kiera had a follow-up visit scheduled for this Sat, but it was scheduled before I was hired in at the clinic, so my vet went ahead and told me to bring her in today since it was her surgery day anyhow, and she'd take a look at her instead of waiting til Saturday.
So...Kiera came to work with me this morning and I helped my vet check her out in the afternoon. Doctor asked if she'd eaten yet today and when I said no, she asked if I wanted her to just go ahead and remove it. I said, sure, why not? It hasn't changed and it looks super ugly, lol....so we went ahead and popped it right off of there. It was interesting to watch - they didn't put her totally under, instead gave her a bit of Ketamine to make her loopy enough to not feel anything - kind of like what they give horses when they're getting their teeth floated. But there was lots of blood...bleh. She was a champ though and did just fine, save for a sneezing fit when my vet was just finishing up the sutures.
We're sending the mass out for a biopsy to see what the heck it is and whether it's something to worry about or not. I opted to not send the first one out unless she had another one come back.
So good thoughts please that it IS just a histiocytoma and nothing to worry about.....
Poor girl wanted to mess with it, so I had to run to PetsMart to get an e-collar for her to wear. Hopefully tomorrow at work I can get my hands on one of the better ones that make it a bit easier for them to get around and eat and drink...because she's pretty ticked/depressed now and is shooting me some of the most heartbreaking looks....lol. Poor baby....
I have two Shelties and my younger one (8 years or so) keeps developing these super ugly masses on her face. The first one was a small red bump on her lower lip. Had that removed earlier this year at the same time she had a dental done. A couple months or so, this one appeared just below her right nostril and got to be about half the size of a dime. My vet wanted to keep an eye on it....didn't think it was cancerous - that it was just a histiocytoma (benign tumor), but wanted to watch it. Kiera had a follow-up visit scheduled for this Sat, but it was scheduled before I was hired in at the clinic, so my vet went ahead and told me to bring her in today since it was her surgery day anyhow, and she'd take a look at her instead of waiting til Saturday.
So...Kiera came to work with me this morning and I helped my vet check her out in the afternoon. Doctor asked if she'd eaten yet today and when I said no, she asked if I wanted her to just go ahead and remove it. I said, sure, why not? It hasn't changed and it looks super ugly, lol....so we went ahead and popped it right off of there. It was interesting to watch - they didn't put her totally under, instead gave her a bit of Ketamine to make her loopy enough to not feel anything - kind of like what they give horses when they're getting their teeth floated. But there was lots of blood...bleh. She was a champ though and did just fine, save for a sneezing fit when my vet was just finishing up the sutures.
We're sending the mass out for a biopsy to see what the heck it is and whether it's something to worry about or not. I opted to not send the first one out unless she had another one come back.
So good thoughts please that it IS just a histiocytoma and nothing to worry about.....
Poor girl wanted to mess with it, so I had to run to PetsMart to get an e-collar for her to wear. Hopefully tomorrow at work I can get my hands on one of the better ones that make it a bit easier for them to get around and eat and drink...because she's pretty ticked/depressed now and is shooting me some of the most heartbreaking looks....lol. Poor baby....