Pet Forum / Miscellaneous / Animal Health / June 2005

Hi all.

My 13 year old English Cocker (Sandy) has had a number of small growths for
the past 18 months that all appeared at around the same time. One of these
is on here rear leg, one under her chin, one on the back of her neck. When
they first appeared I was concerned and took her to the vet who did not seem
overly concerned and suggested we just keep an eye on them rather then
remove them due to her age and the fact that they did not appear to be
bothering her.

Over that 18 month period two of these growths started to "seep", again the
vet was not overly concerned and I was left feeling that if they are not
bothering her then leave them rather then putting her through a general
anaesthetic.

More recently the growth on her back leg (which she can lick) has got much
larger and smelly which again raised my concern and prompted another visit
to the vet. This time we agreed it was best to remove the growths so blood
samples were taken and a check of general health. The vet suggested that we
wait for the results of the blood work and gave me some antibiotics to
assist with the growth, these are 150mg Antirobe tablets. (www,antirobe.com)

I got Sandy home and gave her the first antibiotic hidden in a piece of
cheese as it was all I could find in the fridge at the time, she followed me
upstairs and sat behind me and started snoozing whilst I was working in the
office. Within a couple of hours I noticed her wakeup from her sleep and try
to walk out of the room, her rear end was squatting and she stopped. I
carried her down the stairs as she looked unsteady and placed her on the
kitchen floor, she managed to get into the garden but then her legs seem to
give way and she could not balance.

I then noticed the classic signs of Vestibular Diseases, weakness down one
side, head tilt, flickering eye, dribbling so took her back to the vet where
she remains tonight.

Initially I knew nothing about the disease, I had assumed the stress had
given her a stroke and she was on her way out, having done much panicking
today and some research on the internet I am now far more hopeful she will
recover from this episode of Vestibular disease.

What I am unsure of now is what to do about the large smelly growth which I
initially took her in to have treated. If I assume the "trauma" of the visit
to the vet triggered the Vestibular disease and if she shows signs of
recovering over the next 72 hours should removal still be considered whilst
she is in animal hospital to avoid repeated trauma? The alternative is to
let her recover (hopefully) from Vascular disease then reconsider removal
but this potentially puts us right back to where we were before I started!

Any advice appreciated.

Regards,

Paul