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Pet Forum / Miscellaneous / Animal Health / August 2007Will our 14 year old lab survive lipoma removal surgery?
Our nearly 14 year old female lab mix has a huge lipoma on the side of her chest. It does not seem to bother her or interfere with her movement - although she does not like it to be touched - but this grapefruit sized tumor continues to grow, and is definitely a bit bigger now than it was at this time a year ago. Our vets want her opertated on immediately. They fear the lipoma will rupture. Over the years, the vets have performed fine needle aspirates of the lipoma, which they consistently describe as a benign fatty deposit. Today, however, the vets were quite disturbed by its size, and they recommended a biopsy to make sure it hadn't turned cancerous and then a surgical procedure to remove the massive growth entirely. Their fear was that the lipoma would rupture, and that as a result we would be forced to put our dog to sleep. Due to its size, the lipoma would be tricky to remove. It is likely that it has grown into the surrounding muscles and tissue. The vets said they were not qualified to handle a procedure of this scale. They recommended that we travel five hours to Auburn University's vet clinic where they would perform the procedure and the monitoring of our pet. Obviously, we are quite concerned about all of this. I am reluctant to the idea of surgery itself, particularly with such an old dog. Beyond the surgery and the anesthesia and any complications that might arise, we're also concerned about her recovery. Would she be more comfortable without this procedure? Is it actually necessary? Or would she simply not even survive it? In all of my research, I have yet to hear that a lipoma could rupture. >From what I've read, surgery should only be considered if the dog's movement is hindered, which it is not in our case, and that otherwise a dog is just fine with these kinds of bumps. Of course, her bump is quite big and it concerns us still. If anyone has been in a similar situation, I'd greatly appreciate your feedback. We've never had to confront something like this and we're not entirely sure where to turn. Thank you. Miz I think I would take the dog for a consultation if nothing else. If they are concerned about rupturing it's due to the enormous size of it I'm sure. For the most part you are right they don't mess with these things but this must be so huge that it needs taken care of. Celeste > Our nearly 14 year old female lab mix has a huge lipoma on the side of > her chest. It does not seem to bother her or interfere with her [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > Thank you. > Miz > Our nearly 14 year old female lab mix has a huge lipoma on the side of > her chest. > > Over the years, the vets have performed fine needle aspirates of the > lipoma, which they consistently describe as a benign fatty deposit. > Today, however, the vets were quite disturbed by its size, ........well, I'd just like to shoot them for waiting and waiting. Benign lipomas can grow fairly large and the trick is to take them off before it becomes so big it's major major surgery. A fatty lipoma can't *change* into something else, so unless they were wrong to begin with, I'm guessing there aren't any worries about cancer. The sheer size means it is pulling on surrounding tissue. I had a dog with a large lipoma on the side of his chest and I had it taken off when he seemed to be going down stairs cockeyed. He seemed to feel better after it was gone. I am reluctant to > the idea of surgery itself, particularly with such an old dog. Beyond > the surgery and the anesthesia and any complications that might arise, > we're also concerned about her recovery. Would she be more comfortable > without this procedure? Is it actually necessary? Or would she simply > not even survive it? ........I don't think anyone can tell you if your dog will survive the surgery. They can give her a good physical, check all the relevant blood parameters and give you the best estimate of surgery survival. As Spot said, do a consultation with the folks at Auburn and consider what they have to say. Then you'll have a better idea of choices. best of luck to you and your pup buglady take out the dog before replying |
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