What do I ask at the Vets?

Tranceypoo

Oldest dog (approx 10) is going to the vets tonight, he has a couple of lumps which he's had for ages, maybe a year or more, they have been looked at by 2 different vets and both said 'they're fine, keep an eye, not worth doing anything at this stage' (first vet said this which is why I went to another vet, to be sure to be sure!) So both myself and himself feel like one of the lumps has got a bit bigger, himself thinks the other lump has gotten bigger as well but I don't, both lumps are sort of soft and move a bit under your finger when you feel them, anyways, the point of my post.....I'm not sure what to ask the vet to do, should I ask for a biopsy? He has a mild heart murmur so I'm not keen for him to have any unnecessary procedures but also I don't want the vet to fob me off saying it's fine when I feel in my heart at least one lump has gotten bigger, is a biopsy a big deal? Help!!

muddypaws

Hmmm, I'm in exactly the same situation with my old girl Indy, she's 12. She's had a growth on her neck for a few years, vet keeps saying its nothing to worry about, but I think its affecting her breathing. She also has what sounds like the same as your boy's on her stomach, and I'm going back to the vet this week for them to have another look.

I don't know what to say to them, until they see it and say what they think. Like yourself, I don't want her to have a GA, but I also want to be taken seriously.

Could it just be a fat lump? http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/skin/c_multi_lipoma

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2111&aid=455

Maybe ask them to do a fine needle aspiration, not too invasive for the dog.

Tranceypoo

Yes I'm hoping it's just that fatty lump, looking at your link it sounds exactly like that, but I think I will ask for the fine needle thing , yikes (

ShaShaBear

My old boy Shadow had a few fatty lumps, found the first one when he was 7 and he developed more the older he got. I'd definitely recommend getting it checked all the same because we found lumps in his last weeks that turned out to be swollen lymph nodes in places we didn't even know dogs had lymph nodes. It was the sign of something serious in the end.

Gael23

9 times out of 10 these are just fatty lumps. You do of course need to make sure they are not something more sinister but otherwise they are harmless. Ours had them on his snout and we got them removed because they started to bleed and he was scratching them so there was blood splattered everywhere.

Speedwell

Humans get lipomas (fatty lumps) too. Very occasionally they turn into something that requires more intensive treatment, so you're right to keep an eye on them in pets.

muddypaws

What happened at the vet Tranceypoo?

Tranceypoo

She had a feel and didn't think they'd gotten bigger since we were last there (Feb!), had a good chat, she explained they were more than likely fatty lumps given his age, she said she would do the fine needle thing if I really wanted but as he has a heart murmur, albeit a low grade one, she would advise against it, worse case scenario if the lumps turned out to be carcinogenic (is that the word? Something like that) then given their size and rate of growth they probably wouldn't finish him off for a couple of years (I'm paraphrasing) and since he's quite old with a dodgy ticker and arthritis, it's not going to make a huge difference to his life span, also he wouldn't be given chemo if the lumps were bad as the chemo would quite likely kill him.
I've made it sound worse than it was, she's a very nice vet, chatted to me for ages and explained everything and said if I really wanted the procedure she would do it but I said no, she put my mind at rest, said to keep monitoring the lumps and straight back to her if I had any worries or noticed any changes and she didn't even charge me for all that!

aonb

That all sounds good Trancypoo.
My old dog had several of those fatty lumps - made absolutely no difference to his quality of life, and as you say, didnt kill him. We had them checked every time he went to the vet. Its great to have a bit of confidence in your vet, but most especially when you have a loved pet that has some issues and is getting on...