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Post by Kymberlee on Aug 27, 2015 11:26:34 GMT
Dreadnought and I just got back from the vet. We recently moved so this was just a "meet the new vet" routine visit. I pointed out some of the little concerns that I have; concerns that I have raised with our regular vet. One of the concerns was a cyst on Dread's back. The old vet wasn't concerned and she basically said keep an eye on it and if it changes in size/shape to let her know. It never changed, but it has always been on my radar. So, today we go to a new vet and she takes one look at it and decides to quickly biopsy it. Five minutes later she is back and pronounces that my baby has a mast cell tumor, and her recommendation is surgery. I'm really scared. I have (of course) googled the hell out of it and put myself into a tailspin. He is scheduled for surgery on Friday, and I am so damn scared it will be cancerous. They will take the cyst off and send it to pathology which will take 7-10 days. Does anyone have experience with MCT? If you have any prayers or good thoughts to spare, we would appreciate it. Thanks. :*( My sweet baby boy  |
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MDscrapaholic
Drama Llama
Refupea #146
Posts: 6,343 
Location: Down by the bay....
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Post by MDscrapaholic on Aug 27, 2015 11:33:32 GMT
I don't know anything about Mast cell rumors but I would be scared too. ((Hugs))
Hope it is benign and he is ok!
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Post by *sprout* on Aug 27, 2015 11:53:51 GMT
My golden girl Bailey had a mast cell tumor on her back near her shoulder blades when she was around 7. The vet biopsied it and like yours, recommended surgery. She had surgery and got clear margins. Pathology report said it was malignant. However, based on its size, it was found very early. We had the option of doing chemo but, with a toddler at home, we opted not to. Afterwards, Bailey received 4 benadryl a day. Mast cells produce histamine (just like in people) so we kept her on antihistamines for years. She never had any new tumors, or at least none that were removed. She would get a tiny lump (about the size of the original tumor) every now and then but they always went away. Bailey went on to live a happy, normal life for several years. We lost her back in November to an abdominal tumor.
Good luck to your sweet boy!
(a few edits because it's early and I haven't had my coffee yet. Lol)
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sharlag
Drama Llama
I like my artsy with a little bit of fartsy.
Posts: 6,574
Location: Kansas
Jun 26, 2014 12:57:48 GMT
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Post by sharlag on Aug 27, 2015 13:32:40 GMT
Last summer, Mabel the Dachshund had them on her belly on her mammary area. She recovered quickly from the surgery, and like Sprout's Bailey, she had antihistamines as part of her post op medication.
We did not receive direction to continue the antihistamines though. I'll have to ask the vet next time I'm there about that.
ETA: Mabel's were also malignant, but I thought mast cells were always cancer?
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Post by KikiPea on Aug 27, 2015 13:35:51 GMT
I have no experience with this, but want to send hugs and prayers for you and your baby.
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scorpeao
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,521
Location: NorCal USA
Jun 25, 2014 21:04:54 GMT
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Post by scorpeao on Aug 27, 2015 15:00:52 GMT
How long has your dog had it? My concern is that your old vet wasn't concerned. Your dog isn't acting abnormal and it hadn't changed at all from the first time you brought it up to your old vet, right? Is this new vet a pathologist? Usually biopsies are taken and sent off to a path lab where a pathologist looks at it and determines if it's cancer or not. The new vet can look at it and say she THINKS it's cancer, but for her to say "it's cancer" after looking at it for 5 minutes; I think even a pathologist would spend more time looking at the slide before calling it cancer. I don't trust the new vet.
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Post by Basket1lady on Aug 27, 2015 15:19:55 GMT
How long has your dog had it? My concern is that your old vet wasn't concerned. Your dog isn't acting abnormal and it hadn't changed at all from the first time you brought it up to your old vet, right? Is this new vet a pathologist? Usually biopsies are taken and sent off to a path lab where a pathologist looks at it and determines if it's cancer or not. The new vet can look at it and say she THINKS it's cancer, but for her to say "it's cancer" after looking at it for 5 minutes; I think even a pathologist would spend more time looking at the slide before calling it cancer. I don't trust the new vet. One of my best friends is a vet. She checks suspicious lumps right there on the spot. I trust her judgement, but I've never asked her point blank if she's qualified to confirm cancer cells. I would imagine some cells look vastly different than others. Kymberlee, I hope Dreadnought just had a lump or that it's easily removable. |
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scorpeao
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,521
Location: NorCal USA
Jun 25, 2014 21:04:54 GMT
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Post by scorpeao on Aug 27, 2015 15:35:39 GMT
How long has your dog had it? My concern is that your old vet wasn't concerned. Your dog isn't acting abnormal and it hadn't changed at all from the first time you brought it up to your old vet, right? Is this new vet a pathologist? Usually biopsies are taken and sent off to a path lab where a pathologist looks at it and determines if it's cancer or not. The new vet can look at it and say she THINKS it's cancer, but for her to say "it's cancer" after looking at it for 5 minutes; I think even a pathologist would spend more time looking at the slide before calling it cancer. I don't trust the new vet. One of my best friends is a vet. She checks suspicious lumps right there on the spot. I trust her judgement, but I've never asked her point blank if she's qualified to confirm cancer cells. I would imagine some cells look vastly different than others. Kymberlee, I hope Dreadnought just had a lump or that it's easily removable. Yes, they do look vastly different; however, unless you stare at them daily for hours I am going to question the diagnosis especially when it took 5 minutes to confirm. Having worked in labs for most of my career I can't even imagine how the slide was prepared, visualized and a diagnosed in 5 minutes. The point of my post is that the old vet wasn't concerned about the lump, the lump hadn't changed, and I assume neither had the dogs behavior. I might be projecting...I had a cat who had an abscess, but I didn't realize it until it burst. I took him to a new vet (one that purchased my old vets practice), and she charged me $500 to drain the abscess. I work at a vet school. When talking to vets at the vet school I found out that by bursting it WAS draining and I was charged for an unnecessary surgery. OP I hope your dog is okay! |
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Post by elaine on Aug 27, 2015 16:12:43 GMT
How long has your dog had it? My concern is that your old vet wasn't concerned. Your dog isn't acting abnormal and it hadn't changed at all from the first time you brought it up to your old vet, right? Is this new vet a pathologist? Usually biopsies are taken and sent off to a path lab where a pathologist looks at it and determines if it's cancer or not. The new vet can look at it and say she THINKS it's cancer, but for her to say "it's cancer" after looking at it for 5 minutes; I think even a pathologist would spend more time looking at the slide before calling it cancer. I don't trust the new vet. But the vet DIDN'T say it was cancer, she said it was a Mast Cell Tumor. MCTs can be cancerous or benign. Kymberlee was the one who said that she was afraid it was cancerous, not the new vet. I think not trusting the vet because she diagnosed a MCT is a bit of a leap. FWIW, not to scare you Kymberlee, but my neighbor, who I dog walk with 2 miles each week day morning, had a recent similar experience. Her dog had a MCT at the base of her tail that the vet wasn't worried about. When it finally got large enough that it was causing the dog obvious discomfort, they surgically removed it, but vet didn't recommend paying extra for pathology, because she was certain it was benign. Tumor grew back, this time my neighbor paid for pathology and it is cancer. There are now multiple tumors and Daisy probably won't live more than a few months more. It is very sad, and I will miss her terribly when she is gone (and so will my dog). My point is that biopsy and diagnosis earlier is better, because if it were cancerous, there would be multiple treatment options available that wouldn't be later on. ((hugs))) |
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Post by stargazer on Aug 27, 2015 17:15:47 GMT
Not a dog owner but I follow the blog at www.oldtownhome.com & their dog Lulu has had 2 removed I believe. They write very detailed posts about everything they do & their posts about their dog are no exception so they're a good source of info. She's recovered well both times. |
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Post by Kymberlee on Aug 27, 2015 17:21:09 GMT
Thanks so much for all your replies. I asked the vet if MCT was considered cancer, and she said that it was but until it is sent to a pathologist, the grade of the tumor is not known. Apparently, these types of abnormal cells are easy to spot under a microscope and the tumor/cyst presents pretty typically. Unfortunately to find out more about the MCT, it has to be removed and sent to pathology. So, I didn't really know that it was cancer until I spoke with the vet this afternoon. Cancer just seems to be a much scarier word. It could be as simple as removing a small skin cancer type mole on humans or could be much, much worse. I'm just so pissed right now at my old vet. It was so easy to aspirate the damn thing and find out it wasn't just a fatty lump and why she didn't do it, I will never know. I wish I had known enough to ask, but I didn't. It really boggles my mind that something that I have brought up to my vet numerous times was never checked further. I get what you are saying scorpeao because my husband felt the same way about the new DX. He said the exact same things you are regarding the two different takes on the tumor, but after I researched a bit, I am convinced that SX is the only way to go. I did talk to another vet at our old practice, and when I told her the story and what the new vet said, she confirmed that if it was her dog, she would have the tumor removed immediately as these things can get nasty quickly. Both the old and new vet suspect it isn't grade 3 (the worst) as it hasn't changed but until it is sent to pathology, no one can say for sure. I'm just heartsick as Dreadnought is my baby which I know most of you can relate to, and I'm not ready to say goodbye to the big fella yet. |
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loco coco
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,662
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Post by loco coco on Aug 27, 2015 17:40:24 GMT
I dont but you and your baby will be in my prayers. He is so cute, I hope his surgery goes well and that everything is ok. HUGS!!
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Post by blondiec47 on Aug 27, 2015 17:44:16 GMT
I have no info to help you, just wanted to send hugs and prayers that he is OK. Ozzy and Jax (our bulldogs) also send hugs
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Post by crazy4scraps on Aug 27, 2015 17:49:57 GMT
My Jack Russell has them. Started off with a small one a couple years ago but at the time we didn't have the $$$ for the surgery to have it removed. Since then, the original one has gotten bigger and now he has several more in other places. We could afford to do the surgery but at this point it would cost considerably more, plus he's 14 years old, going blind, mostly deaf, has other health issues, and has doggie dementia (barks at blank walls, walks away from me and forgets where I am two minutes later, constantly wants to go in and out). He walks around looking confused a lot. Our vet said that it would be a toss up as to whether he would even survive the surgery at his age, and since having the tumors doesn't really slow him down or bother him we just let it ride and make sure he's happy. DH was ready to be done with his nonsense over a year ago already, but aside from being nuts the dog gets around okay and is otherwise pretty active. Besides, he's my dog and I'm not ready to let go just yet.
Our vet said the problem with mast cell tumors is that the cells they're made up of detach and spread easily, establishing themselves in other areas of the body. If you catch it before more tumors pop up elsewhere you will probably have a better outcome.
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M in Carolina
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,128
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Post by M in Carolina on Aug 27, 2015 18:43:08 GMT
(((Kymberlie)))
I am so sorry you and your handsome bullie are going through this.
I know that cancer is a horrible word, but don't lose faith yet. My family's favourite german shepherd, Bo, had a cancer on his face behind his eye and lived several years without discomfort or issues. When it came time that he needed to have surgery, Bo was already very old and was having other issues like hip dysplasia that was severely affecting his quality of life, so we had him put down as it was the kindest thing to do.
I hope that Dreadnought, you and you husband come through this quickly and painlessly. I am glad that your new vet is quick witted and decided to get the lump checked out.
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Post by paigewh on Aug 27, 2015 20:06:50 GMT
My cat had Mast Cell Tumors. She was twelve years old and only had three legs, so it was especially miserable for her. There wasn't a lot I could do for her other than give her Benadryl. She had been through so much with her injury (she was grabbed through our fence by three Boxers and lost her right front paw), so I didn't want to put her through a bunch of invasive surgery or treatments that probably wouldn't work. We just kept her comfortable and she lived for a few years with it. I believe the treatment is easier for dogs. Hugs to you and your pup!
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Post by gailoh on Aug 27, 2015 20:15:54 GMT
hugs and prayer...
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Post by Kymberlee on Aug 28, 2015 10:56:05 GMT
Thanks again for the replies. He is going in for surgery this morning, and I am a wreck. He, of course, is blissfully ignorant and snoring by my feet as we speak.  |
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Post by picotjo on Aug 28, 2015 14:53:25 GMT
My dog had a suspicious lump over a year ago. Vet aspirated it found unusual cells and we scheduled surgery. It was a mass cell tumor stage 1. Vet felt she got it all so no treatment necessary. I was told is my dog went a year with no more showing up that was good. So far so good! I wasn't aware mass cell tumors could be diagnosed in the office so quickly.
Good luck with your dog!
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Post by elaine on Aug 28, 2015 14:58:15 GMT
Thanks again for the replies. He is going in for surgery this morning, and I am a wreck. He, of course, is blissfully ignorant and snoring by my feet as we speak. (((Hugs))) i hope that it all goes smoothly, that the tumor is benign and they get it all, and that he is home snuggling this evening! |
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Southern Side eyed Pea 
