Wish Rakka Luck
Rakka's had a rough couple of days. The lump on her neck came back, plus she started scratching her face and snout like crazy, so we took her to the vet.
Vet reiterated that the lump is most likely harmless, but should be removed just in case. We took her in when it first showed up, and the vet shaved her neck and took a sample and decided it was benign, not infected, so most likely just a random cyst, especially since she's not sick and it doesn't hurt or bother her. He said it might be a wonky saliva gland, and today he noticed on her record that she got a face full of porcupine quills about a year ago, so there's a slight chance it's a quill that worked it's way into her neck. He says that quills don't usually cause much problem, even if they do get under the skin, though. Either way, it's close to her throat and jugular, and you never know what a growth might do if you leave it alone, so now that we're sure it's not just going away on it's own, we're having it removed. I mean, I would just feel really horrible if I left it and a few years down the line, it restricted blood flow to her brain and gave her a stroke or turned out to be cancer. Plus, it's ugly :-P.
He also said there's no way to know why she's scratching her face until they've done a biopsy. So, surgery to remove the lump is scheduled for Thursday, and they'll take a biopsy from her skin then, since she wasn't cooperating today, so they want to do while she's already knocked out.
The weird thing about her scratching is that she's not acting sick, it's only on her face, and none of the other dogs are exhibiting symptoms, which rules out a lot of likely explanations, like parasites or food allergies. Seasonal allergies are likely, but she didn't have a problem last year, or at any time before now. She also didn't respond to antihistamines. At any rate, she is (to her dismay) wearing a cone. Poor pup. She looks pretty rough, with her lump, her face all scratched up, the cone, and the mopey expression. Her face is a little puffy, too, but that might just be because she scratched it all to heck.
Wish us luck.
Vet reiterated that the lump is most likely harmless, but should be removed just in case. We took her in when it first showed up, and the vet shaved her neck and took a sample and decided it was benign, not infected, so most likely just a random cyst, especially since she's not sick and it doesn't hurt or bother her. He said it might be a wonky saliva gland, and today he noticed on her record that she got a face full of porcupine quills about a year ago, so there's a slight chance it's a quill that worked it's way into her neck. He says that quills don't usually cause much problem, even if they do get under the skin, though. Either way, it's close to her throat and jugular, and you never know what a growth might do if you leave it alone, so now that we're sure it's not just going away on it's own, we're having it removed. I mean, I would just feel really horrible if I left it and a few years down the line, it restricted blood flow to her brain and gave her a stroke or turned out to be cancer. Plus, it's ugly :-P.
He also said there's no way to know why she's scratching her face until they've done a biopsy. So, surgery to remove the lump is scheduled for Thursday, and they'll take a biopsy from her skin then, since she wasn't cooperating today, so they want to do while she's already knocked out.
The weird thing about her scratching is that she's not acting sick, it's only on her face, and none of the other dogs are exhibiting symptoms, which rules out a lot of likely explanations, like parasites or food allergies. Seasonal allergies are likely, but she didn't have a problem last year, or at any time before now. She also didn't respond to antihistamines. At any rate, she is (to her dismay) wearing a cone. Poor pup. She looks pretty rough, with her lump, her face all scratched up, the cone, and the mopey expression. Her face is a little puffy, too, but that might just be because she scratched it all to heck.
Wish us luck.
Comments
A thing about seasonal allergies - I think they can come at any time, especially if a season is especially strong. This spring we noticed our female shiba getting more and more itchy near her face... she worked a near bald spot above her left eye which our vet determined was either a seasonal allergy thing or a bug bite reaction. Tough to tell on dogs, times like these I wish they could talk.
Yeah like Jen points out allergies symptoms can vary in degree from one season to the next depending on bloom time, temp and rain. According to our allergist, it think most antihistamines are only about 15 to 20% effect in dogs so you have to really keep plugging to find an appropriate solution. Most likely a combo solution if the situation is severe.
Snf
Much love, kisses and wishes for a speedy recovery from Mylo and I!
May all the itchiness go away with the lump. And the lump to never again return.
Tell us more as soon as you know something!
I miss my doggie!
So glad the surgery went well, hope its all good news from here!