# Loa has a lump on her side We dunno what it is - it just kinda appeared today. It seems to be her skin and not her bone or muscle because it moves with her skin. She doesn't seem bothered by it - but then again she's a Shikoku, nothing slows them down. We are worried about her. ## Thread In Health · started by brada1878 · 31 replies - **Category:** [Health](https://nihonken.org/community/c/health) - **Forum:** [Nihon Ken Forum](https://nihonken.org/community/) ## brada1878 (admin) · 2007-12-10T21:06:32.000Z We dunno what it is - it just kinda appeared today. It seems to be her skin and not her bone or muscle because it moves with her skin. She doesn't seem bothered by it - but then again she's a Shikoku, nothing slows them down. We are worried about her. ## MommyofNiko · 2007-12-10T21:24:38.000Z Oh no!  Is it maybe a bite?  Have you found a good vet yet?  The place you are boarding them may know?  Are you going to be able to get it checked out before you go?  I guess I dont need to stress you out more. ## brandon_w (admin) · 2007-12-10T23:33:02.000Z Could just be a small fatty tumor.  Usually they are in older dogs, but it could happen to a younger dog.  We are wishing her the best from here. ## brada1878 (admin) · 2007-12-10T23:47:35.000Z Thanx guys... we made a vet appointment for tomorrow. I'll let you know. Her and Ahi play so freaking rough, I think it's prob. from that. Ill let you know if the vet is any good. ## kwyld · 2007-12-11T00:13:55.000Z hmm, I agree with brandon, maybe some type of lipoma. Could be a soft tissue injury or an insect bite as well. Puppies are very resiliant though and she'll probably be fine,not to mention japenese breeds are pretty tough! I'm sure you would anyway, but watch her for any abnormal behavior. How big is it and where is it at? ## brada1878 (admin) · 2007-12-11T00:29:12.000Z It's about the size of a quarter, but more elongated - it's right behind the light markings by her shoulders. It doesn't protrude too much, but if you rub it it's noticeable - feels like a water balloon. I just took some pics of it: ## brada1878 (admin) · 2007-12-11T00:32:09.000Z I hate that we find this thing right before we are about to leave her for 2 weeks. I'm stressed about it. ## MommyofNiko · 2007-12-11T10:04:21.000Z But better you find it than it come when you are gone.  No matter how good a place may be they may not notice something like this.  Let us know about the vet appointment.  HUGS! ## brada1878 (admin) · 2007-12-11T12:30:39.000Z Ok - just got Loa back from the vet. The lump is a local allergic reaction to her Rabies vaccination. It should go away in a few weeks. No worries! ## JessicaRabbit (admin) · 2007-12-11T12:39:31.000Z Thank heavens! I am glad to hear she is okay! Please have a great trip! ## brandon_w (admin) · 2007-12-11T12:49:15.000Z That's great news.  Now you don't have to stress out before the trip. ## brada1878 (admin) · 2007-12-11T13:04:24.000Z Yea - I was hella stressed for a minute. Thanx for the kind wishes guys!  :c) ## kwyld · 2007-12-11T13:56:07.000Z You can give her Benedryl in the future before any vaccines are given to her to prevent allergic reactions.  Ask your vet how much to give her and how much time prior to the vaccine administration you should give it.  I'm glad that's all it was, now you can be worry freeee!! ## brada1878 (admin) · 2007-12-11T15:05:36.000Z oh - i didn't know that about the Benedryl - thanx for the tip... i wish our vet would have told us that. Thanx! ## kwyld · 2007-12-11T18:00:47.000Z They will only tell you if your pet has a reaction to a vaccine, because it doesn't happen very often.  Just make sure next time she gets vaccines you let the vet know that she had this type of reaction to Rabies in the past, and ask if Benedryl would help prevent another vaccine reaction like this in the future. ## MommyofNiko · 2007-12-11T18:04:23.000Z That is such a relief!  When was her vaccination??  Me being the paranoid freak about my babies would connect with a specific person at the kennel to keep a special eye on her. ## brada1878 (admin) · 2007-12-11T18:15:55.000Z She got her shot last week - like wed. ## MommyofNiko · 2007-12-11T18:21:02.000Z Ok, so that makes sense.  If it was more than that I would call bullshit! Do you like the vet? ## brada1878 (admin) · 2007-12-11T20:02:47.000Z yea - me too. The vet is really mellow - our last one was kinda chipper and fun... so it's hard to really judge him. He seems to know his stuff tho. ## ddowdemers · 2007-12-11T20:20:23.000Z I'm just now checking in.  Glad to hear that it is nothing serious.  I would have been a wreck too.    I hope that you and Jen have a great trip.  Merry Christmas. ## brada1878 (admin) · 2007-12-11T23:05:09.000Z Thanx! ## hondru (moderator) · 2007-12-13T00:57:13.000Z I'm glad it wasn't a big deal!  I'm starting to get paranoid about vaccine reactions (for dogs and human children).  The more I read and hear, the more iffy I get.  A breeder I contacted recently sells her dog on a contract that prohibits all vaccines no matter what. ## MommyofNiko · 2007-12-13T10:19:26.000Z Niko has pain reactions to her rabies.  We have to give her asprin prior to it because she screams like a banshee...aka shiba. ## brada1878 (admin) · 2007-12-13T17:36:35.000Z Heidie - really? What breed? That's crazy! (i mean crazy that she would put that in her contract - I understand the reasoning) Rachael - When Maui got his first shots he had a lot of pain - we took him back to the vet almost in tears because that was our first "Shiba Scream"... it freaked us out so bad! lol good times. lol ## hondru (moderator) · 2007-12-13T17:57:43.000Z Brad - She breeds Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers.  I'm thinking of getting one for S&R.  I would still like to do S&R with a shikoku some day, but with tollers, there are dogs nearby already doing S&R, breeders who understand the requirements, and the people who screen the dogs for the S&R program are more familiar with them.  I guess I would just like more of a guarantee of getting into the program - I can't really buy dog after dog after dog until one gets in.  I haven't really decided, though.  I grew up in Nova Scotia, so I guess tollers are kind of nostalgic for me; they're the only non spitz/primitive breed I really like.  In a few years, I might get a toller puppy and a shikoku puppy at the same time and have them both evaluated.  It would be really cool to have the first shikoku doing S&R. Anyway, the S&R program requires that the dogs have the same vaccinations as the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) dogs because they are tested and trained on their facilities and the organisation is sort of run by them.  So... this breeder won't sell me a puppy.  I completely understand, it's just too bad for me because I really think she's a good breeder and she's pretty close to where I live, too.  As far as human children, my niece had a bad reaction to her vaccines and had epileptic seizures, had to be on medication for two years, and is now developmentally behind because of it.  At the same time, the diseases being vaccinated against are pretty nasty, too.  If only there was some way to magically know which individuals would react.  Tojo screams like crazy for vaccines.  He screams so loud you can hear it in the entire clinic and people are looking around wondering who's getting tortured!  Poor puppy. ## hondru (moderator) · 2007-12-13T17:59:21.000Z Geez, there I go again with the rambling. ## brada1878 (admin) · 2007-12-13T21:54:25.000Z cool! I think that's a good plan - I think a Shikoku would be pretty hard to get to the level you need them to be w/ S&R - it's doable, but hard. IMO anyway. ## hondru (moderator) · 2007-12-14T03:23:04.000Z I agree.  I think they're very good at finding and tracking, but more along the lines of finding and tracking things that are fun to chase and kill.  At least that's how Rakka is. ## shandrew · 2008-01-23T17:08:19.000Z Hey Brad - I was just wondering if the bump on Loa's back has disappeared. Shinobi had a lump on his back for a really long time (years) and the vet kept telling us that it was just a clogged oil gland and not to worry. Drew had been taking Shinobi to the same vet since he was a puppy...but I started thinking that this vet was kinda shady (it's a long story) so we switched to a new vet. When we asked the new vet about shinobi's lump and told him how we were told that it was just a clogged oil gland, he poked a hole in the lump and squeezed out a bunch of nasty stuff. He told us we needed to come back to get it surgically removed, and after getting it tested, we found out that it was a benign tumor. Luckily that's all it was...but we were pretty freaked out...and totally happy that this vet was more responsive than the old one. Anyhoo, if it's still there...just make sure to monitor it and push the vet to get it checked out. ## brada1878 (admin) · 2008-01-23T17:33:47.000Z Its gone now! We came back from our Aspen trip and picked her up to find that it had disappeared. When we told our vet in ATL that she had a lump and that we think it was caused by the vacc. she about lost it - got really upset - said that basically the vet we took her to here in town had used a "cheap" shot that was prone to a reaction like that. She was upset that the vet would basically "cheap out" on us like that. So we are switching vets - we will be taking Kona and Loa to a new vet next week. Hopefully things will go better w/ the new vet. Changing vets has been the hardest thing for us during this move - our vet in ATL was just really good, open minded, and honest - and very well educated. Lucky we have kept in contact with her and can double check things with her. Thanx for asking. --- **Navigate:** [Forum home](https://nihonken.org/community/?format=md) · [Sitemap](https://nihonken.org/community/sitemap.xml)