Old dogs with
growing subcutaneous tumours may
die under anaesthesia. Tumours
keep growing to irritate the dog
as they become infected. It is
very difficult for the owner to
take the risk as deaths on the
operating table do occur in old
dogs.
Different vets and doctors have
different approaches to the
treatment of tumours.
1. One approach is to do a fine
needle aspiration and then a
surgical biopsy of the tumour to
be sent to the histopathologist to
determine if the growth is
cancerous or not. If it is
not cancerous, everyone is happy.
Unfortunately, the
histopathologist takes time to
reply the findings. In some cases,
the fine needle aspiration is not
useful. So, the histopathologist
asks for a surgical biopsy. Time
is needed and it may take two
weeks to get the reply.
If the tumour is malignant but has
not metastasized (spread to other
parts of the body), the time taken
by the histopathologist permits
the tumour to spread. If treated
very early, some localised
malignant tumours may be radically
excised, giving the pet many years
of life. See:
Tips For Cat Owners -
Fibrosarcomas in young cats
2. Another approach is to excise
the lump including a wide margin
in case the lump is cancerous.
This is known as radical excision.
After surgical removal, the lump
is sent to the histopathologist
for a report as to whether it is
benign, malignant or just an
infection.
I prefer this method and have used
it in this old Pomeranian.
Fortunately she has a benign
adenoma.
A lump that is
not cancerous at an early stage
does not mean it will never
be malignant later on and
therefore, it is wise for the pet
owner to get lumps removed early.
A wait-and-see attitude should
never be adopted by the vet in
cases of growths as vets are not
Gods. The decision to remove the
lump surgically is to be made by
the owner after considering costs,
prognosis and the welfare of the
pet as most owners trust their
vets in Singapore. Once the trust
is lost when the tumour proves to
be malignant, the client will
never come back.
BE KIND TO DOGS & CATS --- GET
EYE ULCERS TREATED WITHIN 4
HOURS --- IF YOU DON'T WANT
THEM TO BE BLIND.
More case studies, goto:
Cats or
Dogs
TOA
PAYOH VETS
