can anyone help us?
we have an eight month old "staffy",and recently noticed a angry looking sore on his front leg and after taking him to the vet,she diagnosed this as a benign histiocytoma.
she advised to keep it covered whilst in the house to prevent him from licking it and making it worse,and then to go back and see if it subdues on it,s own,if not she says an operation maybe necessary to remove the growth.
has anyone had prior experience of this type of tumour with their pet and if so what course of action did your vet recommend? is the teatment successful,does it reoccur etc.
i would appreciate any replies on this subject,although the vet doesn,t seem too concerned,we are a little apprehensive
or are we worrying over nothing?
thanks ,linda

We've had one on our liver flatcoat. I panicked, and had it removed, as it happens, unnecessarily. It soon grew back again. A friend recommended 'Citricidal' from Higher Nature, which cleared it up in next to no time, and it didn't recurr. I think they resolve themselves spontaneously in most cases, anyhow.

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

Hi Jo,

You seem to be the resident expert on here re histiocytomas, lol!! As there are quite a few threads on this subject I thought I'd just continue on from another. My 10 month old pup has a histiocytoma on his outer ear. I took him to the vets thinking it might be a sting because it seemed to suddenly 'appear overnight', however, the vet said he thought it was most likely a histiocytoma. He suggested surgical removal and didn't mention anything about the possibility of the lump regressing on its own - this info I discovered when doing my own research when I got home I'm a bit annoyed because he even got me to fill out the insurance claim form and asked when I wanted to book the dog in for the procedure. Now I've had a chance to look up some details about histiocytomas I think I'd rather hang on for a few months to see if it goes of its own accord before sending him for surgery (am also apprehensive about him going under GA as he has had a bad reaction in the past, so if there's a possibility that wont be necessary then I'm all for it!).

I was interested in your advice to the staffy owner re Citricidal from Higher Nature. The lump on my pup's ear isn't infected, inflamed or in anyway irritated - is citricidal only effective in these situations or did you see some success in your flat coats on intact, uninfected lumps? Hope you don't mind me asking! :rolleyes:

Thanks in advance,

Vinnie x

The problem is can the diagnosis of 'probable' histiocytoma be confirmed without biopsy?  Not sure that I would be happy to wait a few months to find out if it cleared, a week or two maybe.

I have experienced hystiocytomas on two of my bitches as youngsters and in both cases they were sore round lesions.
The first one on a 9 month old was removed on the advice of the vet and to this day she has a scar under her chin, the second one on a 4 month old I was advised by a different vet to try leaving for a couple of months, which I did and it resolved naturally with no scar. On balance I have thought that if it happened again I would be inclined to 'wait and see' but as Isabel says it could be a gamble. I don't remember either of mine 'appearing overnight' so I might proceed differently in those circumstances. I think this may be an instance where it could be advisable to go with your vet's  suggestion if you have confidence in him. A difficult decision when you so want to do the best for your dog.

Best wishes
Linda

Hi Vinnie

I don't know about the 'resident expert' tag........!!:rolleyes:!!

I think that the histiocytomas are reasonably common in young dogs - maybe the ear is a more unusual place.         I think that you may find that it itches a bit, and maybe the pup will scratch at it, and get it infected, which is what happened with one that we had once.   Play it by ear - you may need an Elizabethan collar or some such if that happens, and antibiotic.   This could also happen if you have it removed and it grows back again.

The ones that we've had have appeared very quickly - round flattish things like a squashed cherry or strawberry.   I've always thought they were caused by a virus, rather like a cold sore or a verruca.

Personally, I would leave one on my own dogs for the body's own immune system to deal with, but if your vet feels strongly that it should be removed, go with it.

Jo