We have had one of our bitch down to the vet to have a look at 2 lumps the first on her mammery and they will operate on Tuesday and also draw Flid from the other lump that is one the top of her back shoulder, it is not a fatty lump, at the same time. They vet is wanting to spay her as he says that usually the mammery tumour's come back and can course problems if we ever wanted to have a littler off her.

Any one have any experiance of this, and do you think that it would be better to have a mild sedation and a local anethetic, to remove the tumor, or to let the vet do a general on a breed of dog that is very suseptable to anithetic. they are going to do lab tests on both lumps.

My usual vet is away on extended holiday to Kenya , this chap sayd he will have to shave her back and stomach and little bits on her lefs, would you say if she thought this would be really to completely trim all these areas'

lynn in a panic

If stitches are going to be needed the area must be as hairless as possible, for cleanliness if nothing else. Ususally two or three inches either side of the operation site is shaved. They usually do a GA for any surgery like this because they don't know what they're going to find and may need to investigate further. The shaved areas on the forelegs are to be able to see the veins easily for a drip.

Lynn,

I don't have a hairy breed but I'm going down the same route as yourself.
My current oldie is now 7 yo, we've had a bit of a traumatic time of late with an ulcerated eye
etc. Whilst she was undergoing treatment for this I felt a mammary lump and then another.
So with our weekly eye appt at the vet they were being checked etc.
I've decided to have my bitch spayed and the mammary lumps removed.
The vet has indicated she'd have to take two of the mammary glands away as we've got seed like
lumps appearing now. Between the affected gland and the next.
The reason we've had to delay removing them is Misty decided to have a phantom...
Misty will be going in mid next month to be operated on.

The reason why I've decided to go down this route - Misty's maternal grandmother had to undergo
a complete mammary gland strip on both sides due to tumours. She was left entire after finishing her
'breeding' life. (I didn't own her)
The other thing is as my bitch keeps having phantoms I think it's probably going to be kinder to prevent
the 'hormonal' issue that causes the phantoms and perhaps also creates issues with the mammary glands.

Boxers in general don't tend to have problems with the GA's. But if you are at all concerned with your girl
you can go over this with the vet again. Also some vets won't shave or keep it to a minimum if you ask them to.
Normally if you don't say anything the vets to tend to be 'clipper happy' and clip more than they need to.
Hair is normally clipped away for hygiene purposes.
Make sure you write this on the consent form to keep shaving to a minimum if you want it carried out.

Wishing you the best of luck.
Kirstine

From my own experiences I am not going to have any more lumps removed from my dogs.  I now work on the assumption that if they have cancer then they are going to die sooner rather than later anyway and removing the tumours is likely to make it  even sooner.

If they do not have cancer then there is no point in an unnecessary operation.  If they are in pain or discomfort it will be treated but potentially cancerous lumps will be left completely alone.

If you are going to have the lumps removed then unless your dog is exceptionally well trained and will lie very still for the vet who will have a very sharp knife in his hand I would go for a GA - I doubt your vet would even consider doing it under sedation or a local.

There was a study carried out a few years ago and I ahve personal expereince to confirm this, that showed that spaying after a lump had already appeared had no protective effect against developing any more.

My oldest girls now 13 years old had a small mammary tumour just before I had planned to have another litter from her (she had had two).  She was 5 1/2 at the time.

I had it removed and tested and it was a well defined carcinoma about the size of a baked bean.  I thought having her spayed would be helpful, so did.  It was a couple years after this that a Veterinary article appeared in teh canine press showing that it wasn't helpful.

At about 9 years of age I noticed a small hard lump in the same place, and this time we didn't bother testing it but had her rear two golands removed on that side as they were attached to the same lymph system.

A year later I found a soft lump on her chest and in panic asked for it to be removed and testred, and it was just a fatty tissue lump that older dogs often get and the name of which I have forgotten.  She has had one or two of these apear under her skin but have left them alone now as know they are benign and you wouldn't know they were there unless you carefuly masaged her trunk.

She is now getting a bit gaunt in the quarters and thin and greyer in the face, but still at 13 1/2 years old does 2 to 4 miles walking and tootling about off lead.

Its a bit frightening finding any lumps at all, but most are ok.  my friends rotti had 2, they tested one of the lumps and was ok. vet had told them to leave them if they didnt bother her. That was about 4 yrs ago. she is also quiet a good age for a rotti.
Brainless thats a good age to still be walking 2 - 4 miles ah bless :) I cant even walk that lol.
Jane

Barbie is in the vets now, we took her in at 8 am this morning and they said they would ring us by 2 pm, so just waiting to see what she will be like when we pick her up and find out if any further surgery will be needed.

I am due to go to Italy tomorrow to pick my new gold puppy, but I will not go if she needs me at home, it just the waiting thats bad, I could not sleep last night.

lynn

Her mother died last year (on her great great great grandaughters first birthday).  she was 15 and 4 months and was still going for a potter around the owners local excersise field until the very end.

I don't even think of them as old until they are 12!