I am after some advice for my parents dog, she is a staffie 6 years old she had a swollen ear a while ago which the vet said they thought was a tick bite which she had scratched and infected. They tried to drain it and sent us away but it then swelled up badly so we took her back and they had to operate and they then said that they thought it was a blood blister. When she had the op they put in stitches which became infected so she was put on antibiotics. My mum has just rung me tonight to say that now both ears are swollen and when she feels her body she can feel a few lumps......any ideas?

She has got a hard small lump under her front leg which she has had for a long time but the vet has seen this and said it was just a graze which had healed??

Any advice appreciated I am very worried about her :-(

Just to add they are taking her to the vets just wanted some advice from here too

Allergy to something maybe? If the lumps are sort of like hives over her skin\ body. But she needs to see the vet - hope all goes well. :-)

Thanks. I think she only has a few lumps, at the time she had the old lump we were worried that it may have been a tumor or something like that but they dismissed it and now she has more lumps we are really worried. My mum rang the vets this morning to make an appointment so i hope that they are able to see her soon

Hope so - let us know how she gets on. :-)

I have a cat that had mites in the ear and with the head shaking one of her ears swelled up into a blood blister , this is quite common in cats and dogs , they have to cut open the blister to drain then put tiny stitches all over the inside of the ear to stop it filling up with fluid again it stays like this for a couple of weeks then the stiches are removed but a collar left on in case they scratch it .
Its usually the head shaking that causes the blister .....but if she is getting lumps around her body I would be thinking an allergy to something which might or might not be connected to the ear..they may be two seperate things.

Roni

Her ear that was operated on looks a mess to be honest as they sliced it open everywhere (not that I don't trust them to know what they are doing). I think that they are unrelated but the sooner we know the better....my mum said that there are black dots at the top of one of the ears too???

Its really worrying as she has always been quite healthy and as childish as it sounds I can't bear the thought of losing her :-(

are the lumps under the skin or do they have a head to them or are they open sore lumps?  do not want to panic you as it probably is not the same but our dog had a small hard lump on her chest which we were worried about, vet kept telling us it was a pressure point where she layed nothing to worry about we were still worried and took her back again and again to get it checked sadly it was mast cell cancer but eventual diagnosis was too late for her now I have all lumps asperiated with a fine needle to check.  But please do not panic, there are several things it could be and it probably is not the same just thought I would mention it in case you need to check it out, mast cell can produce a single lump or lots of small lumps, and the lumps can also change.

The lump under her arm is under the skin and the skin on top is now black-ish and very hard (this is the one they told us was a graze)she has had this probably 6 months to a year now. The other ones I am not sure about as I haven't seen them but I think they too are under the skin. :-(

in our dog the mast cell on the chest was hard and slightly raised and rough hard skin, the subsequent ones were small with either a whiteish pinkish top or a small open lump, if it sounds like this I would have it checked to be on the safe side, it is probably nothing, but in case it is there is good treatment available for mast cell depending on the grade 1, 2 or 3, or vet was telling us the hard lump on her chest was nothing for over two years!!  Now not our vet!!

worth having test done , ask for a second opinion if vet wont budge , hope everthing turns out ok 

keep us updated

the ear will look bad for a while but once it heals up it will be fine, our cats ear now flops but I dont care as long as she isnt in pain.

Hope your parents dog is ok. Donna x

Hope all goes well at the vet.

The lump under the leg could be a cyst which are common and can be anywhere on the body.  Could be a bite from a horse fly they always seem to swell a lot on my dogs and it is the time of year for them if you live in the country.  Lumps can really be anything but they are the two I think are the most common.  As for the ears any constant scratching could be causing the ears the swell.  It maybe time to put the lampshade on her head for a bit or wrap the back feet up, just to try and cure it once and for all.

Anyway lets us all know how you get on at the vets.

Emma

Well she went today and they have said that the lumps are nothing to be worried about and that if they are tumors they will grow big very quickly so just to keep an eye on them.
As for the ear she is having to go under GA again (twice in a month!!) to have it emptied :-(

Hi Angels,

If it were me, I'd take the dog to a different vet now: it sounds as though she's been several times and they don't know what's wrong, nor have they done any tests by the sound of it. And as for saying "if they are tumors they will grow big very quickly" I think that's just awful - if they might be tumours, why wait??

I'm with skyblue, find another vet and quickly. If nothing else but for yours and your parents peace of mind. Here's hopeing it is just an allergy.

The other lumps my mum isn't so concerned about because they aren't always there (if that makes sense). It is a very difficult situation as the vets has a brilliant reputation and they have always been fantastic with her before. They have said that the ears are definately blood blisters and this can be caused by her shaking her head etc, they have said it is just unfortunate that she has had them in both ears :-(

My parents took her on as a favour to me and we pay for everything but they provide her day to day care, my brother is very very ill at the moment and they are having to take time off to attend the hospital with him and also take time off to take the dog to the vets so I don't want to add to their troubles by asking them to take more time off to take her somewhere else when they feel that the vets know what they are doing. Over the years a good relationship has been built up with this vets and my parents trust them. I think perhaps the vet was just trying to make a point by saying that tumor would grow very quickly as we have now seen 3 vets at the same practice who are telling my parents that the lump under her arm is just where she has cut herself and it has healed.

Having spoken to my parents last night I feel much more confident that the vets aren't just fobbing us off, although putting her through another operation is a worry but after speaking to my vets over here they would also recommend the operation for the same symptoms. She is in this morning and has already been dropped off.

If I really thought she wasn't being trested properly then I would definately ask my parents to take her somewhere else but between them and my vets over here I feel much more confident.

Well she has had her op today and they have said she is doing well. We just have to wait and see if this is the last of it (this is the 2nd ear that has had this blood blister!)

On a different note I hope that people don't assume she is a fighting dog when they see her as she looks like she has been attacked on both ears as they have sliced in every crease :-(

oh dear poor thing its exactly the same as my cat .
Did they tell you to give advantage as this kills any mites in the ear which is what usually causes the head shaking which causes the blisters.
Make sure you keep the collar on and dont let her scratch them they may seep but it has to release the fluid .
What they did with my cat was remove some of the stitches  after 2 wks , wait a few days then remove the rest to make sure it didnt fill up again .
We also were told to apply gentle pressure to the ear with cotton wool to help release the fluid .....have they suggested you do that?

Regards other problem I would definitely ask for a second opinion from another vet or a referral to a hospital especially if she is insured not worth taking a chance.

Roni

On a different note I hope that people don't assume she is a fighting dog when they see her as she looks like she has been attacked on both ears as they have sliced in every crease 
sweet girl, if people assume that then they are worthy only of the old saying, to ass-ume makes an ass out of u and me!
Lots of staffords suffer from skin problems, a lot seem to be very sensitive to various bites, allergies and so on.
My girl is particularly sensitive to long grass, or whatever it is that bites her when she runs through it!  She always ends up with lumps all over her body and her hair sticks up in tufts.  Takes a few days but it does go down eventually.

I hope that in your dogs/your parent dogs case that it is nothing more serious than an allergy.  All the best to you.

> My girl is particularly sensitive to long grass, or whatever it is that bites her when she runs through it!  She always ends up with lumps all over her body and her hair sticks up in tufts.  Takes a few days but it does go down eventually.
>

She also runs through long grass, I hadn't thought about that :-)

> sweet girl, if people assume that then they are worthy only of the old saying, to ass-ume makes an ass out of u and me!
>

Thanks I had a little smile when I read that ;-)