Charlie, a sweet 9 year old Basset Hound, was in serious trouble.
His signs were really minor, but what was growing inside was shocking.
Interestingly, the mass was found by accident.
Charlie’s owner recalls:
“We had noticed lumps on Charlie’s hip and belly. We had dropped Charlie off for surgery at his family vet early in the morning. Shortly after we left the clinic, we received a call informing us that an extremely large mass was discovered in Charlie’s spleen. Bloodwork showed that Charlie was anemic and was potentially in serious trouble.”
Can you see the mass?
The mass in the spleen is circled in red.
Charlie was referred to HRVSS to remove the spleen.
His owner explains: “Before the surgery, Charlie often appeared restless, like he couldn’t get comfortable. We figured he was getting older and he had aches and pains related to his age! Looking back, it was probably the tumor making him uncomfortable!”
What can go wrong after spleen surgery?
We described the ins and the outs of the surgery and the recovery to the owner.
We informed them that surgery and anesthesia were not risk-free given the size of the mass, that was pushing on all kinds of important organs.
We described possible complications, such as extra heart beats, that can happen during or after spleen surgery.
We warned that there is, statistically, a 50-50 chance that Charlie had spleen cancer.
Despite the odds, despite Charlie’s age (9 years old), despite the possible complications, Charlie owners were super dedicated, and wanted the evilness removed from their dog.
She writes: “After speaking with the staff at HRVSS and specifically Dr. Zeltzman, we were satisfied that the surgery was the best option for Charlie!”
They also chose to have the 3 skin masses removed, as long as he was stable under anesthesia.
So we put Charlie under anesthesia and took him to surgery.
PLEASE NOTE THT THE PICTURES BELOW ARE VERY GRAPHIC.
THEY ARE NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART.
CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK !!!
Huge surprise during surgery
In surgery, we found the giant mass attached to the spleen.
The mass was so large, that it occupied a large part of the belly.
We removed the spleen (splenectomy).
Countless blood vessels were tied off to remove the mass safely.
It weighted about 14 lbs (6.4 kg).
And here is the mass outside of the belly, after surgery, next to a quarter for comparison!
Keep in mind that Charlie weighed 87 lbs (40 kg), so that was a huge percentage of his body weight!
It’s hard to imagine how he felt with this huge mass in his belly, yet he remained as gentle as ever.
Everything else looked fine in the belly.
After closing the belly, since Charlie was stable under anesthesia, we removed the 3 skin masses.
He soon recovered smoothly in ICU.
His owner said: “the staff was very good at keeping us informed about Charlie’s progress, before and after the surgery! We were all greatly relieved when we got the call that Charlie was out of surgery and all went well!”
After one night of IV fluids, antibiotics and pain medications, as well as lots of TLC, Charlie went home the next day.
His owner writes: “After bringing Charlie home from the surgery, he is doing extremely well. He appears to be on the mend with no major complications!”
After about a week, the biopsy report came back.
Fortunately for Charlie and his family, the biopsy showed that the mass was benign !!!
It was nodular hyperplasia, essentially benign regeneration of the spleen.
This meant that once he healed, it should not affect his lifespan.
As for the skin masses, 2 came back benign (a pilomatricoma, associated with a hair follicle, and a lipoma, aka a fatty tumor), and one the mass on the back was cancerous but “low grade” (basal cell carcinoma).
All were masses were fortunately removed completely.
Charlie’s owner concludes:
“The staff at HRVSS have reached out to us to make sure Charlie’s wellbeing from this surgery is properly addressed! In the days after the surgery, we have noticed that Charlie’s energy level and appetite have greatly improved! The staff at HRVSS made a very stressful and difficult situation more at ease and manageable! The care that Charlie received was nothing short of outstanding! Charlie is a very important part of our family. Many thanks to the staff at HRVSS for the compassion and care provided to Charlie!”
And 2 months after surgery, his owner writes:
“Charlie is doing fantastic! He has so much more energy and actually likes to take walks around the yard now. We are so grateful for everything you and your staff did for Charlie.”
If you would like to learn how we can help your pet with safe surgery and anesthesia, please contact us through www.HRVSS.com
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Phil Zeltzman, DVM, DACVS, CVJ, Fear Free Certified
Pete Baia, DVM, MS, DACVS