This is a follow-up to a previous blog with the same title:
Sometimes, we remove a mass that was believed to be cancer, but the biopsy shows that it was perfectly benign.
Here 2 more actual patients we recently treated.
Delilah and the evil skin masses
Delilah, a 12 year old Basset hound, had several ugly, fist-sized, oozing, non-healing masses all over her body.
I had a heart-to-heart with Delilah’s owners. Despite the fear of cancer, and despite her age (12 years), this was a quality-of-life issue.
Living with infected, smelly, leaky skin masses was not pleasant for anybody involved.
The owners truly loved their dog, and opted for surgery.
Delilah did great through surgery and came out of anesthesia smoothly.
About a week later, the biopsy showed that the masses were all trichoepitheliomas, which are perfectly benign.
Moose and the weird neck mass
Moose, a 5 year old, 105 pound Great Dane, had a bizarre mass in his neck.
Different theories emerged: skin cancer, or even thyroid cancer.
This owner was concerned about his age based on the life expectancy in this breed.
But she loved her dog and wanted to give him every chance.
So we removed the mass.
Moose went through surgery and anesthesia with flying colors.
About a week later, the biopsy showed that the mass was a lipoma, which is a perfectly benign fatty tumor.
Now, of course, all of these masses could absolutely have been cancerous. In fact, they were supposed to be.
Except that they weren’t.
Can you imagine if these owners had believed the worst possible theory, and had chosen to ignore the masses?
Or, worse, if they had put their older pet to sleep?
Thankfully, they didn’t.
They knew the odds, but their love for their pet made them take a chance rather than give up.
Their reward was a healthy, happy pet with more years to share unconditional love.
If you would like to learn how we can help your pet with cancer surgery and safe anesthesia, please contact us through www.HRVSS.com.
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Phil Zeltzman, DVM, DACVS, CVJ, Fear Free Certified