I'm a bad Dog Mommy!

[Kim Rule]

Yesterday I got fed up with my dog Ash bringing in tons of dirt. He is a Border Collie/Keeshund mix, and he has the long coat of a Border Collie, mixed with the undercoat of the Keeshund. He lays in a dirt hole for quite a bit of time, and then brings in the dirt. You can tell where he lays in the house, because of the pile of dirt when he walks away!

So, Yesterday I shaved him. Figured he'd be cooler anyway.

And I found lumps.

He has a golf ball size lump on his chest on his right side, right next to where his foreleg starts. He has a lump the size of a large lemon on his rib cage on his left side. He has a smaller lump on his throat. I feel the start of lumps elsewhere on his body, and if you look at his shoulders, they are lopsided, so something may be brewing there.

He is overweight, but active, chasing around our lab.

Ash will be 10 years old in October.

I can't afford to take him to the vet and have those lumps biopsied. If he has cancer, there is no way I can afford the treatment. He may be too far gone to help anyway.

Ash's quality of life is good, he seems generally happy, and active. He sleeps a lot, but then he'll go out and start chasing the lab.

I feel like the only thing I can do is make sure he has a good, active life, and then have him put down humanely when he shows signs of being in pain, or the quality of his life begins to decline.

I don't know what else to do....

Kim R.

 

[stormo41]

Hi there Kim.

My parents have friends who had a springer spanial who was over wight and had lumps all over her body. I can't remember what is was called but it was a skin condtion that did not affect the dogs life at all.

i would take your dog to a vet though just to be sure.

 

[Charlene]

depending on how close you shaved him, be sure you protect him from sunburn. double coats serve two purposes, to protect from cold as well as insulate from heat.

as for the bumps, they are likely just "fatty" tumors. my siberian husky started getting lumpy in his old age but they were simply benign cysts. my female corgi has a few here and there. it's quite common in older dogs. i have maggie's checked every 6 months or so, my vet examines her and measures the bumps to see if they have grown. i've only had one removed from her back and it was years ago. they aren't even noticeable. don't jump to conclusions! at his age, i suspect these are just cysts and won't cause any problems.

i hear ya about the dirt though!!!! i trim my corgis' belly hair because we live on sand and it's SO humid here, there is ALWAYS dew on the grass. they'll get their bellies wet and then run through the sand and it always ends up in the house. bleh!

 

[Sonya]

I agree with Charlene about the lumps, my lab has numerous fatty tumors. They hurt nothing, just unsightly, especially if they get large. Usually smaller lumps are the ones you have to worry about, wart looking, those can be mast cell tumors (my lab has had mast cell twice). To ease your mind you could have one needle aspirated, it usually only costs about $15 for that. They just pierce the needle into the tumor and pull out cells, there usually isn't any blood, vet will check it under microscope and can tell you right there if it's something to worry about. Even with mast cell, it wasn't all that expensive, biggest cost was having it removed, even just a small wart like thing, they take lots of muscle with it. Brutus was on prednisone (dog chemo) basically for about 4 months after that, but we did find it early so that was good. If we didn't find Brutus's so early, it would of not been that easy.

 

[Miniv]

I also agree that they are probably "fatty tumors"........ Ever single large dog we have owned or our families have owned has gotten them as they got older. They don't cause any pain. They are just there.

 

[Kim Rule]

Thanks, I hope they are just fatty lumps, not what I fear. He's such a cool dog...though he keeps following me around, wanting me to put the hair back!

Kim R.

 

[Whitestar]

I agree with the others, fat dogs have fatty lipomas, they are usually not cancer. They can get large enough though that they will rub & turn into a weeping ulcer. Frankly there isnt a whole lot you can do ( unless you have loads of money & then it is iffy) even if they were cancer. So just love him, put him on a diet ( for his overall health) & give him the best life possible!

 

[bingo]

We could all guess what they could be online without seeing the dog. I do think it is best to find a way to take him to a vet most office visits are not that expensive and I think before I left it to just do what it will I would sure get a vets opinion.

 

[Indian*R*A*I*N*Dance]

I have a lab and she (12yrs old) has a couple of lumps, there nothing when it comes to the lumps on her but if your really concerned then have the vet check it out.

 

[Sonya]

I agree with the others, fat dogs have fatty lipomas

My dog is not even fat and has them, he is actually alittle underweight, done on purpose to help his arthritis.

 

[Aunt_SunQuest]

Kim please give Wilma or Nila a call as Wilma had to deal with Mutti's dog and Brandy with the fatty lumps. she will know about the diet for the llump. Wish you luck with them.

 

[fowlersminis]

I have three dogs over 10 years old, and all three have lumps. I've had to have some of them removed, just because they got so large they were bothering them. My vet says, if you can "get your fingers "around" the lump and move it around, then it's probably just a fatty tumor." My golden/lab mix recently had a HUGE lump on the head of her tail that we had to have removed. Up to now, the vet had always thought it was just fat. But when she got in there, she thought it looked like cancer.

We never had it biopsied for the same reason you're not...we wouldn't put her through chemo anyway. However, that was months ago and nothing has grown back yet (knock on wood!) and she's acting just fine. She's old and slow and I'm sure something will get the best of her in the end, but for now she's happy, and glad to have that huge blob removed! It was getting in the way when she sat down. So I agree with the others...probably just fatty tumors. And you're not a "bad dog mommy" because I shave my golden/lab mix every summer. She looks ridiculous, but she's much happier with the hot weather.

She actually gets more frisky after she's shaved. Good luck with your senior citizen

 

[Kim Rule]

Thanks Karen, I'll give Nila a call. It's been three days, and Ash is still miserable...he's not happy with the clip job! But, on the other hand, he did bring his ball for me to throw when the lab wasn't looking! Maybe he is getting friskier!

Kim R.

 

[mininik]

Here's something that I haven't seen brought up yet. Besides fatty tumors, fat dogs are also prone to arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, liver and kidney problems, etc. Not only do I recommend a trip to the vet, I also recommend a diet for your pup. Good luck!