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Don't Take Lumps on Your Pets for Granted |
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November 2005
- Eliot Kaplan, DVM -
Last month, I saw three patients with lumps on their limbs. They were all similar cases in that the lumps were present for over 6 months. The owners did not think that the lumps were a problem because they were freely moveable and did not bother the patients, and they all turned out to be malignant cancers that had now grown so large, limb amputation had to be done to cure the cancers.
I found all these cases frustrating because if a veterinarian was made aware of the presence of the lumps early on, a diagnosis could have been made and the lumps removed when still fairly small. Amputation would not have been necessary. A 'wait and see' attitude was reckless and put the pets through trauma and the owners through expense that could have been avoided. I have seen worse cases though, in which it was too late to do anything to effectively treat the cancer because the owners waited so long to present the patient to a veterinarian, the cancer had been allowed to spread to other areas of the body.
Cancer in our pets is like cancer in us-.early intervention increases the chances of a cure. A veterinarian should evaluate even a small lump that shows up. A technique known as a fine needle aspirate can often be utilized. This is a procedure in which a small needle is inserted into a lump to obtain a cell sample. It is a quick, easy, and relatively painless and inexpensive way to determine whether the lump should be removed sooner rather than later. Otherwise, you could be playing Russian roulette with the life or limb of your pet. |
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