Toby Tenor

We are in a quandary. Toby has a 'bony' lump growing on his head. Tests so far are indeterminate. Further testing and surgery would cost over $6000 which is a problem with today's financial situation. Also, we are wondering if we should put an 11 year old dog through so much stress and trauma. He is perfectly healthy otherwise and completely unaware of the horn he is growing on his head . So, should we scrape up the money and do the surgery, or just let it run its course, knowing that we may have to have him put down if he starts to suffer from it. As I said, a real quandary.

Anita

aspen

OK, remember this is just my personal point of view, but considering his age & the tremendous cost of the testing, as long as he's not being bothered by it, I would wait & see what happens. I had an older cat who developed a mysterious lump on her side & I chose to give it more time rather than resort to expensive testing. After a few months it began to slowly get smaller until it was eventually gone.

bcc11

This is a very personal decision, but I can tell you how I handle my own elderly (13.5 years) Basset issues.

Chloe is becoming increasingly "lumpy" as time goes on. She has a large fatty tumor and is developing a number of sebaceous cysts. If the lumps are bothering her, then we take care of them -- but in the least invasive way possible. The fatty tumor is merely unsightly and doesn't bother her -- so it is left alone. I keep an eye on the cysts and if one ruptures (like one did today), I take her to the vet, have the area shaved, get her antibiotics and keep it clean. We COULD have her put under, have them remove the sac and stitch her up. But, she is old and I don't want to risk putting her under. With that in mind, I keep a close eye on her various lumps and if one looks "weird" (unusual shape) I have it removed. We did that six years ago and it turns out the lump was cancerous.

If Chloe was developing a horn, I would listen to the vet and if they were able to tell me that is was mostly a cosmetic issue and not a health issue, I would leave it alone. Then I would tell everyone that I had the first ever Unicorn Basset!

Best of everything!

Stephn

Hi
Did they do a needle aspiration?
Brandy my basset had a mammary tumor 2 years ago that was cancer that we removed and sense she was under they removed 3 other cyst all of this cost around $3000 so I am wondering where you live and why they are charging so much. We were at a specialist with an oncologist and a surgeon not at our regular vet. Tuesday I had my son take her in to the oncologist because we found a lump on her back and I was out of town, and didn't want to wait 2 weeks because the Dr was going out of town this week they did 2 needle aspirations 1 on the lump on her back and the other on leg a cyst that had been there for a bit. The leg cyst was just fat and the one on her back was caused by dead skin cells just a benign cyst. the oncologist and the surgeon both recommended leaving them alone unless they became infected or changed. She is 8 years old in April we had her teeth cleaned so she was put under for that but the lump wasn't there then. Last year she had a lump on her spleen it was benign removing it would be major surgery. Our Dr says Bassets are very prone to cyst some of her patients have them removed every time some wait for several to develope and remove them and others just leave them alone. She felt very confident this type of cyst on her back wouldn't develope into cancer so we are leaving it alone.
Stephanie

AmyB

I'd go with leaving it alone for now. At almost 13 yrs old, Spencer is very lumpy. He gets them checked regularly & his vet is of the mind that at his age, if they are not causing a problem, leave them be. It just so happens he has a cyst on his back (been there for years) that has been giving him problems for the last 6 months or so. It just won't stay healed & has been infected 3 times. So, that is getting removed this Wed. I'm a nervous wreck at the thought of him being put under at his age. Until it started acting up, I don't think Spencer even knew the cyst was there. I hope Toby's "horn" is harmless!

__________________
Amy, mom to
Sadie (ATB, 6/9/06) & Spencer (ATB, 8/19/10) - always in my heart
and Clifford (gotcha date 7/2/11).

2hounds

Both my boy Gibbs and my husband Bryan are lumpy. On Gibbs we leave them be, on the hubby we have them removed, bc I can handle a lumpy dog, but not a lumpy husband. :P

~Heather

__________________
Mommy to Gibbs and kitty kitty Eva

Dear sweet Lily (ATB ) you will never be forgotten.

Toby Tenor

thanks for the input. Toby's lump is not the usually fatty lipoma that old dogs get. This seems to be bone - at least it is as hard as bone, growing on the top of his head on the right side. Just have to hope for the best.