Guinevere has a tumor on her ear!
Two weeks ago, I noticed a lump on my female puppies ear. Ive inspected it to see if it was a cyst of some kind, but it didn't look like it and it didn't smell like an infection. So I thought it was a wart ( :-X) but have been keeping a very close eye on it. Then it started looking funky this weekend. It seemed to get bigger and developed a brownish spot on it. So I scheduled an appointment for her. It turns out its a tumor! I'm supposed to measure it for the next two weeks and see if it grows. If it grows, she has to have it removed to test wether or not it is malignant...I kinda don't want to take any chances and want it removed wether or not it grows...The operation is about 400.00 which will make things tight but I COULD manage it- not really an issue of the money to me. But if its benign, is wrong of me to put Guiny through the operation? Its not very big...somewhere between the size of a pea and a marble. Should I measure in millimeters? centimeters? Inches seem too inaccurate...
I'd measure in the smallest units you have - go with millimeters. Other than that I don't have a lot of advise, just empathy. I'm really sorry to hear your news. If good vibes are healing, expect some incoming energy from California.
Our dog 'Boots' had something similar on his back, between his shoulders. I found it one night while petting him & my heart sank. His was about the size of a marble. First thing the next morning, I called the vet & the he said that in Boots' case, he didn't think it was malignant & that he would prefer to remove it & send it for testing. Of course I agreed & BooBoo had his operation. He went in at 8:30am & home by 11:30am, albeit a very dopey, drunk dog. It turned out to be benign :D The peace of mind that it gave me was well worth the cost of the surgery.
Also, if Guiny's is growing quickly, I'd keep track of it in millimeters.
Kisses for Guinevere :-*
:-[ I hope it's not malignant!
If it's not cancer, and you don't think she will scratch it or get it caught on anything, it might be OK to keep it on. I would be safe and have it removed, if she were my baby, though.
Yeah, I think if it doesn't show signs of disappearing after the two weeks that I am going to have it removed. She was such a good little girl at the vets. When the vet needed to feel around her tummy, the tech and vet started to try to roll her together and I said, "Hang on a minuet...Bang!!Bang!" and Guinever dropped right over and feigned dead, belly up....the vet and tech laughed so hard....
My vet also okayed my doggies to go vegetarian...she recommended a brand called Natural Balance, but I understand that vets have certain companies they are supposed to push...heres a link to their site. http://www.naturalbalanceinc.com/dogformulas/Vegetarian.html If any of you have tried or have a brand you like, please let me know! I will admit that I think it would be MORE ideal for them to eat meat, but I just don't think I should allow other animals to be killed so my babies can live if they can be sustained on a vegetarian diet. You know?
Might want to read this thread...
http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=14595.0
I had fed my dog, Toby, regular commercial dog food for his first 5 years and when I learned from Vegweb (Davedrum's passion about it, especially got my attention :)) what was really in the stuff and how bad these so-called "good" dog foods really were, I ordered the book Davedrum suggested and also started feeding Innova and Evo dog foods. Toby had been about 20 lbs overweight even though we lived on 20 acres, he had free roam of the place, and I didn't think I was overfeeding him. I saw an almost immediate difference within the first three days. His skin was less "tight" and swollen/bloated looking. He lost about 12 lbs in the first couple, maybe three weeks. I swear he got a spark back in his eyes, too, that I hadn't realized was not there for so long until I noticed it back!! (stupid, stupid me!! :()Also, what brought this up, was that he had developed a black growth on the top one of his paws that was growing over the past many months. Within the first couple of weeks it was completely gone! Just a tiny black spot left, no growth. I was amazed and very excited about it as I had been wondering whether to take him in and have it tested. Anyway, I'm certainly no expert, but I am a firm believer that the change in his diet to the all natural meat (yes I hate that animals die, but at this point I don't feel like I can justify nature's role in giving him short intestines as a true carnivore, unlike us humans- but that's just me), with no chemicals, hormones, or grain as fillers, has helped tremendously. Those who are dedicated enough to prepare their own pets' food at home really have my admiration and I bet they see even better results from their pets' natural-like diets.
Davedrum has lots of dog experience. Maybe he'll drop in. ?? Sorry for the ramble.... ::)
(((((Sending positive energy your way for miss Guinevere))))))
I know when it comes to my babies I always err on the side of caution. I think if it were me I would have the doctor go ahead and remove it...better to be safe. I hope your puppy is feeling better soon. Give her some lovies for me. :)
Sorry, not to say you shouldn't have it checked out, too. Just suggesting that diet could possibly be a culprit. I'd try switching her over to an all-natural diet in the two weeks you're waiting just to see if it helps any. :)
yeah see, i was worried about that too. Lots of times tumors are caused by environmental factors.I don't keep chemicals in my house. We clean with baking soda and vinegar...That leaves food, pretty much. Before I got my two dogs I really researched dog diets and decided there was NO WAY i wanted them eating the crap thats in commercial dog food. I mean, dogs are just not built to digest corn or wheat...not to mention all the other junk in the foods...and some of the companies (iams for one) has really deplorable animal testing. I also thought that a vegetarian diet seemed unnatural. Which left homcooking.
So for their first several months I home cooked their food. (yes including the meat :-X )then I started supplementing with California Natural. Which containers all human ingredients; lamb or chicken and brown rice. But D'Artagnon started getting too thin and having lose stools. My vet is very anti home-cooked food. She told me to put them on a"cheap commercial dog food" to fatten him up. So I did and he HAS regained the weight and just has more energy....
But I still hate the dog food...I use Purina. And the recalls have only made it worse. One day when we were out of dog food, I cooked up some tofu, veggies and enriched rice for them. I anticipated that D'artagnon would get lose stools and seem less active, but he did great! I know that one days worth of feeding wont indicate if it is truly a workable diet for them, but I think I want to try it...and maybe I will decide to feed them some meats, but have a vegan food make up a large part of the meal. I figure that even if they consume 50% less meat then it will reduce their impart on farmed animals. I'm also considering the option of buying deer meat from a hunter my sister knows. But then Id have to buy a freezer...its just that I'm thinking that it willprovide more meals than a single,chicken, for example...there are low incidences of allergies to venison and at least the animal will have lived most of its life int eh wild instead of in a cage.....but then, Id be even more responsible for another animals death....like "murder for hire"....
I love dogs very much, but in many, many years- after Guin and D'art have passed on- I don't know if I will get any more carnivorous animals...
Somehow I missed this post (think I was too busy reading some of the kooky posts I love here...which are now gone.. :-\)....
Anyway.....
There can be so many reasons why Guinevere has a tumor. None of which you can go back and fix or control. I would have it removed if I felt it was the right thing to do. Is it hard? Is it soft and just feel like it's filled with fluid? One of my German Shepherds, Star had one on his ankle recently. I know that he has been eating a great diet for years and that he has a very very strong immune system. A strong immune system is the first line of defense in fighting disease.I decided to leave it alone and do nothing. It opened up on it's own, and the blood and puss drained out of it. All I did was rub tea tree oil on it and a little antibiotic. It's just about gone and healing very quickly. I do know that if I went to a traditional vet, they would have removed it (or drained it with a needle which can cause infection), given him antibiotic shots, pills, and maybe even steroids (those vets love steroids for dogs).
If the tumor is hard and changing, again, yes, have it removed. AS for your dogs health....I would highly reccomend the best "meat based" diet you can afford to feed. There are many posts and many threads here where some of the top brands have been mentioned. You were talking about Venison, Nature's Variety does have a Venison kibble that I feed from time to time. For right now, if they were my dogs, I'd feed them an organic raw diet (also from Nature's Variety). All of the dogs I have, or rescue that have health issues get a raw diet. My dogs King and Kara have been on NV raw for some time and will be for life. Those are the two that really need to be, and just have weaker immune systems then the rest of my "pack" or "herd" whatever you want to call them. My 2nd and 3rd strongest advice....NEVER give them a vaccine again. My dogs each had one round of shots (some had more before I knew any better) and that's it......no more vaccines for the rest of their lives...including Rabies...I have just as much of a chance of getting bit by a rabid bat, raccoon, or fox as they do, yet I am not subjected by law to get a yearly rabies shot.....lot's of info on that topic on the net, and the scam that it is. Last, no flea, tick, or heartworm crap....ever. Just feed a good food, give them garlic, and make up some simple sprays, with neem, citronella, lemon, mint, etc. and they will stay bug free.
firefightress,
Thanks for writing that! :) It's really nice to know that something I wrote and shared made a difference in your pet's life (or with any pets on this board). I am SO glad you read that book and got the samething out of it that I did, and that it changed your view of proper pet nutrition and care. For those that are newer to the board.....The book is The Nature of Animal Healing by Dr. Martin Goldstein. If you have a pet, it might be the most important book you could ever read. It will also serve as a reference manual for so many issues that come up in your pets over their lifetime and I am constantly seeking out the advice and remedies in the book.
Good Luck with her, I'm sure she'll be fine. Also remember....there are no shortage of Vet's out there...2nd, 3rd, 4th, etc. opinions count. If you don't feel 100% positive in your heart that what your vet's approach and solution to the problem at hand is.....move on. Always trust your gut and your heart. At least that's what I do. I know that I control my dog's lives and fates when it comes to making decisions sometimes, so it's something I take very seriously.
Keep us posted.
-dave
I agree with Dave, see another vet for a second opinion, it might save an operation. I wish i had 3 years ago when I lost my dearest friend Dexter(he was only 7) . You think you can trust 'Vets' because you think they must be right , so if in doubt move on. I shall send you and your baby some loving energy (it's a long way from Germany) , please keep positive and take care.
The big old lump on her ear disappeared! It just vanished. Now there is a big lump on the papillion at work...like the size of a bressle sprout...on a papillion! They wont take her to the vet...I'm mad! >:(
Davedrum, maybe it was in another post, but you said to put (raw) meat in a bowl and fresh veggies in another to see what my dogs liked...well I have finally tried something similar. I gave them vegetarian dog food blended with their meat dog food....they actually ate all the veg and spit out the meaty kibble. I tried a kibble of the veg dog food and it tasted SO plain. I guess they do wan to be vegetarians. My plan was to blend it to give them some of each and slowly work some of the veg food into their diets (I don't want my dogs 100% veg) but they just keep wasting the Purina...go figure. I'm feeding avoderm...
The big old lump on her ear disappeared! It just vanished.
I'm feeding avoderm...
VegHeadZealia,
That is so great to hear! Avoderm is awesome! I do use it (not the veggie one), but it is a great food for their skin and coat.
No vaccines, no flea and tick crap, no heartworm crap, and a great diet, will build up your dog's immune system. It's ALWAYS better for your dogs to fight things off from within!
Purina=death.....lots and lots of it is made in Gainesville, GA (where bookmama and bookpapa live...close to where I live as well). Most of their foods (including Purina One) are made of feet, claws, beaks, feathers, and so on. The FDA and the AAFCO standards for what can be considered to be called "chicken, beef, etc" is so very very low when it comes to pet food. Keep feeding a good diet and you WILL see a difference. It won't keep everything at bay (such as whatever is still trying to beat down my Kara), but it will help them fight things off, and cure things that pop up from time to time on their own....
Good news.....is just that....good news! :)
-dave
I'm so glad her lump went away.
My labX has a history of Mast Cell rumors... we were told to watch hers as well for a bit. Unfortunately for us, it didn't go away. We had it removed last year. So far so good.
While diet does have some to do with it..there's so much more..enviornmental, genetic etc.
Dave, I'm telling you, I'm one of the biggest supporters of a diet as close to natural as possible. You may or may not have seen my posts about this int eh past. But when I got my two I did research for months before hand on what to feed them. I finally settled on a home cooked diet. I followed sound veterinary advice on what foods to feed and in what quantities. When D'Artagnon got sick nd started losing weight I started supplementing with California Natural. California Natural is great brand. All the ingredients are human grade (well, we all know how that goes...) and only has brown rice and chiken/lamb in it. None of this corn filler crap. But D'Art kept losing weight so I took him to the vet. She said his diet was to blame and to put him on something "cheap" in order to help him gain weight. After he gained the weight back I asked her about switching them back to a good diet. (Keep in mind that I was already totally mortified at the idea of feeding crap foods like Purina before the food scare started!) But my vet said it just wasn't going to work for D'artagnon. Haha, Ive been looking for a way back to fresh cooking sense then.
As for the vaccines...We have to have our pets vaccinated in the city or we will be fined. The heart worm is optional, but this area gets it a lot. Also, the tick/flea dip Id only use if my dogs had more than a few. I had a cocker spaniel as a kid (we lived in the same neighborhood I live in now) and there was an infestation of ticks at all teh homes around ours. My parents didn't not want to use the tick dip because 1. They had kids 2. Abby (the dog) was lactating. So they tried just pulling them. It got so bad that my parents brought the last puppy we had to the Pound to get her away from the ticks. That night we tried to give Abby a tick bath but she died in our hands...the ticks got into her blood stream and killed her. Her puppy, Destiny, was featured on the evning news and was adopted the next day...just so you guys know...(not that it makes it okay, my parents should have had her spayed before.)
But yeah...totoally hearing you on teh healthy diet thing. I hate Purina. I just know its bad for them.
Purina=death.....lots and lots of it is made in Gainesville, GA (where bookmama and bookpapa live...close to where I live as well).
Ah, yes. The good-old Poultry Capital of the World, complete with a chicken statue on a pedastal in a small park. :P ::)
EDIT: Actually, I think it's a rooster, but we never call it that because that gives the statue too much dignity. The statue was once replaced with a more modern, stylized statue and the town was up in arms. The original statue has come back to roost (pun intended). :D
As for the vaccines...We have to have our pets vaccinated in the city or we will be fined.
Are you sure that ALL vaccines are required? I know Rabies shots are required pretty much everywhere (though that's another scam).....you have just as much chance of getting rabies as your dogs do...though you are not required to get a yearly vaccine.....Is that a written law where you reside or were just told that by your vet?
Some good reading regarding vaccines:
http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/petvacc.htm
You should also read about the dangers of heartworm meds on the site as well.....just another scam. Some food for thought......millions and millions of dogs take monthly heartworm preventatives...yet the instances of dogs getting heartworm are no different then they were 20 years ago. The only thing that has changed are the profits for the vets, the pharmaceutical companies...and oh yeah...all the poor dogs forced to take this crap by their owners.....their immune systems pay for it big time....Heart worms are only dangerous to a dog with a weakened immune system...like one that gets yearly vaccines, gets monthly flea and tick crap put on them, and takes monthly heart worm preventatives. :o
My own dogs are living proof.....they are all heart worm free...down here in the South East. A good diet, and a life free from chemicals, vaccines and pesticides does wonders....you can almost say that I have my own little "test case study" in progress....so far all the previous vets that warned me years ago that my dogs needed to be on all of that stuff....well they're all wrong...every single one of them ;)
More reading regarding heart worm preventatives and flea and tick preventatives:
http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/avictim.htm