My ol' boy has some real monsters that have grown over the last few years. He's 11.5 years old. I'll bet one is bigger than a football and the other approaching the size of a kids football. Left and right abdomen area.

I had thought Labs only live 10 or 11 years, so i played it cool for a while, but even now, he seems so up like sometimes. Particularly if the word "biscuit" is mentioned. Lately he's been moaning when laying down. Now mind you, it's not crying. And frankly, I get the same sound when I rub his ears and I know he loves that. But still, I'd convinced myself that he's not as comfortable as he could be, and I scheduled removal for Tuesday.

Anyone here ever had fatty tumors removed from a Lab? I hear they're common. Hopefully that helps him walk and maneuver, and to feel more comfortable in general. But there is a risk in any surgery, and it's not cheap.

Any thoughts or experience are welcome here. Thanks all.

We have a 6 year old lab who has recently had a couple show up. They are both pretty small still at a little smaller than my thumbnail. I am curious to see other responses.

Oh wow. I would certainly consult with your vet about getting those removed.

All of my various labs and lab mixes have had a few fatty tumors show up throughout their lives, but none ever got any larger than ~1", and most were smaller.

Two football sized tumors sounds quite abnormal, and they're almost certainly uncomfortable and possibly debilitating.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
Oh wow. I would certainly see about getting those removed.

All of my various labs and lab mixes have had a few fatty tumors show up throughout their lives, but none ever got any larger than a quarter or a ping pong ball, and most were much smaller.

Two football sized tumors sounds quite abnormal, and they're almost certainly uncomfortable and possibly debilitating.

I'd ask your vet.
My Aussie, almost 9 has had one a little smaller than my thumb for a year or two. The vet said to keep an eye on it but not to worry if its free floating under the skin and doesn't start getting bigger.
Yours sound like they are much larger so I'd get it checked out.

my Australian cattle dog had two or three. Vet said the same as mentioned here. Grew and I decided to have them removed. Went well. She lived a long time after that. Never came back. But Football size, yikes. Her's were ping pong ball size max. I cannot imagine something that size being removed. Labs are bigger but.

I don't think I've ever had a Lab that didn't have them. My 9 year old has had one on top of his head for a couple of years.

Yeah, they're big alright. To be clear, he is scheduled for surgery Tuesday. Hopefully it'll go well.

This is the smaller one. The other side is much bigger. Behind the front leg.

quote:

Originally posted by r0gue:
Yeah, they're big alright. To be clear, he is scheduled for surgery Tuesday. Hopefully it'll go well.

This is the smaller one. The other side is much bigger. Behind the front leg.

That’s the small one? Jeebus. I’m shocked that he hasn’t had breathing problems a long time ago.

We just had a large (grapefruit size) fatty lipoma removed from behind our 9.5 year-old Golden Retriever's front leg. I assume your vet already performed a biopsy and determined its non-malignant.

If so, the surgery is pretty straightforward. Our Golden's lipoma was actually attached to two others (silver dollar size) that were in the same tissue pocket, all of which were removed. The surgery took 90 minutes and making sure the dog doesn't lick the surgical scar/site is important. She was on a pain med for 5 days and an antibiotic for 2 weeks. Physical activity was limited to bathroom trips for 12 days, then slowly going longer distances.

Best wishes to your pup for a speedy recovery and hopefully he will act years younger like my Golden once the recovery period is completed.

My Basset had a large one on her lower back, about the size of a softball. It didn't bother her for years until all of a sudden she started acting very sick and it burst. The vet drained, cleaned and removed it and she was fine for many years later.

We've always had labs & almost all had some fatty tutors as they aged. None as big as that though. Our current male has had a pretty large one on his abdomen for some time, and one on his hind leg, which has been growing recently. He's over 13 years old & no way am I putting him through surgery.

Lipomas are fairly commonplace, and Labs (aka God's Chosen Breed-it's in Revelation) are exceptional at growing them.

If your vet recommends preoperative bloodwork, do it. The person who said age isn't a disease was probably in his 20's, and as we age things start to slip a bit. If all looks good, I would proceed. The surgery is straightforward and recovery generally is complete within 2 weeks. Keep that %&*# elizabethan collar on!!!!

We had one of similar size removed from our Husky a few years back; he was about 8 years old. He was a rescue, and we didn't know if it had developed in one year or eight, so off it went.

Some of it was too far below the muscles, so the vet couldn't get it all. It is growing back very-very slowly.

He healed up perfectly fine and is far more comfortable-acting now. If necessary, I'd have it done again without question.

Had a large lipoma in our English retriever removed about 4 months ago. It was under and behind her front leg. There are 2, maybe the size of a half dollar but low profile and just under the skin. We monitor them but they haven't really grown in size.

The large one that was removed started small but grew pretty rapidly and then sort of stayed at that size (about the size of a tennis ball) vet didn't think surgery was a great idea due to her age (11 years).

She then started having trouble walking due to the growth interfering with normal movement. Vet aging didn't think it was too much to be concerned with considering the age.

Then it got really bad, lots of stumbling and falling on our wood floors, we thought the end was near for her. Went to another vet and he said the lipoma was possibly intertwined with the nerve and was definitely restricting blood flow to her whole front leg. I forget the term but it was pretty serious and would require amputation if surgery was unsuccessful due to nerve issues. Of course amputation wasn't an option because of her age and arthritis.

The Vet cut the mass out and said it was ugly; intermingled with her ribs, etc. Thought it might be cancerous.

Two weeks later, lab results confirmed it was not cancer, thank God. We now give her Adequan Injections and they have really turned back the clock for her.

One of my Tollers had one about the size of a dinner plate removed when I think he was ten. Made a big difference in his mobility even though he wasn’t in pain.

quote:

Originally posted by 1s1k:
That’s the small one? Jeebus. I’m shocked that he hasn’t had breathing problems a long time ago.

I hear ya. The vet has monitored them all along since when they were small and said they were in a perfect place to not cause trouble with mobility. Though I do believe maybe the last year or two, balance on stairs has been poor. Never fell down, but I can tell going down stairs is somewhat troublesome. Some of that is eyesight though, definitely. But maybe a some attributable to this. We'll find out.

quote:

Originally posted by Dakor:
I assume your vet already performed a biopsy and determined its non-malignant.

I don't know about biopsies. Probably. My wife takes him to the vet, and I can't recall if she mentioned it as they came up so very long ago. But the vet is confident they're fatty tumors and as they've been around for so many years, I believe she's right.

quote:

Originally posted by Ironbutt:
...he's over 13 years old & no way am I putting him through surgery.

I was kind of getting there with my pup at 9 and 10 years old thinking, and hearing, Labs sometimes don't get much past 10. Now he's past 11. But he's so damn young in so many ways. If recovery is just 5 days for the worst of the hassle of bathroom and collar/cones, and 2 or 3 weeks and mostly better, it'll be well worth it for the enjoyment of a more mobile, less burdened pup.

quote:

Originally posted by r0gue:

quote:

Originally posted by Ironbutt:
...he's over 13 years old & no way am I putting him through surgery.

I was kind of getting there with my pup at 9 and 10 years old thinking, and hearing, Labs sometimes don't get much past 10. Now he's past 11. But he's so damn young in so many ways. If recovery is just 5 days for the worst of the hassle of bathroom and collar/cones, and 2 or 3 weeks and mostly better, it'll be well worth it for the enjoyment of a more mobile, less burdened pup.

We have an old no-nonsense country vet. Two or three years ago if he'd have recommended surgery I probably would've had it done. But my old guy is really showing his age the last couple years, and we just do our best to keep him as active & as comfortable as we can, without alot of drama.

We've always had labs, and we always have an old one & a young one. Having a young one sort of eases the pain when the old one crosses that rainbow bridge. We've had one make it to 14 years old, but only a couple got past the age of 12.

Best wishes to all y’all with elderly fur friends. Such wonderful gifts.

My 12 year old Catahoula is getting 'lumpy' too. My vet is not too worried about them at this point and I think he is pretty much implying that something else will get the dog before we have to worry about them.

good luck with your lab. I hope all goes well. Dogs are one of my vices, I love 'em. We just rescued a 5 year old female fox hound. With my work I get to meet folks dogs most days and it is probably one of the best things about my work.

quote:

Originally posted by SIGnified:
Best wishes to all y’all with elderly fur friends. Such wonderful gifts.

They really are. My old guy has been my constant companion since ehe was a pup. I'm not allowed to do anything without his help. I think all labs believe that humans aren't capable of doing even the most minor task without their supervision. Here's an old pic that my wife took of Gunny. He was all worried because I had the nerve to leave in the pickup without him. That's not allowed.