Pete had his lumpectomy yesterday. There were a total of three lumps she pulled out. On one side, it pretty much fell right out. On the other, it was under the muscle structure and a harder task. A total of 7.5 pounds of fat removed! She said it was very obviously fatty tissue and not actually a tumor, so she actually said a biopsy was unnecessary.

We visited last night and it was just the saddest thing. He was all wrapped in gauze with the cone of shame around his neck. He was whining. I scrunched into the prison pen of a recovery space. We were able to remove the collar while we were with him and we spent probably 40 minutes or so. He wouldn't eat or drink. I think he was still fairly stoned. He got up and walked a tiny bit, which I allowed to see how he was able to ambulate.

It was TOUGH leaving him last night, and I'm sure so much tougher for him to spend that night alone. We recovered the floor with the blankets and got him in and I think calm, but I probably should have brought him home. We pick him up at 10am. My daughter is staying home from school to help my wife. I have to work -- unavoidable.

He's perhaps better than I expected at this point, and yet still a mess. I really hope he recovers quickly, as I feel VERY guilty at the moment.

You shouldn't feel guilty. You made a decision that was in his best interest, and will improve his overall health. And, he probably has experienced a 10% weight loss with the removal of those fatty tumors! He'll recover soon enough to his old tail waggin' self and be more spry for his age as a result.

Such a good looking boy! Hoping for a quick recovery with lots of treats, love and cuddles.

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
he probably has experienced a 10% weight loss with the removal of those fatty tumors!

Yep! 9% reduction. He was 84 pounds before.

I had a 85# Labrador Retriever that lived to 16 1/2 YO...Barring any other health issues, your ol' boy still has quite a few years of tail waggin' and 'biscuits' ahead of him!

I have a 12 year old German Shepherd with a growth the size of a large mango on his rear leg. I took him to a veterinary surgeon who did blood tests and x-rays to determine if my dog was a candidate for surgery. The x-rays revealed a large growth in his chest and another large growth in his abdomen. The doctor said that surgery was not an option due to the internal masses. Otherwise, the external growth could be removed because it was not growing within any muscles. The doctor also said that my dog is susceptible to a spleen rupture due to the internal growth and will die from bleeding out. When I notice that my dog is having difficulty breathing, I should have him euthanized quickly.

Glad to hear it went well. Pearl and I are sending good thoughts for a quick and full recovery.

A little update. -- His wound drain comes out later today. Correction, they sent him home with it still in. They said it was still draining too much and was still too red.

He's moving around surprisingly good, wagging his tail for biscuits and in general he seems like he's going to be fine. He still whines a bit when he lays down, but I'm truly not 100% sure that some of that isn't for attention. Though I check the sleeve around him each time and it usually is tight on his leg, so I rejigger it for comfort and he doesn't whine much more. Could be that.

When I move the sleeve and take a peek, it seems he has a flap of skin that hangs below him from the absence of the absence of the tumor.

The "cone of shame". haha

This message has been edited. Last edited by: r0gue, February 04, 2023 10:10 AM

Sending virtual head rubs for Pete!

How’s the good boy doing?

He's doing really good! The drain is out. There's a little bump where the biggest tumor was that I expect is just swelling that will subside. He's moving and groovin pretty good. Still the occasional grown. I take the cone off when we're with him (TV etc). I think the stitches may come out Tuesday. I'll put up some pics when the shirt sleeve is off.

So glad we did this. A solid year overdue.

Glade to hear Rogue. Hope he is good to go for a long time.

not a lab but i had this one removed 2 years ago.

I'm soooo glad your senior furkid is doing better!!! Our Puli stopped eating and lost a lot of weight over a couple of months. He's a senior too (going to be 13 in a few weeks) and had dental issues, but I was afraid to have him treated since it would require general anesthesia. Two weeks ago, he we took the chance and he had five teeth extracted in addition to the thorough cleaning. He's doing so much better now and eating like a champ!!! Apparently the pain of eating is what drove his reluctance to eat. I wish I'd considered this possibility sooner.

Bottom line is: It's tough emotionally to put our furry family members through the risks and trauma of surgery, but doing so is usually the right thing to do. I wish I'd done this earlier and feel a lot of guilt for having put it off because of the risks.

Stitches out yesterday, and cone was off. But he wouldn't stop licking, so we put the cone back on.

While the black Lab has has a genetic disposition to get these tumors, which of course, is bad. They have evolved an incredible resiliency to regrow oddles of hair very quickly, which helps post-surgury. He's been training for this phase of the recovery for years!

We had some removed from our Lab(Pal). The vet wasn't worried about them other than that it hindered his gait.

Jim

quote:

Originally posted by r0gue:
They have evolved an incredible resiliency to regrow oddles of hair very quickly, which helps post-surgury.

Us, not so much...

What a fine looking fella!

Rogue, would you mind sharing how much the removal is costing you? My dog has one about that size but up on his shoulder, as well as maybe close to a dozen other smaller ones. The first couple of times they showed up I had them removed, but after that the vet quoted me what I believe was a "fuck off" price of 4k for the one big one removed, whereas the other smaller ones had been about 100$ a pop up to that point.

Jester814, I'm sorry I missed this question. $1,700 removed three tumors, included an overnight stay, all-in including cone-of-shame collar and everything. Then two follow up visits at $33 each.