Hi - I've read quite a lot in the forums about both these topics, but I wanted to get some advice about our specific situation. Our dog Tess who is 3 1/2, had two small tumors on the inside of her right leg that looked like blood blisters. Our normal Vet, Vet A told us not to worry about them unless they burst and became a problem. They were on the surface of the skin. I was working at a horse ranch, and the horse vet out there saw them and told me to get them removed immediately. I then took Tess to another Vet who we will refer to as Vet B. Vet B removed the tumors and told us that they were level 1 tumors and that they got everything and not to worry.
Tess is a very active dog, and loves to run flat out. We take her to the park and she loves to chase a ball and she loves to swim. I had her at the park a week ago, and she acted normal the whole time. Once we got home, she laid on the couch and when she stood up, she refused to put any weight on her back left leg. This had happened about a month before also, but after a couple of hours she went back to normal. This wasn't the case this time. She favored it all that night. Now, my best friend is a Vet Tech who works for Vet A. He was over for the World Series that night, and Tess was clearly in pain. He checked her out and thought it best to get her into a vet if she continued to act that way. Over the next two days it didn't get any better, so I took her to Vet B.
That morning I had found a small marble size tumor on her chest. It isn't attached to anything, and seems to be free floating. I told Vet B about it. After testing with a needle, they told me it was a Mast Cell Tumor and that it should be removed. I agreed. As far as the leg was concerned, they couldn't tell what was up, so they wanted to put her out and do X-Rays. They told me that if something was wrong with the ACL, then there would need to be a second surgery to repair it. They also wanted to remove the mast cell tumor.
I thought that there should be other ways of telling what was wrong with her leg besides surgery. I wasn't really excited about putting her out twice for the same thing. I wanted to get a second opinion, so I took her to my normal Vet, Vet A. He put her on the table, and determined that she had an ACL tear that wasn't completely torn. He tested the tumor and said it was a Mast Cell Tumor. He then suggested that I go to another vet, a specialist in ACL work and have her do the surgery on the ACL and remove the mast cell tumor at the same time. This morning we went in to Vet A for blood work to see what we can find out about how aggressive the tumor is. There is only one tumor, so he thinks it's no big deal. Get it removed, keep her on Benadryl long term and hope for the best. He believes surgery is the best way to go. Since he gave her a shot and we started her on Rimadyl, she isn't favoring the leg as much. She walks a lot better, but when she sits, she puts her left leg out a bit.
Tess means the world to us. She was in our wedding, and she is terrific with our triplet boys who are 17 months old. I want to do the right thing. I don't mind paying for the ACL surgery, I just want to make sure it's the best avenue for her being healthy in the long run. Sorry this post is so long, but I thought it would be best to explain in as much detail as possible. Any opinions you have would be greatly appreciated.
Tess is a very active dog, and loves to run flat out. We take her to the park and she loves to chase a ball and she loves to swim. I had her at the park a week ago, and she acted normal the whole time. Once we got home, she laid on the couch and when she stood up, she refused to put any weight on her back left leg. This had happened about a month before also, but after a couple of hours she went back to normal. This wasn't the case this time. She favored it all that night. Now, my best friend is a Vet Tech who works for Vet A. He was over for the World Series that night, and Tess was clearly in pain. He checked her out and thought it best to get her into a vet if she continued to act that way. Over the next two days it didn't get any better, so I took her to Vet B.
That morning I had found a small marble size tumor on her chest. It isn't attached to anything, and seems to be free floating. I told Vet B about it. After testing with a needle, they told me it was a Mast Cell Tumor and that it should be removed. I agreed. As far as the leg was concerned, they couldn't tell what was up, so they wanted to put her out and do X-Rays. They told me that if something was wrong with the ACL, then there would need to be a second surgery to repair it. They also wanted to remove the mast cell tumor.
I thought that there should be other ways of telling what was wrong with her leg besides surgery. I wasn't really excited about putting her out twice for the same thing. I wanted to get a second opinion, so I took her to my normal Vet, Vet A. He put her on the table, and determined that she had an ACL tear that wasn't completely torn. He tested the tumor and said it was a Mast Cell Tumor. He then suggested that I go to another vet, a specialist in ACL work and have her do the surgery on the ACL and remove the mast cell tumor at the same time. This morning we went in to Vet A for blood work to see what we can find out about how aggressive the tumor is. There is only one tumor, so he thinks it's no big deal. Get it removed, keep her on Benadryl long term and hope for the best. He believes surgery is the best way to go. Since he gave her a shot and we started her on Rimadyl, she isn't favoring the leg as much. She walks a lot better, but when she sits, she puts her left leg out a bit.
Tess means the world to us. She was in our wedding, and she is terrific with our triplet boys who are 17 months old. I want to do the right thing. I don't mind paying for the ACL surgery, I just want to make sure it's the best avenue for her being healthy in the long run. Sorry this post is so long, but I thought it would be best to explain in as much detail as possible. Any opinions you have would be greatly appreciated.
