Can histiocytomas be painful? There's one on my baby's front leg, right up the leg from his pads. Sometimes he'll tear around the house, then suddenly cry out and hold his leg up until I come and rub it better for him. I know it's not a sprain or anything cause he never limps on it. I'm thinking it gets stretched and the skin gets enflamed and it's like a little shock for a moment.
I know it's a histiocytoma because we had it tested at the vet. They said it should go away in time, but how do I get this thing to go away a little quicker? I hate thinking that it hurts him. Any ideas?
Not much to do to make it go away sooner. Leah has had several. It seemed like when she'd tear it open and make it bleed did the histio start to go down sooner than later. I wouldn't have surgery on it. It will go away. The longest one Leah had was about 8 weeks. She had one on a front leg, rear hind end, her side. She had one in the same spot you are referring to. I ended up surgically removing that one because it was looking too much like a MCT. In the end it was a histiocytoma and I could've saved a lot of money. Oh well.
Remember, a vet can't be 100% certain that it's a histiocytoma unless it's removed and diagnosed by histology. Yes, you can usually tell a difference in some cases a MCT versus a histiocytoma, but not always. A needle aspirate can indicate what it might be or what it might not be. Keep a close eye on it and give it a reasonable amount of time to go away.
Almost forgot: Yes, I suppose a histiocytoma can be painful. The spot where your pups bump is might hurt when running or bumping it hard.
Good luck and hope it goes away soon!
