We're trying to remain calm.......

[Kim Y]

Some of you may remember that Oscar hasn't been feeling well. We went to the vet on Friday and have a working diagnosis right now of colitis. As of late yesterday, Oscar has perked up and today he's about 90% back to his old pesty self. However, this morning Steve discovered a HUGE mass, midline, on the back of Oscar's neck, just above the shoulder blades. It's larger than a walnut but not quite the size of a tennis ball. I'm trying to remember if that's where the vet gave him an injection, but I don't think that's where it was and if so, would it take two days to swell like that?????

I could call the vet but I don't think this would really be deemed an emergency although Steve and I are freaking out right now. Any thoughts please?????? We've had so many bad things happening in our family lately and Oscar is our baby..........We're trying not to lose it.......

Thanks

 

[zac]

supporting you with thoughts

Hi Kim
I am new 2 the boxer site so i dont really know how it all works yet but after doing my first thread yesterday and finding out that i am not the only person who is obsessed with these wonderful dogs i feel i can b comftable and honest in my words when i say 2 u and Steve that we all know exactly what a nightmare u must b living right now. I would also like to point out tho that from everything i have read and witnessed about boxers on the whole , they never let anything beat them . Its their sheer determination and spirit which captures us all so i know Oscar will fight this 1 through as he has probably done many times b4 .

 

[Jan]

Dogs sometimes get lumps like that from vaccinations. They usually go away eventually. Was it a vaccination he had or was it an injection because of the colitis? It is also possible he was bitten by something. Either way it wouldn't hurt to talk to your vet about it. I would think it is an emergency though.

I hope Oscar is back to being 100 % soon.

 

[Kim Y]

Thanks, Jan. The lump is still huge and seems to enlarge if Oscar is running around, which makes me think it's fluid. The vet gave him an injection (I'm assuming it was Flagyl since that he was what he was sent home on) for the colitis. It seems rather high for an injection---although that was my first thought too. With everything that has been happening here, Steve and I are on edge to begin with. I'm trying to remain relatively calm about it, but with Steve losing it, it's tough to do. I agree that's not what I would deem an emergency, although it's difficult when Steve keeps saying "maybe you should call the vet" I can't wait until tomorrow when the vet is in (today--Monday--is a holiday here). My other thought was that he either injured himself or was bitten by some type of insect. We were gone for about an hour so that certainly is a possibility also.

Thanks again everyone. I'll let you know what I find out tomorrow.

 

[Sasha's Mom]

How's Oscar doing?

Kim, just wondering what the vet had to say about Oscar's lump.
Sasha had a lump like this . . . not quite as big, but in the same location. Our vet extracted fluid from it and the lab results were negative. We were told to keep an eye on it and if it didn't go away, we might consider surgery. Within a week or so, it was gone - big relief.

As for colitis, we're currently dealing with this too. There are some good threads on this board regarding this topic that you can find by performing a search for colitis or IBD. I think you will find the information very useful. I got some good ideas regarding treatment (and it really helps to know there are others out there dealing with the same thing you are).

Hoping all is well!

Susan
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[PawPrintBoxers]

Hot Compress

My advice is to take a heating pad, put it on low, and hold it on the bump. As well, massage the bump. If it is from the vaccinations, it is quite common and just means the serum has not dispursed into the body.

No worries

 

[Kim Y]

Thanks to everyone for your input and concern. Steve and I truly appreciate it. Unfortunately, the vet is pretty perplexed about the mass. It's about 6 cm in size. His feeling was the same as mine----initially thought of the injection but the timing, size, etc doesn't quite correlate with that. We're going to try an anti-inflammatory for a few days and see what happens. We go back on Friday and if it's not gone/decreased will probably do biopsy/aspiration, etc.

As for the colitis, Oscar is about 98% back to his old woo-woo self. I'm hoping that with strict control of his diet (won't be easy with my 1 y/o and 5 y/o grandbabies) we can keep the colitis at bay. I'm guessing that the colitis was brought on by a combination of the stress here and the fact he's receiving quite a few morsels from the children. Unfortunately, the night before he became ill, I was at golf and Steve shared his dinner with Oscar. He's been feeling incredibly guilty, poor guy. I reassured him that he was not totally at fault---it was a combination of everything.

Guess we have to remember that God doesn't give us more than we can handle. Keep us in your thoughts.

Thanks, again! You're a great group and I miss you.

 

[Kim Y]

Update

Thought I'd give an update on Oscar aka I-scare.

As of last evening, the mass on Oscar's neck has gone down considerably. I actually think it *broke* as he now has an oblong swelling beginning where the mass was located. The anti-inflammatories have helped considerably and it is now only raised about 1-2 cm whereas when it was a rounded mass, the vet estimated it to be 5 to 6 cm. I'm guessing he somehow injured himself when we were not looking. As for the colitis, that seems to have resolved completely.

........now here's to hoping there's a chance for the Michigan Boxer Bash coming up!!!!

 

[Sasha's Mom]

Great News!

Glad to hear that Oscar's feeling better . . . I'm sure you are all very relieved!

Susan
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[Julie Davis]

Kim, I am so relieved that "I-Scare" is going to be ok. He'll be back to rolling down your car windows in no time! Boomer sends some good boxer vibes Oscar's way.
Julie