Lipomas Among Us

As Zeus has aged he has developed several bumps and lumps on his body.  It seems like every few months a new one crops up.  They are mushy and soft and move around under his skin.  Two years ago a particularly large, hard and unmoving one appeared basically over night.  At first I thought he’d been stung/bit by and insect and he was just having a reaction.  After three or so days it had not gotten any smaller even with Benedryl so I packed him up and headed in to the vet.

The vet told me she believed it was a lipoma or benign fatty tumor.  Labradors are particularly prone to developing them as they age.  To make sure the vet wanted to do a fine needle aspiration of the tumor and see what type of cells came out.  Luckily it was greasy fat and I was told it was nothing to worry about.  I should keep an eye on it and if it changes or it started bothering him to come back in.

The next year at his annual check up, I had it aspirated again and nothing insidious showed itself in the sample.  It hadn’t really changed much but it seemed to bother him to the touch somewhat.

About a month ago, I had an issue with his ear and I was unable to get in to see my regular vet so I took him to a vet that was close to my home.  The vet seem particularly concerned about the hardness and its unwillingness to move around.  I assured him I had it aspirated at his annual exams and it was just a lipoma. He then went into a spiel about how hard lipomas on the ribs (typically seen in Labs) can be more than just a lipoma and can infiltrate into the surrounding tissues, muscles and even into organ tissue.  I started to zone out as the “C” word was mentioned and chemo and radiation…. OMG I sat there shell shocked.  Basically, it was time for Zeus and his lump to part ways.

Pardon the sock next to the couch, you know you see it.  Talk about embarrassing!  :oops:

It’s been a week since I took Zeus in to have his lump removed.  He is a real trooper and is doing really well.   Poor guy, I added insult to injury and took the opportunity to have a couple of offending teeth pulled and a dental while he was under.  Double whammy! But he’s enjoying the soft canned food.  He goes back to see the vet for a check up and to have his stitches out Tuesday.  The fur has even begun to grow back.  We were lucky, it was not a “C”!  It was not an infiltrative lipoma, it was under the muscle which is not typical… go figure!  Watching them get old is just the pits!

Dr Dressler, DVM at The Dog Cancer Blog has a great article about lipomas and liposarcoma.  I highly recommend it.

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