Cysts?

So Ben has this gross lump on his head. We had it checked about a month or so ago by our vet, who said it seems to be a cyst that most likely developed out of a hair follicle or something and it seems benign. He cleaned it out, drained it, and gave us some spray to try on it. It didn't work, so we went back yesterday and he cleaned and drained it all again, but this time he said he thinks surgery will be the best option, even though he hates putting dogs under for something small and most likely benign. But it's really gross and keeps filling with blood then popping and bleeding all over! ack! Has anyone else had something similar with their dogs, and what was the outcome? Out vet seems to think it's harmless, but he'll check it all out after the surgery and see, and if he's unsure he'll send it to a lab for further analysis. It totally freaks me out to have to put him under, so we're also having his hips x-rayed since he'll be out anyway.

What do you think? Sorry for the graphic picture but it's the best way to show what I mean!

Ewwww yuck..
Is this about the size of a human thumb nail? Its hard to tell!

I have only had 1 thing similar but that was on the tail area, was about the size of my little finger nail.. it swelled & burst a couple of times & I also had it looked at while the bitch was knocked out for hip scoring. It turned out to be ingrowing hair, like an inside hair. The vet was fascinated, it was gross, just this soggy ball of fur that had grown under the skin.. but they removed it, stitched it & it was fine after - never came back though I was warned it could do

It started as a blue pimple size thing, but it just got bigger and bigger. It's probably about the size of a large gum-ball or a large cherry. Our vet told us not to be alarmed if they start popping up in other places on his body if it's a skin gland cyst, but I don't want him covered in bloody-lumps! Glad it turned out ok for you though, that gives me some hope!

Sorry for the gross pics!

Ben's surgery to remove his lump went fine, though he's been crying since he woke up from the anesthesia! I think he's still a bit out of it, but it is so sad to listen to him whimper non-stop! The vet told us he cried the entire time he was there, and had been letting out a low mournful howl earlier

We did get some other mildly disconcerting news today though. We had his hips x-rayed, and he has mild dysplasia in his left hip.

This will be my first saint with hip problems, so I'm a little scared about that, though I knew it was a possibility when we got him. The x-rays showed that his hip was "loose" in the socket. Our vet did a physical test and stretched his leg in different directions to see if he had any pain, and he didn't show any signs. I noticed he walks weird on that hip when he's tired though. We're gonna give him some glucosamine supplements now that he's done growing (for the most part) to hopefully prevent or ease any arthritis he may develop, and for now we're just gonna be playing the watching game to monitor it for signs it worsened, but our vet didn't seem overly concerned. I've definitely seen worse x-rays through my own research about it, so I'm just hoping glucosamine works and that nothing gets worse and that he doesn't experience any pain with it.

He also sent out Ben's lump for a biopsy, which he said he would only do if he wasn't sure that it was a harmless cyst. Hoping to hear good news about that early next week. ::fingers crossed::

So, for now, I'm home resting with Ben/listening to him whimper, and I really feel disheartened about the whole thing (could very well be my hormones, ) Has anyone else had to deal with hip dysplasia or loose joints? I know Norm has the popping hock problem, but I wonder if anyone else has experience with something that started mild and got worse, stayed the same, or got better with treatments? Input would be appreciated, I'm totally freaked out!

hi!

is there an update on bens head???

hope him and you are doing well

cheri

I was just wondering the same thing. I really hope its not a hemangiosarcoma... although not common, can happen on the skin.

Thanks for the concern, I forgot to update! His biopsy came back exactly what the vet thought- just a benign cyst. I forget the technical name for it, as when I heard benign I was delighted and kind of didn't pay attention to that part One thing the vet said though is that removal is usually the only way to cure it, but it can occasionally come back, but we're all hoping that's not the case and he's pretty confident that he got enough of the surrounding tissue to prevent that from happening. So, good news overall, other than his hip!

Unfortunately we were puppy sitting last week, and his stitches got ripped open a bit. He also had an incident where he was limping and trying not to put weight on his back left hip, and then fell over on it. I freaked out, naturally, but I think it was still just sore from the x-rays and running with the puppy didn't help!

In regards to his stitches, I got the bleeding to stop, but they scabbed over and swelled a good bit. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on how you look at it..) we had some Clavamox antibiotics leftover from one of Maggie's accidents, so I gave them to Ben and used some neosporin and warm compresses, and it looks TONS better. He should get his stitches out tomorrow, and now that I finally got the scabs to get off and the swelling to go down, I don't think there will be any complications.

Now, we're just waiting for his hair to grow back, since he is about 1/4 bald on his head and has a good amount of hair missing from his leg from the IV!