Small lumps and bumps found on your pet may seem
insignificant, and sometimes they are, but in many cases they can become quite
large and troublesome. We often are
asked the question, if it’s just small, why would we need to biopsy (sample) or
remove it?
Some lumps are totally benign. Examples of benign masses are cysts or warts
that remain only a few millimeters or a centimeter and never become a
problem. We don’t need to worry about
them spreading to other areas of the body.
Some of these lumps on certain breeds, like Cocker Spaniels or Poodles
have a distinctive appearance and we can be confident enough based on their
appearance to tell pet owners that they are very unlikely to ever be an issue.
Then there are the benign lumps that don’t necessarily pose
a health risk as far as spread to distant areas of the body, but can become
quite large and cumbersome over time. A
few examples would be lipomas (fatty masses) or soft tissue sarcomas. These can start out just a few centimeters
but grow to 15cm or larger. If they are
found in areas like a leg or near the face they can interfere with vision or
movement.
The lumps that are the most concerning are ones that grow
quickly, bleed, are irritating for the pet or appear in an unwell animal.
So why would we want to sample a mass first? Why not just take it off? It all boils down to knowing what we are
dealing with before surgery. Some masses
can be removed easily with small “margins.”
This means that we only need to take a half centimeter of normal looking
skin around the mass to remove the whole thing and our pets go home with small
incisions. Some other masses however,
like soft tissue sarcomas require several centimeters of “normal” looking
tissue to prevent them from coming back.
This can be a problem if it’s a large mass in an area where there is not
a lot of extra normal skin, like the face or a paw. In these cases sometimes follow up treatments
like radiation therapy are required to get rid of the little bits of mass that
didn’t get removed at surgery.
The bottom line is that small lumps are much more easily
removed. Smaller lumps require a smaller
incision which means an easier recovery from surgery for our patients. We also have more anesthetic concerns in
older patients. The 2cm mass in a 5 year
old dog is a lot less risky to remove than the now 12 cm bleeding mass in a 13
year old dog that has to be removed because it’s getting in the way. Just some food for thought!
And speaking of food...my dinner is calling. I'll try to make my next post a more festive one!
Happy Holidays friends!!
xoxo Bailey
