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Good News for First-Time Dog Owners

First time dog-owners should not be overly fearful when they discover that their middle-aged or older best-friend has a noticeable lump under the skin. It is probably not cancer.

The lump is a lipoma, a tumor of fatty tissue. Most can be surgically removed, costing less than $500.

But it takes awhile to learn how to react to these lumps. My first dog sprouted a half of dozen of these, but they never got bigger than the end of my thumb. I eventually decided to stop having them surgically removed. 

My second (and current) dog gets fewer lipomas, but they can get big. With hindsight it would have been better to go in quickly to the vet, when a new lipoma becomes noticeable. That keeps the surgery simpler, and the dog recovers faster.

A traveler has the opportunity to go to rural veterinarians. Woe unto you if you go to a vet near a mountain boutique town or some trendy area full of affluent retirees.

My girl is recovering after having this fist-sized lipoma removed, yesterday, by a veterinarian in an impoverished rural area in Colorado. It cost $200, probably half or a third of what it would have cost in one of the blue counties.



No mountain biking for her for the next few days!

Comments

Ed said…
Whoa! That is some tumor.

Wishing Coffee Girl a speedy recovery.
Thanks, Ed and Patches, Coffee Girl just jumped up on my bed. I don't see how did it, considering how sore she is. She isn't allowed up there because she has a plastic drain tube coming out of the cavity where the tumor was.

But she is sleeping easily, taking her medicine, and drinking her water. So things look good.
Al Bossence said…
Oh my, I'm glad it was a benign lump. Take it easy Coffee Girl.

Kelly
Kelly, thank you. I look forward to her normal behavior returning a bit each day.
Jim and Gayle said…
That's an impressive lipoma! Glad that sweet girl is doing well. We always tried to take our cats to vets in smaller towns, too. Their offices may not be fancy but the animals don't care.
Gayle
Gayle, I see normal behavior coming back, even though it is only Day 3. The drain tube comes out on Monday, and the stitches on 01 July. So I will keep hosting through the Fourth of July holiday. Oh Goodie!!!

By the way, I finally successfully petted the official greeter cat in the vet's office.