Doggie lipoma -- Opinions?

[mk94]

Our 11-year old doxie has some lipomas (benign fatty tumors). One in particular is quite large and it is located right on top of her rib cage on her side. The vet said that it wasn't hurting her, but we could have it removed if we wish. I don't believe it is hurting her, but I do worry about it making her uncomfortable when she breaths or when she is lying on her side. We've been pondering over this for awhile now and we're still not sure what the best approach is. I mean, she IS 11 years old and I'm not sure if it is worth the risks involved in having the lipoma removed. I have heard of diet and supplement remedies, but I am somewhat doubtful about their effectiveness. I was wondering if anyone else has had any experience with doggie lipomas and what they did about them. Surgery? Leave it alone? Home remedies? Please share!

 

[Sycamore Chins]

From a pet-owner standpoint, we have a 11.5 year old sheltie with a few lipomas around her rib cage but they are max the size of a quarter and she's about a 25-30lb dog, so it's very insignificant. We won't get them removed until they become bothersome, and as long as she is in good health her age would not be too much of a factor.

From a veterinary standpoint, growth removals are very minor quick surgeries. For geriatric animals your vet should recommend bloodwork (if it hasn't been done recently) and if everything checks out the actual surgery can be done under light anesthesia in a matter of minutes.
For perspective, my boss removed a growth off of my 6 yr old rabbit in about 30 seconds - and rabbits are very finicky under anesthesia.

If it's bothersome to her and your vet feels comfortable with the growth removal - i'd do it!
I've honestly never heard of diet and supplement remedies for growths...

 

[mk94]

I will have to ask the vet about light anesthesia. Part of the reason I worry is because she had a hard time coming out of it when we had her teeth cleaned last year.

 

[mishellyshel]

i have an 11 year old 75 lb collie shepard that has some of those as well. the vet did recommend i have blood work if i was considering removing them as alicyn said.

they also said they could do a test on one of th larger ones to see if it was more than just a benign lump. i forget what it is called but they draw out some liquid with a needle. that process also comes with a couple risks and/or concerns, so at this point we have let them be as they are not bothering her.

 

[fanofdmb84]

If it was me, I would leave it alone. Going under for surgery is tough on older dogs, and spending a day or two in the vets office away from home is pretty stressful in itself. If the lipoma is visible, it is outside of her ribcage and won't affect her breathing. And if she's laying on it, it probably isn't bothering her. If she layed down on it and immediately adjusted to her other side, I would be concerned it might be painful, but chances are good that she doesn't even know its there.
I also wouldn't bother with any "remedies". Lipomas are just accumulations of fat, and if there's anything that will make fat disappear, everyone would want some

 

[DramaMama]

Unless you notice a change in behaviour due to it being detrimental to everyday activity I'd say you should leave it. If you do notice it affecting her everyday like and making her uncomfortable you could definitely look more into removing them. For a lot of vets its a really simple procedure and it takes longer to close the wound than to even remove the tumor. Go with your gut instinct though. If it's telling you to stay away it probably is for a good reason. Human intuition is a mysterious thing.

 

[Pleiades]

I agree with everything said above me. If your dog has had previous difficulties with anesthesia, then I wouldn't even bother with surgery; benign fatty lumps in dogs are just that. They only cause a problem if they grow in a place that puts pressure on the bones or organs when the dog is lying down. That's the only time I'd have one surgically removed. My late lab-shepherd mix had quite a few of them, and they were completely harmless, and didn't bother her.

What size is the big lump on her ribs? Bigger in circumference than a quarter? She can always lie on her other side...she's not going to lie in an uncomfortable position- I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Riven]

The lump should not affect her breathing or anything like that. If she had issues coming out of anesthesia before don't bother with it unless you feel it's worth her life. Removing lipoma's is a cosmetic surgery to make the owners feel better. If it's bothering her she will show you by licking at it and such.

 

[Brittney]

My 16 year old doxie has a large lipoma on his chest. We also asked the vet about them as he has a history of mast cell tumors in the past. The vet said they are harmless and can be removed, but in most cases, since they are fat, they will just grow back. If it isn't bothering her, I wouldn't risk putting her under to get it removed. It may be unsightly but if she has had previous difficulty with anesthesia, I wouldn't risk it.

My doxie doesn't have any difficulties with his, and I agree with the statement above; Lipomas shouldn't be causing breathing difficulties. Did they biopsy it at all? Is it attached? Just asking because doxies are prone to malignant tumors and some vets will just assume a lipoma without biopsies. We get my doxies bump biopsied twice a year just to be sure it’s not cancer, and of course, it always comes back as fat. Rather safe than sorry

 

[chinchillalover0927]

i would leave them alone due to her age if it is not bothering her..out boxer that just passed away was old and she had a few things that "needed" to be removed but they did NOT hurt her in any way and we were scared to put her under because of her age...so we just left it alone.

 

[mk94]

Pleiades - It's about the size of a tennis ball that has been cut in half.

Brittney - We had it checked out and it's just fat.

 

[Pleiades]

That's a pretty big one, but as long as your vet thinks it's not putting pressure on anything it should be fine! It's really just cosmetic....

 

[arf2184]

If she ever has to be put under for anything else (x-rays, another teeth cleaning, etc) I'd have them remove it then. Otherwise, I'd leave it unless it starts to bother her.

My dog Matty had one fatty tumor when she was just a year old. She ended up needing surgery for something completely unrelated about a year later and we just had them remove the tumor at the same time.

 

[mk94]

That's a pretty big one, but as long as your vet thinks it's not putting pressure on anything it should be fine! It's really just cosmetic....

I wasn't kidding when I said it was a big one! Haha!

 

[mk94]

If she ever has to be put under for anything else (x-rays, another teeth cleaning, etc) I'd have them remove it then. Otherwise, I'd leave it unless it starts to bother her.

My dog Matty had one fatty tumor when she was just a year old. She ended up needing surgery for something completely unrelated about a year later and we just had them remove the tumor at the same time.

That sounds like a good idea.

 

[Chinmama]

My 11 year old brittany spaniel had a lipoma removed, it was about the same size, but it was pressing on his urethra causing problems urinating. He had several others, including a large one on his chest/armpit area. The others didn't ever seem to bother him, so we left those alone. The vet said we would notice when they became a problem, and we could remove them then.