Lumps, bumps, masses, tumors and cysts. On an Irish Wolfhound, any one of these can spark alarm in most people's minds leading to the feared cancer diagnosis. Understandably, many companion owners are not well-versed as to how to appropriately respond and then deal with these issues. Frankly, depending on the location of the "mass," alarm bells may or may not be warranted. However, many Wolfhound owners overreact and fall in step, and I mean every step, of their Veterinarians counsel, some of which I would caution against as it is sometimes improper and overly aggressive.

Consider, for example, an incident involving one of my Wolfhounds many years ago where my yearling bitch developed a harmless Calcinosis Circumscripta on the outside of her hind foot very close to her outer toe. If you are unfamiliar with these, a Calcinosis Circumscripta is a ball of calcium deposit typically located in the bony area of the body often seen on rear feet and or joint hip areas and is frequent in certain giant breeds. Most all the time benign, they can also be found as small bumps under the tongue of which I have observed them in this area as well.

Having just made a momentous change for my hound's general surgical veterinarian care, I made an appointment to have it removed with my new veterinarian as the calcinosis was bleeding due to its proximity to the ground. Upon exam, this "new to us" veterinarian warned that to resect the mass may also require the removal of her outside digit! Suffice to say that this diagnosis was a practical example of an aggressive, disproportionate determination that consistently occurs today in the field of veterinary medicine. Most giant breed companion or pet owners who are without the support of a competent, breed authority such as myself, would be afraid to question their veterinarian's recommendations, and in this case, a severe and aggressive course of action. Frankly, I would hazard a guess that one or more veterinarians would have proceeded to remove both the mass and outside toe but, thankfully, I was involved in this case, and nothing of the kind took place.

I need to preface this conversation by introducing my several veterinarians and their roles in the care of our hounds. First up, I have an indispensable primary house-call veterinarian responsible for annual check-ups, vaccinations, prescriptions, emergency diagnosis visits, blood draws, and progesterone collections. Next, I have a separate general surgery practice responsible for spay surgery, Cesarean sections, basic digital radiographs, mass removal and biopsies plus any emergency surgery, night or day. Next up, I use a specialty practice made up of board certified veterinarians in nearly every field of practice. I utilize these specialists for heart monitoring, and complicated diagnoses via state of the art radiology equipment capable of accommodating large animals, such as horses, in addition to ultra modern M.R.I and ultrasound technology, and, if necessary, subsequent complex surgery.  

At the time of my discovery of the mass above, I had just switched to this new, general surgical practice after having discontinued my association with my former veterinarian of 20 years due to his standard of care being adversely affected following the sale of his practice to a large conglomerate. Our new general surgeon, though one hour's drive each way, was highly recommended by my longtime primary veterinarian who went even further by saying that our new general surgeon was one of the best soft tissue surgeons she had seen in a long time.

Now, that we are all on the same page; I will finish my story on the mass. My new general surgeon listened quietly to my diagnosis of the mass on my Wolfhound yearlings foot as I explained that I had seen many calcinoses several times before over my many years. I went further by describing the substance he would most likely find inside the golf ball-sized mass, similar to that of cottage cheese and that, in my opinion, there remained enough viable skin that could be pulled up and stitched together for proper healing. He accepted and trusted my judgment and proceeded to remove it agreeing under no circumstances to take-off her toe, and he found what I had described precisely. This, by the way, was the first time he had seen a Calcinosis Circumscripta and explains his immediate reaction that it was a tumor. He was very pleasantly surprised and his readiness to listen to me as a skilled and experienced breeder was a sign of an open-minded, progressive physician. Today, we have an excellent relationship, and I rely on his expertise frequently as he is an outstanding general soft tissue surgeon who does not have a God complex.

Over these years we have had many bodies of matter removed from our Wolfhounds. Many of these cysts would scare the pants off of average dog owners and not well-informed veterinarians. Take for example our female veteran Dallas who is prone to benign sebaceous cysts that get quite large and occur on her back and seat bones. Several were bigger than golf balls, yet, we did not remove them until she was scheduled for another surgery such as being spayed. The reason for our postponement was that first, I was reasonably confident that they were harmless and importantly, often you could do more harm overreacting than underreacting. I do not take lightly the process of anesthetizing a sighthound, especially an Irish Wolfhound and prefer to do it only if necessary. You can read my previous Dog Blog Musings post on several cases of dogs having undergone intolerable, agonizing deaths from incompetent intubation of the esophagus instead of the trachea.

We have another veteran bitch, Declan, who currently has a small nodule under her skin on her back adjacent to the spine. We are not concerned about this growth because this particular litter was predisposed for such benign nodules. Both her littermates, Dallas and Darley, both have had large cysts on their backs. Of the many we have had removed from our females, only one was ever infected as it was located on Dallas's seat bone, aka Ischial Tuberosity. The constant interaction with the ground created a secondary infection. However, none of the other cysts found on our Wolfhounds have ever been malignant nor infected.

To illustrate other but concerning tumors, we have had several small, mammary growths removed from our bitches. Regarding these, as soon as they were detected we aggressively responded by removing them. Due to their location in a highly glandular area, often these may experience aggressive growth patterns and can begin small like a pebble and then grow quickly. This rate of sizeable growth is often due to either aggressive mammary cancer or because of its glandular location releasing hormones into the bloodstream. In all cases, the bitches teat were removed as well. Biopsies are always in order for these tumors which takes approximately one week. Often the results are "mixed cells," described as benign mammary neoplasms recommending further observation for reoccurrence. However, there is always the possibility of malignant diagnoses which is hindered only by chemotherapy and or holistic treatments.

Of course, there are swelling and or tumors found on limbs, and these are NOT to be ignored either as they often may be a sign of osteosarcoma. Alternatively, another example might be a soft tissue mass that you may feel, for instance in the neck area of your hound, while massaging with your fingers. Though not just under the skin, these can be deep fatty tissue tumors otherwise called a lipoma -- a benign invasive tumor usually in around muscle or even lymph glands. Fatty tumors, these can be reviewed or diagnosed by a Board Certified Radiologist via ultrasound. Conversely, these could also be soft tissue sarcomas in which the specialist may be able to aspirate the mass drawing out a sample of its composition for pathology. Honestly, though, it has been my experience that aspirations are usually ineffectual since they have mixed laboratory determinations of uncertain origins and usually indicate an abundance of blood.

Nonetheless, in these circumstances, a board certified specialist should be consulted as to options if the diagnosis was a tumor and not a lipoma. This may include either dissecting the mass or leaving it undisturbed due to an awkward location that may require rib spreading and lengthy recovery times. See my health page and the story about our beautiful Dior who passed from thyroid carcinoma. In retrospect, I should not have opted for surgery, and I should have left the tumor alone allowing her to live with some quality of life for how many months she would have had. Instead, she underwent surgery at 7.5 years of age, and three masses were removed. However, in the process, there was slight damage to her trachea and esophagus cords as they had to be moved to the side for access to a large tumor. She lived only for two additional months before I humanely euthanized the valiant girl. It was deeply saddening to witness such a majestic Irish Wolfhound fight every day to overcome such dreadful pain yet still keep such tenderness and devotion in her eyes.  

Alternatively, it may also be that surgery is not an option for an older dog. I can vouch for this course of action on our veteran stud dog, Danny. Danny experienced an injury to his neck roughhousing with a littermate and compressed his 6th & 7th vertebrae. My Dog Blog Musings post and the subsequent updates found on this Blog explain what the specialist recommended to relieve Danny's pain. Alternatively, I opted for chiropractic care along with laser therapy and hydrotherapy instead of surgery which would have exacted an enormous toll on my eight-year-old wolfhound and approximately six months of recovery times. He is walking 14 miles per week and visits a certified chiropractor and a canine physical therapy specialist.

Lumps, bumps, masses, tumors, and cysts are frequent on most dogs but particularly Irish Wolfhounds. If you have questions or concerns about a lump, bump or mass then, by all means, have it examined by your veterinarian. The treatment for any of these will vary, but as I explained, in some cases with lumps or bumps, depending on their location, no action is needed.