Found More Tumors On Frankie

So I found, so far, 5 more small tumors on Frankie since I shaved him down even shorter. He seems to be riddled with them. They are smaller than the 3 large ones next to his penis, but are tumors nonetheless. Most are about the size of a pea -- one is on the other side of his penis, two are one his back, one on his neck and one on his leg. The vet looked at them, and said he only see's the sense in removing the three big ones right now, and maybe one or two of the small ones for biopsy. If they come back positive, remove the rest. Negative, then leave them alone.

But he wants to split the surgeries up again, and do his teeth during one surgery, and the tumor removal during another. He said because his teeth will take a long while, as will the tumor removal since he is removing so many, and he feels it's too long for him to be under anesthesia. So we'll probably do the tumor removal first, since it's more important.

The vet also thinks he has a vitamin/mineral deficiency. Because I clipped his nails a few weeks ago when I first got him, and they grew back completely hollow. I also clipped him a bit shorter, so we could spot more tumors easily, and found that his skin was very... icky looking.



So the vet put him on a multi-vitamin supplement, and said I could add in the Solid Gold Seameal that I use on the crew, with his food as well and see if I see any improvement.

For Renee -- I called the health food store, and they don't carry the Essiac tea they said. They told me to try a place like Whole Foods, which told me they don't either.

Any idea where else I can get it? Can it be ordered online (and is that expensive?)

Also, Frankie is very picky, and only eats canned food, thanks to that woman feeding him canned his entire life. So... would I just add it to his can food and make it like a soup?

The splitting surgeries up seems baffling to me. I'd much rather, for my own older dogs, have them under for an extra 20 or so minutes in one surgery, than have them put under an extra two or more times.

me too.

how well do you know your vet? is he looking for money by putting the dog under multiple times?

No, Frankie's dental will take close to an hour just by itself, because he's having to remove two molars, on top of the dental cleaning and other extractions.

He said the tumor removal, being that 3 large tumors are right next to his penis, will be tedious because of the blood vessels and the area they are located. Not to mention removing the other two tumors as well. He said this could take quite a while as well, and Frankie could be under anesthesia as long as 1.5 - 2 hours if we did the dental at the same time. Entirely too long.

So I definitely agree with splitting the surgeries. They won't be back-to-back either, it'll probably be quite a while before we have his teeth done. The tumor removal will most likely come first.

Here you go, Fluffy Essiac Products at Ojibwa Tea of Lifeâ„¢

This is the one I've been giving Kharma. It's best on an empty stomach, so I get it into her by adding it to unsalted chicken or beef broth.

How well do I know him? He's been a family friend since I was a baby. And the last thing he'd ever want from me is my money. Which is why he's done procedures for free for me, and has given me many other things 50% off, including spays/neuters, and dentals (charging me $35 to neuter my males isn't making him rich).

So I've known him a long, long time, and money is the last thing he's looking for. He's only looking out for the well-being of my dogs. And I trust him completely, as I've never had a problem with him reguarding any of my guys going thru surgery. And I've had a few go thru complicated procedures, and I trusted his judgement completely.

Thanks Renee! Not nearly as expensive as I had imagined. I'll def. order some for him, and plan to use it on my other seniors as well.

no need to cop an attitude everytime someone asks a question.

Attitude? What attitude? You asked how well I knew him, and I answered your question.

Jeesh.

ETA: I cop an attitude EVERYTIME someone asks me a question? Good grief.

His skin issues and hair loss look a lot like Trey's Cushings, actually. Trey has a ton of fatty tumors. They're pretty icky but we just leave them be. He's so old it's just not worth it.

I wondered that too Laurelin, about Cushing's. He's only going to remove 1 or 2 of the smaller ones since he is going in for the 3 large ones. He doesn't *suspect* the 3 larges ones are cancerous, but they are pretty large, and right next to his penis, so he wants them biopsied to be certain.

His bloodwork came back fine when we ran the panel pre-surgery, but it wasn't a thyroid panel. I may mention to the vet to run a thyroid panel and see if he finds anything.

Yeah, it gets tough with the oldies and deciding what procedures are worth putting a dog through. With so much wrong with Trey we're really just letting him be as long as he's happy. It's a day by day thing for us. Every morning I wake up and Trey is still doing well I am thankful for one more day with him. I'm not sure how many days we have left but for now, he's doing alright.

Trey actually has a large tumor on his belly near his penis too. It's totally benign, so hopefully Frankie's is.

I find that some old dogs just get tumors, benign, harmless tumors. Max had tumors for a very long time, a whole bunch all over the place. The vet didn't think they were anything. He did die of cancer (well we put him down because kidney and spleen tumors were causing him pain) but he had the body tumors long before he got cancer. You could do a biopsy but, truthfully, what will you gain from it? I suppose you could get the relief if they are benign but if they are cancerous is there anything you plan to do? I understand of course if you want to know, that is up to you. I do hope he is alright, in any case he is having the best time of his life living with you.

Mary is a lumpy girl. SOme of hers are firm but most are moveable. SO far none seem to be bothering her and she is too old to even try. So we just keep our fingers crossed. I think it is awesome your vet is willing to work with Frankie. THe only answer i get for Mary is she is too old. i would be scared to try at this point.

Laurelin, hopefully Frankie's is benign as well. The vet believes they are, but wants to be certain. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Maxy, I've thought it over long and hard about removing them, before coming to the conclusion to plan to do it. The only reason I want to know if they are cancerous is because if we remove the tumor, we may get the entire thing out before the cancer has a chance to spread.

Audubon, my english pointer/dalmation mix had a mast cell tumor last year. The vet went in and removed it, and we were relieved to find out that he removed enough of the surrounding area that it hadn't spread. And hasn't come back yet either.

So I guess I'm hoping that if it's cancerous, and we remove the entire thing, that we can get it all out before it spreads. If not, well I tried.

Trying not to worry though, and just keeping my fingers crossed that it's benign like the vet suspects.

harv had some lumps too. i just left them alone. i'd be inclined to remove the big scary ones, as you're planning to do (and biopsy, because i'm like that). and i think it's extremely reasonable to do it in two surgeries. being under anesthesia for a long time is very hard on the body, especially an old dog. splitting it into more manageable portions makes perfect sense, and that is what i'd chose if it were my dog. not to mention how much bacteria the dental is going to be kicking up for your dog's body to deal with.

it makes me sad that so many people are so freaking suspicious and see vets as money-grubbing and always out to squeeze everybody for every last possible buck.

frankie's a lucky guy to have you looking out for him.

Thanks Elegy, I appreciate your post a lot.

And my vet definitely isn't taking this lightly. We've had several long, detailed discussions on Frankie, and the exact reasons, pros, and cons on everything that's being done with him. My vet has his reasons for doing things the way he is doing them, and I fully understand them and find they make perfect sense. Frankie's bloodwork is completely fine, and he did great under anesthesia during his neuter. So my vet feels the safest option is two quicker, seperate surgeries, as opposed to one really long one, so that his body won't be put under nearly as much stress.

Me too. And my vet has split surgeries before, and I've been told by people I know personally that he's only doing that for money. Yet, he charges me so little for everything he does for me and my rescues, that he spends more money on me than he makes from me. In fact, Audubon needed a dental when we went to remove the mast cell tumor last year. We ended up splitting that surgery because the tumor removal took a LONG time because he had to remove muscle and tendons. She went back a few weeks later for the dental, and because we had to split it to begin with, he didn't charge me a dime for the dental or two extractions.

The other day, Rosie's dental had to be pushed to the next day because he didn't have time to do it on the scheduled day because of two emergencies that came in. He charges me dentals half price, at only $85. But because it was moved to the next day, and he felt bad, he split THAT price is half and charged me $40 for the dental, 13 teeth extractions and a bottle of antibiotics.

I *heart* my vet. He's a down home kindhearted vet who has a real passion for dogs and always puts them first no matter what. He's heavily involved in rescue, so he done a lot of procedures for rescue dogs without charging a dime.

I had a vet when i was young that treated me like that. They are as rare as rare can be. You are so lucky. I am glad he is there for you.

Lumps and bumps can be worrisome ! I always had the first ones tested and if clear both the vet and I just watched others . Most dogs between ten and 17 grow many ! I've got warts too !

Would those be your itchy warts? :rofl1: