In followup to my earlier ear infection thread, while one of my beagles was being examined today, our vet noticed a fleshy-colored small bump inside her ear. She mentioned that she recently treated a dog recently who had melanoma in its ear, so she told me to monitor the bump for any size or color changes. She said that the bump looks benign, but if it gets larger, I should bring her back in for another look and possible biopsy.
Naturally, the thought of cancer made me freak out and asked the vet why we shouldn't just do a biopsy ASAP. The vet told me that the bump is so small that a biopsy done via laser would likely disintegrate the bump and no real conclusion could be drawn. She mentioned they could freeze and cut it off, but that would be very bloody and she recommended not doing that, especially since it may not be necessary. The final action plan was to bring my beagle back in a month and have the vet re-look at it. In the meantime, I'll monitor it for size/color changes.
So, I have two questions for the chazhound crowd...
First, does this sound like a reasonable plan from my vet? Two, has anyone heard anything about shark cartilage? Even though the vet said it's likely benign, I've read it's helpful in fighting tumors, etc.
By the way, I posted a picture of her ear here: http://postimage.org/image/jym0ognkn/ -- Note: I really enlarged the picture, so the bump looks huge, but it's really quite small.
Thanks.
Naturally, the thought of cancer made me freak out and asked the vet why we shouldn't just do a biopsy ASAP. The vet told me that the bump is so small that a biopsy done via laser would likely disintegrate the bump and no real conclusion could be drawn. She mentioned they could freeze and cut it off, but that would be very bloody and she recommended not doing that, especially since it may not be necessary. The final action plan was to bring my beagle back in a month and have the vet re-look at it. In the meantime, I'll monitor it for size/color changes.
So, I have two questions for the chazhound crowd...
First, does this sound like a reasonable plan from my vet? Two, has anyone heard anything about shark cartilage? Even though the vet said it's likely benign, I've read it's helpful in fighting tumors, etc.
By the way, I posted a picture of her ear here: http://postimage.org/image/jym0ognkn/ -- Note: I really enlarged the picture, so the bump looks huge, but it's really quite small.
Thanks.