hairless patch..
- Thread starter puppy go luckii
- Start date
Our dog has ALOT of fur around the neck so it cant be leash burn.
Hi - I have another opinion that probably/hopefully isn't it but I have to say it because I'd hate for another family to go through what we went through.
Here's the story ( I hope you like to read because it's long & I'll warn you now it doesn't have a happy ending):
I had a min. collie that had the same thing come up on her years ago on one of her back legs. We assumed it'd go away so we let it be for a couple of weeks, it wasn't bothering her at all, we thought it was a scratch she may have got from running in the woods. When it didn't go away we
took her to the vet & she said it was just a skin allergy & gave us some ointment. The ointment worked for 2-3 weeks but it would always eventually come back. After about 4 months of this we took her back & she still claimed the same thing, but added that this must be an unusual case of it. She instructed us to continue doing what we were doing & eventually it'd go away. About 6 months after that we were still struggling with it. It was then we began noticing a change in it. It began "oozing" just a little. We called the vet & explained what was happening & told her we wanted to bring her in. She said there was no need - it was because we had been doing the
ointment for so long, etc etc, we should stop for a while. We did & in about 2 ½ months it stopped "oozing". We thought it was finally going away. It had stopped oozing but still wasn't getting any smaller. After about 3 weeks it started growing & expanding, like it was SLOWLY filling up with water. This time we brought her in without calling - it was about the size of a golf ball. The vet said she wanted to do a blood test. She did the blood test & in a few weeks got back the results. All she told us was that our dog was stable for surgery, nothing about what it was. When I asked she said - oh this blood test was to tell me if she could have surgery without complications (she had a thyroid problem & was overweight), not what the problem is, we'll have to cut the spot off & send it off to find out what it is & if it's a threat to her but I want to try other methods before subjecting her to that. I was enraged, I was lead to believe the entire time that this test would tell me what was wrong & the next step to making her feel better. By this time
our baby girl had been living with this thing for almost a year. This vet had been our family vet for many, many years & despite what we were going through we still trusted her. We kept going back trying different things for about 6 months. By this time it had grown to the size of a grapefruit or softball. The last straw was when it began "deflating" & then filling back up over the course of weeks. We would think - hey, it's going away then it'd come back again, over & over. We took her in for another look. She said she wanted to try & pull a sample out of it to test instead of cutting it off since it was so big now. She took a needle, stuck it in her & tried to
draw out fluid. When she didn't get anything, instead of pulling out the needle & trying another spot she began to "root" it around until she found something. Apparently she thought my dog had no feeling in that area but trust me, she did, she was just too proud & strong to show it! I made her stop, took my dog & left. I thought she was putting my dog through enseless pain. (We later found out that the contents of the "sack" were leaking out into her body & causing finger like things to grow inside her & around all her organs.) We called for an appointment with a different vet (our current vet) the next day, it was for the very next week. When we brought her in he looked her over & said - oh, poor thing, so how long has your dog had cancer? I about hit the floor!! He said - by your expression I'm guessing you didn't know. He said that any competent vet would've known that within a few months & that it's too far along now to fix it. He told us then about the leaking & that those finger like things would eventually shut down her kidneys & she would die from kidney failure which she did 3 years later in 2001. She was seven years old. I cry about her to this day when I think about it & think that she could have been saved if it had been caught early enough.
The point to this story is to please, please, please keep an eye on it. If it starts changing then take him to the vet. If that vet doesn't say anything then take him to another & another & another until you get a final answer. I just want to warn everyone so their dog doesn't have to suffer like mine did, I will never forgive myself for not getting a second opinion sooner. No matter how much you trust & respect your vet - always, always, always get a second opinion when it's something this major.
Here's the story ( I hope you like to read because it's long & I'll warn you now it doesn't have a happy ending):
I had a min. collie that had the same thing come up on her years ago on one of her back legs. We assumed it'd go away so we let it be for a couple of weeks, it wasn't bothering her at all, we thought it was a scratch she may have got from running in the woods. When it didn't go away we
took her to the vet & she said it was just a skin allergy & gave us some ointment. The ointment worked for 2-3 weeks but it would always eventually come back. After about 4 months of this we took her back & she still claimed the same thing, but added that this must be an unusual case of it. She instructed us to continue doing what we were doing & eventually it'd go away. About 6 months after that we were still struggling with it. It was then we began noticing a change in it. It began "oozing" just a little. We called the vet & explained what was happening & told her we wanted to bring her in. She said there was no need - it was because we had been doing the
ointment for so long, etc etc, we should stop for a while. We did & in about 2 ½ months it stopped "oozing". We thought it was finally going away. It had stopped oozing but still wasn't getting any smaller. After about 3 weeks it started growing & expanding, like it was SLOWLY filling up with water. This time we brought her in without calling - it was about the size of a golf ball. The vet said she wanted to do a blood test. She did the blood test & in a few weeks got back the results. All she told us was that our dog was stable for surgery, nothing about what it was. When I asked she said - oh this blood test was to tell me if she could have surgery without complications (she had a thyroid problem & was overweight), not what the problem is, we'll have to cut the spot off & send it off to find out what it is & if it's a threat to her but I want to try other methods before subjecting her to that. I was enraged, I was lead to believe the entire time that this test would tell me what was wrong & the next step to making her feel better. By this time
our baby girl had been living with this thing for almost a year. This vet had been our family vet for many, many years & despite what we were going through we still trusted her. We kept going back trying different things for about 6 months. By this time it had grown to the size of a grapefruit or softball. The last straw was when it began "deflating" & then filling back up over the course of weeks. We would think - hey, it's going away then it'd come back again, over & over. We took her in for another look. She said she wanted to try & pull a sample out of it to test instead of cutting it off since it was so big now. She took a needle, stuck it in her & tried to
draw out fluid. When she didn't get anything, instead of pulling out the needle & trying another spot she began to "root" it around until she found something. Apparently she thought my dog had no feeling in that area but trust me, she did, she was just too proud & strong to show it! I made her stop, took my dog & left. I thought she was putting my dog through enseless pain. (We later found out that the contents of the "sack" were leaking out into her body & causing finger like things to grow inside her & around all her organs.) We called for an appointment with a different vet (our current vet) the next day, it was for the very next week. When we brought her in he looked her over & said - oh, poor thing, so how long has your dog had cancer? I about hit the floor!! He said - by your expression I'm guessing you didn't know. He said that any competent vet would've known that within a few months & that it's too far along now to fix it. He told us then about the leaking & that those finger like things would eventually shut down her kidneys & she would die from kidney failure which she did 3 years later in 2001. She was seven years old. I cry about her to this day when I think about it & think that she could have been saved if it had been caught early enough.
The point to this story is to please, please, please keep an eye on it. If it starts changing then take him to the vet. If that vet doesn't say anything then take him to another & another & another until you get a final answer. I just want to warn everyone so their dog doesn't have to suffer like mine did, I will never forgive myself for not getting a second opinion sooner. No matter how much you trust & respect your vet - always, always, always get a second opinion when it's something this major.
