Wednesday, March 09, 2016

Lumpy bumpy

A few weeks ago Summit had surgery to remove a lump that was growing on his anus. I had noticed it a few weeks prior and taken a needle biopsy of it, which indicated that it was likely benign. However, given the location I elected to try to remove it in case it continued to grow... small lumps are easier to take off than large ones, especially when we're talking about lumps on the anus where difficult removal can result in fecal incontinence and anal gland problems.

Squeaky clean teeth, ready to wake up.
 I was able to remove the lump and send it to the lab to confirm it is benign (yay!). I removed a few other small lumps that had popped up over the last 2 years, but was not concerned about them so I didn't send them to the lab.

I also did his teeth while he was under. They were not bad at all, but since he was already under anesthetic I decided to make the best of it so that I hopefully won't have to anesthetize him again. He will be 11 in May and he is only missing one tooth, a premolar that was extracted prior to my getting him. This is the first dental he's had with me in 5.5 years, and he didn't really even need it. If not for the lumps I would not have done his teeth. He is a testament to the very real effect of daily brushing.

Summit recovering. Kili getting a little help from the muzzle to behave herself!

He is doing very well and will be getting his sutures out later this week.

4 comments:

Never Say Never Greyhounds said...

Glad everything went well! I couldn't agree more about daily brushing! Mine never need dental cleanings either.

Apex Agility Greyhounds said...

That's really good to hear! Sometimes I wonder if I'm just lucky, and if that makes me unsympathetic! ha ha. But seriously, to me good dental health and ideal weight management seem really basic and I don't understand when I see dogs with bad teeth or that are overweight. And then I figure my dogs must just have good genes for those particular issues and I'm lucky. But maybe it really is as simple as I think (or you know, there's a bit of both)!

Unknown said...

Hi! I'm also glad all went well! Do you brush his teeth regularly? Feed raw food? Any good dental products you'd recommend? Thank you! Kathy P

Apex Agility Greyhounds said...

Hi Kathy. We brush teeth daily as it is the most effective way to promote dental health. A good dental diet is helpful as well, though we feed a joint diet in this household for protective reasons. We do also use Healthy Mouth, which is a veterinary approved water additive that reduces plaque accumulation (plaque is what turns into tartar when it hardens).