Burr and Dandelion have been happy and healthy since I last posted, except for most recently.
Burr, my abby, turned 4 years old in Spring.
This winter, I noticed a lump on his RIGHT side, right beside his spine and just above his hip. It was small, symmetrical, and did not seem to bother him at all. I checked it often.
About the Lump:
The lump has steadily grown larger from when I first noticed it in Dec/Jan, very slowly, but has had no impact on Burr's behavior. His weight is steady, eating normal, activity and behavior has seen no change, he does not bite/scratch it, and does not react when I push on it. The lump is just beneath the skin, symmetrical with no open wounds or secretions, no hair loss, and about 1 inch in diameter at the moment. It is not warm to the touch. There is no smell.
Vet visit
I took him to see the vet on Thursday 7/9. The vet cut it open and tried to aspirate it. It contained a very thick, dry, white, almost waxy looking substance. She said that she was not able to drain it, because it was mostly inflamed tissue and hair, and the white substance was not easily extracted or evenly distributed throughout the lump. She thinks it is an infected cyst.
She sent me home with oral antibiotics: Enrofloxacin 25mg/ml: 0.41ml by mouth twice daily for 14 days.
I also requested benebac which I give once a day in between AB doses, and an SSD antibiotic cream which I put on the open wound/scab area once per day.
This is what was printed on my exam report card:
My Questions & ConcernsRaised ~1.5cm round firm subcutaneous mass along Right hip(open) abscess vs cyst vs mass vs other
Plan: Lance and drain: Lots of thick material and hair inside of mass. Suspect infected cyst.Lanced mass, removed large amount of white thkc pus-like material with hair and debris moderter thickenin go capsule wtih inflamamtion and swelling of skin. Lots of thick inflamamed tissue. Remove very thick white debris but mass still swollen and enlarged. Since the area of the mass has so much swelling it was not possible to flush out all the material. We suspect that this is just an infected cyst but that the best thing to do would be to remove it since it is so inflammed and infected.
To start we would like to start on antibitoics for Burr and tome topical treatment to try to shrink the size of the mass down so that we can more easily remove it.
The vet I am seeing is new to me, and the practice. I go to Brook-Falls Exotic Vet in WI, and my former vet developed an allergy to Guniea Pigs. She didn't know about the grease gland. Burr's was a little messy, and his hair there is white, so she thought it was a urine stain. She also didn't really seem to know whether or not the lump was a cyst or an abscess.
The next step would be to surgically remove the mass (on Monday, after about 10 days of oral and topical antibiotics).
- * I am worried about having this vet perform surgery on Burr - especially since the lump hasn't been bothering him. I need advice --
* Should I go ahead with the surgery?
* Should I finish the antibiotics and leave the lump alone until it clearly starts bothering him? (I am worried about doing that because now that it has been cut open, I am afraid it might become/stay infected)
* Should I share my concerns about my lack of confidence in this new vet's knowledge?
* Am I out of line - are lumps very difficult to diagnose?
* What other options do I have/what other actions should I be taking?