Hernia?

[RedFawnMom]

Has anyone ever had a greyhound diagnosed with a hernia? If so, what did it look like? Lucy has had this weird little "bubble" on her side since we got her -- it's very small, maybe the diameter of a nickel, and it retracts when you press on it. It hasn't changed in the year and a half we've had her, and it doesn't seem to bother her at all when you press on it. It's not hard like a tumor, and the vet couldn't aspirate it when she tried last year - nothing came out except a tiny bit of fat. It doesn't move like a fatty lympoma. She's having a dental next month, so the general consensus was that maybe we should just have it removed while she's out - but our vet was on the fence about it, since it hasn't been causing her any pain and hasn't changed at all in 1.5 years. She suggested we have another surgeon in the group take a look, so we did, and the first thing he thought was hernia, because there is kind of a little hollow space you can feel if you press on it -- almost like it's a little bulge of fat or muscle that you can push back into place. It's a really, really weird spot for a hernia, but he thinks that it could have been caused by a scuffle with another dog when she was on the farm/track. He said he would not recommend doing anything to it if it's a hernia and it's not causing her any discomfort.

 

We're going to have a third vet look at it, but I thought I would ask here as well, since I have never heard of this before. We seem to have everyone stumped!

[Guest Energy11]

I, personally, have never seen a hernia on a dog/cat, but it is possible. Here is an article I found. Maybe it will help you and your vet diagnose this. I also feel, "if it isn't broke, don't fix it ..." If this "bump," isn't causing pain, discomfort, and hasn't changed, you might do more harm than good, trying to remove it.

 

Hope this article helps: http://www.2ndchance.info/hernia.htm

here is another:

 

http://hubpages.com/hub/Dog-Hernias-and-the-Symptoms

Good Luck!

Edited February 28, 2010 by Energy11

[macoduck]

One of our old fosters had a hernia. Been a long time ago. Didn't give him any problems but I think they had it fixed. If I can find out more I'll add to this post.

[RedFawnMom]

Thanks! It does look a bit like one of the photos on that web page (though smaller). I spoke to the vet again today, and decided we're going to leave it alone and continue to keep an eye on it.

[Sambuca]

It gives her character. Bu loves her just the way she is. We're glad it's nothing serious though.

[grey14me]

I don't know technically what a hernia is, but Bailey had surgery on her side to remove a small (pea-sized) bump and afterwards she had what they called a surgical hernia. It was longish and finger-shaped and finger-sized...basically 15 times bigger than the bump she started with