Beth Has A Ruptured Cyst

[PrairieProf]

My beautiful Beth has a tendency to get small cysts on her skin ... some go away by themselves, but she had a somewhat larger one (about pea-sized) on her lower back that wasn't going away. I was going to have it removed eventually, but thought I was just obsessing about a minor cosmetic thing. Well, about a week and a half ago it looked different, and then the area around it got inflamed ... turned out the cyst had ruptured internally. She's been on antibiotics and doing well (and the vet did a slide and a culture to make sure there were no bad cells involved), but the inflammation led her to lose a patch of hair about the size of a silver dollar in the area that had been inflamed -- and the vet said the hair might or might not ever grow back! The area doesn't seem to bother her in the least, but I don't do well with seeing her disfigured in any way.

 

We had a one-week follow-up today, and the vet opened the cyst and squeezed out a bunch of gunk that was still in there or had reaccumulated. But anyway, we scheduled surgery for Tuesday to remove the cyst and damaged skin -- he'll stitch together the healthy skin so she won't have a bald spot. Or, of course, have the cyst recur. He'll also remove another smallish cyst on the front of her elbow.

 

I'm anxious about the anesthesia, but he seems to know just what he's doing, and the recovery doesn't sound like it will be bad -- he even said she didn't need to be restricted from running after the first 48 hours or so (and that's a good thing, because Beth can get pretty nutso on leash if she doesn't get her zoomies out regularly!).

 

I'm so bummed, though -- I didn't know cysts could rupture and I totally could have had this one removed earlier with a quick laser procedure under a local anesthetic ... I didn't want to get a shaved spot so I thought I'd wait until coat season (and removing a wart or something from her tail about a year ago had turned into a bigger mess than I'd bargained for). And the vet didn't warn me either. So now I'm definitely going to have him laser off all future cysts without waiting.

 

Ugh, I've been really stressed about my poor girl -- and of course I'll be a wreck Tuesday morning. Anyone else's hounds ever have something like this??

Edited September 15, 2010 by PrairieProf

[Newgreymom]

Prayers for Beth on Tuesday. Hope she recovers quickly...

[Cully]

and until we get to see her tomorrow.

[PrairieProf]

Having some vague anxiety that QCGA will say, "Uh-oh, you broke your hound, we're taking her back!" but I figure that won't really happen. Looking forward to seeing you and everyone ... fortunately all of this hasn't bothered Beth in the least.

[Batmom]

Ah, don't beat yourself up -- or your vet. Those things usually do go quietly away on their own. Hugs and quick healing to pretty girl.

[KF_in_Georgia]

If QCGA wants to take Beth back, they'll have to pay her vet bills. As long as you're willing to take care of her and foot the bills, they're not going to give it a second thought.

 

I think most of us postpone surgical-type stuff as long as we can. We figure, "Get one thing fixed, something else breaks, so let's wait and get everything done at once."

 

And, of course, there's the unthinkable: the risk of surgery-with-anesthesia. We've all heard the horror stories--and some of us have lived them--so we want to delay surgery, not have to put the dog under more than necessary. We tend not to think about all the successful surgeries--some we hear of, most we don't; we just stress about the ones that went wrong. And having the growth-on-her-tail-removal turn into more than you expected certainly wouldn't make you jump into surgery of any kind.

 

But please learn to deal with scars on Beth. Now you know (the hard way) why you shouldn't delay in the future. And every one of my three greyhounds has had scars (and pieces missing from ears). It certainly doesn't make them any less lovable--or even less good looking. Beth doesn't expect you to look perfect, and she doesn't love you any less if you have a few dings and dents. Just take Beth's possible hair loss in stride. If she's happy, healthy, and feeling good, hair is just a bonus.

 

Besides, the more hair she has, the more you have to sweep up during shedding season.

 

This is the face--and the ears--I fell in love with:

 

by KF-in-Georgia, on Flickr

 

He was 2 in that photo; he's 10 now and the love of my life--even with the white face and the additional scars he's acquired in the last 8 years.

[maggiespet]

Sweet Beth will be in my prayers on Tuesday. Hugs to you till then. Keep breathing - it'll be OK.

[krissn333]

Having some vague anxiety that QCGA will say, "Uh-oh, you broke your hound, we're taking her back!" but I figure that won't really happen. Looking forward to seeing you and everyone ... fortunately all of this hasn't bothered Beth in the least.

 

NEVER! Looking forward to seeing you guys tomorrow, Anne. I am bringing Ace, Fritz, and Pinky for sure. Fritz currently has a scalping owie on the front of his leg, so he looks like a murder victim. Highly unlikely anyone will notice Beth's owie I haven't decided if I'm bringing Sutra yet or not, because like you, I have vague anxiety that people will think I'm nuts for bringing my osteo dog who limps slightly to a picnic That, and he's lost a few lbs so he looks skinny!

[Guest Greyglo]

Adding prayers and good thoughts for your Beth on Tuesday -

[GeorgeofNE]

I can understand being nervous about surgery, but this is extremely minor surgery, and shouldn't take long at all.

 

There's generally no need to jump to removing ALL lumps and bumps; your vet can do an aspiration and check for "bad cells" without removing the lumps.

 

I'm sure she'll do just fine!

[Guest tinams8]

My vizsla has lots of those and my vet agrees it is not worth the risk of anesthesia to remove them. I had several taken off her during a surgery for something else so he seems unconcerned about what the new ones are. I didn't even know they could rupture. Did your vet say if it was uncommon, or if there is a reason it ruptured?

 

I hope she heals up quickly! I think it is going to be much easier than you expect,and the little flaws are less disturbing then you expect.

[PatricksMom]

I couldn't care less about scars, but I didn't do anything about Patrick's cyst until it became a problem--flared up and caused a lot of pain, then had it removed immediately. That was the vet's advice, no point in putting him under for something that wasn't dangerous or causing him any pain.

 

Do try to accept though that these guys get skin injuries a lot and scars are inevitable, as are bald spots. They don't bother them in the slightest, and after a while you'll look right over them too.

[PrairieProf]

Thanks for the encouragement, everyone. Fortunately future minor skin procedures should not require general anesthesia. Beth has gotten a number of dings already on her legs, which I accept as inevitable, but I'm still glad I'm having this done to fix such a prominent area (assuming all goes OK, of course!). I'll post updates on Tuesday.

 

We didn't discuss why it happened -- but when I searched online about ruptured cysts on dogs, it actually doesn't seem that unusual.

[MerlinsMum]

Poor Beth, and poor you! Try not to be too nervous (right...) on Tuesday. All of our thoughts will be with you and your beautiful girl! I'm going to start crossing my fingers right now, so let us know how things go, because I'll have sore fingers by Tuesday afternoon!

 

:goodluck :goodluck

[DustysMom]

Maggie sends happy thoughts to her half-sista!

[MaryJane]

This happened to one of my Norweigan Elkhounds - she had a cyst on her back for a few years which the vet didn't think was a big deal and then one day it started to look red and enlarged, a few days later it broke open on the surface and left a hole about an inch wide - she needed surgery to remove the rest of the cyst inside and to stitch it closed.

 

Since that happened, I usually try and remove "cysts" or small benign growths if my dogs have to go under anesthesia for any reason (like teeth cleaning).

[PrairieProf]

So surgery is tomorrow morning -- supposed to drop her off at the vet at 7:30. I know it's a minor procedure, but I'm a nervous mom as this is her first surgery since I brought her home. And I feel bad as she's not in any discomfort at all now but may be in a bit after they pull skin together to remove the bald spot. Really hope I'm doing the right thing! Please send her good thoughts -- I'll post tomorrow as soon as she's back home!

[greyhndz]

Lots of positive, healing thoughts for Beth. Tomorrow at this time it will be over, and your sweetie will be home with you.

 

Sweet dreams tomorrow, Beth!

[Guest Olivia0208]

Good thoughts, prayers and lots of white light coming to you and Beth via cyberspace. Think positive. Breathe.

[Guest tinams8]

Good thoughts for Beth tomorrow! It's almost done.

[PrairieProf]

Well my baby girl is home -- she seems to have done really well and got nicely spoiled at the vet (she got to sleep in the head tech's office all afternoon -- and they took pictures for me of one of the nine-week-old kittens for adoption who I guess was roaming around the back area curled up by right Beth's head in her kennel while she was still "out."

 

Her incision looks pretty awful to me -- much larger than I expected! But both the vet and tech said that surgically it looks great. There are no stitches to be removed on the surface. She has two staples where a second cyst was removed on the front of her elbow, but that doesn't look like much.

 

 

Here's one little problem I'm having, though -- while I quickly closed the bedroom doors when we got home to keep her off the beds until later this evening, while I turned my back for a moment to get something she ran up the half-flight of stairs leading to my upstairs office, a spot she likes to hang out -- and from the sound of it stumbled pretty badly on the stairs doing so (I didn't actually see). Now she's resting after standing and panting for a while and eventually drinking some water, but I'm afraid to go downstairs with her up here, lest she fall down the stairs; I hate to rouse her or force her to her feet, but I am going to want to make dinner pretty soon! Any suggestions?

[Batmom]

In case you're still trapped ... I'd either block/gate her in, or help her downstairs and block her from going up again. I feel for you -- they can be such weasels, even when worn out and still under the influence.

[PrairieProf]

OK, I tried to see if I could get her downstairs with my assistance, but after I forced her up unwillingly she didn't want to take any steps at all and was panting as if in pain. Of course I'm worrying she hurt a leg or something when she stumbled, but the stairs are carpeted so I doubt she could have really done that much.

 

She's sleeping solidly on the floor of the upstairs room right now, and I have the staircase blocked when I go down.

 

How worried should I be if she doesn't want to move? And how will I get her down to pee later and spend the night someplace safe (her crate, I think!) before bedtime? Thinking of calling in a male greyhound neighbor for assistance in case we have to semi-lift her....

 

:(

[Batmom]

I wouldn't be terribly worried. She's likely still processing anaesthesia, altho some pain meds can do that too. In your position, if I didn't have to go to bed too early, I'd probably give her another hour or thereabouts, offer her a drink, and offer a small snack. Then see if she'd like to go out. If she doesn't want any of that, I'd be inclined to let her sleep but be prepared to get up really really early in the morning for potty.

[greyhndz]

Can you and Beth set up a dogbed and air mattress (or sofa) and sleep downstairs tonight? That might solve many of your concerns, and it will be easier getting her in and out to potty.

 

I'd bet she's still recovering from the anesthetic (the "drunken sailor phase"), and also having pain from the incision. Do you have anything to give her for pain tonight?

 

I would bet that as soon as you settle down next to her, she'll quiet down as well, and by the morning she should be much steadier on her feet.

 

Get well soon, Beth!