Keep Enzo In Your Thoughts?

[Guest issy]

Enzo went to the vet this morning. A painful red lump popped up between his toes on a back foot this week (I check him over frequently) and I really just thought the furuncle was a bacterial thing, esp. since he has other symptoms of hypothyroidism and the furuncles are usually tied to that. I combed through a lot of info as soon as I saw it.

 

So off to the vet to do blood tests, and an aspiration of the lump. Not to mention have a second opinion about his dry rough coat and itchy skin on his leg and fur loss (recent).

 

Here's the post-vet e-mail I wrote to my adoption group leader just as a sum of the events, she knew he was going beforehand and what the reasons were:

 

"Originally went in due to skin problems/growth on foot/hair loss on

thighs. A skin scraping was taken, showing bacteria on skin - Enzo is

now on a 14 day round of Simplicef 200mg. Hexadene shampoo was also

prescribed to be used twice weekly.

 

Enzo's anal glands were completely full from having moderately loose

poop since we've had him (though almost half the time I would say they

were moderately hard - hard enough to empty his glands...) and had to

be expressed. The vet said pumpkin daily for the fiber should be

fine, and monthly checking to make sure they aren't full. We are

looking at switching his food in the future, but not too many changes

at once would be best for now.

 

For his dry/dull coat, the vet said to keep with the 1000mg fish oil

supplement, and that the coat problem is "mostly likely" due to food,

and possibly but probably not because he hasn't blown his coat yet.

 

A blood sample was taken for the pre-surgery analysis...they didn't

take the full thyroid but if anything looks abnormal then they will

later. He has a lot of the symptoms for hypothyroid, including mild

"rat tail," but not the major symptoms like weight

gain/aggression/excessive thirst.

 

Instead of needle aspiration for the growth in between his toes, an

"impression sample?" was taken so as to not make him bleed. When the

cells were examined, they were found to be abnormally large which

points to either a mast cell tumor or a histiocytoma. He is scheduled

for laser surgery on Monday, 1/31/11. The tumor will then be

identified/graded and we should know by that Thursday what's up and

where to go from there."

 

 

Anyway, I just feel so terrible about what's going on with the poor boy. I mean the glands had to be just horrible for him. We don't know anything right now, but as soon as I heard the "large abnormal cells" from the vet I just wanted to cry. I could be wrong, but histiocytomas are rarely painful, and this is painful and also ulcerated now (painful before ulcerated). Maybe I'm jumping to conclusions. He's not licking it however, and not limping either. I just don't want to wait 9 days to get this taken care of, but it's the next time our vet has an availability for surgery.

 

Hopefully a grand later we'll know what's up. He's just been such a trooper through all of this - I've never known a more good-natured and friendly, happy dog. But they don't complain, and they tolerate so much without us even knowing, even as in tune as we might be with them. I'm just scared it's going to come back grade III...I don't know what we'll do, and that kills me. I know it's on an extremity and on top of the skin, so III isn't as likely...but still.

 

I love Enzo beyond words. My boy isn't even 3, and his gotcha day was just this past October 31st. :weep

 

Thank you for reading. I'll update as we find things out, if anyone is interested. We're new here and I don't know any of y'all, but I've learned so much from you guys, so thank you.

 

*Update:*

 

T4 thyroid test came back at .2 ... normal levels are .5-1.5, is that correct? The vet said there was another test he'd have to take now, which we'll do after his surgery and the biopsy/grading comes back. Everything else in his bloodwork was great, though. Thoughts? Experiences?

Edited January 26, 2011 by issy

[Guest Lakota]

[Sambuca]

I hope he's OK. Did you get him in 2010 or 2009? A lot of his issues sound like my foster boys. I'll start with the histiocytoma. Rugger just developed one. His is not painful, but if Enzo's is between his toes, it may be painful because his toes are rubbing together and chafing it. I really hope that's what's going on. Rugger came to me with really red infected skin, missing hair in many area, had a ratty tail and was just a mess. He was on antibiotics for 10 days, then for another 4 weeks. Halfway through those 4 weeks he was still getting more bald spots so I asked the vet if it could be an allergy. She said it's possible, so I decided to cut chicken out of his diet and his stools immediately firmed up and he stopped losing hair. That was about a month ago and his hair is already starting to grow back and his tail looks a lot better. Good luck and I really do hope it's all minor issues.

[Guest fringepup]

Hello. I am also new here and a first-time greyhound mom. I wish I could offer some good advice, or any advice for that matter that could help. I will send hope and prayers your way in the meantime!

[Guest Bamn]

First - sending positive vibes your way. The waiting game is awful and terrifying - do as many fun things with Enzo to keep you both occupied and mind only on the positive.

 

Second - Anal Glands. Unless the "stuff" coming out is REALLY thick/lumpy, don't worry too much. So long as he isn't scooting/stinky, anal glands always have stuff in them (unless they just pooped). I studied and practiced as a vet tech for 3 years. I ALWAYS got something out of anal glands whenever I expressed them, even on dogs that had normal stools and the owners weren't complaining of that specific problem (some owners just like to get it done).

 

Good luck and keep us updated.

[LaFlaca]

Please do keep us updated on dear Enzo. I will keep you both in my prayers. I know from personal experience how agonizing the waiting can be. Gentle hugs.

[DesiRayMom]

Major bummer. Waiting 9 days for surgery will be a torture of worrying.

 

Hang in there.....sending many prayers for Enzo.

 

Kathy, DesiRay, Skeeter

[sabrina]

[MandysMom]

Sending prayers for Enzo

[Guest PhillyPups]

Many prayers for Enzo.

[luvhounds2]

Sorry you're going thru such a scare. Sending positive thoughts & prayers that it's nothing to worry about and he'll be good as new after his surgery.

[iluvgreys]

Sounds like you're doing everything possible for your precious boy. Holding Enzo in my prayers for resolution of these health issues, and sending lots of hugs your way.

[LuvAPuppy]

If the report on the aspirate comes back as just a histio, I would not put him through surgery unless it's really in a bad enough place that he can't walk. A histio will resolve by it's self in 6 to 12 weeks, it's just a histamine reaction. Mast Cell is a much different story and will require deep excision with wide margins as they can be cancerous. He does sound like he could be hypothyroid, which is an easy fix.

[Guest arlosmom]

Thinking of you and Enzo and saying prayers.

[Guest issy]

Thank you all. It really means a lot to us.

 

As far as the aspiration results - they didn't actually do an aspiration (just a smear?) so there will be no results before the surgery I'm guessing. Had I known that before I would have insisted on the actual aspiration, even if there was a chance it might make his foot bleed.

 

We had a happy day; we all went out for a cruise and went to a park with geese and ducks, and then to the Great Salt Lake just to walk on the beach and enjoy the sunset, with a stop in between at a chicken place, which Enzo enjoyed immensely.

 

I hope he's OK. Did you get him in 2010 or 2009? A lot of his issues sound like my foster boys. I'll start with the histiocytoma. Rugger just developed one. His is not painful, but if Enzo's is between his toes, it may be painful because his toes are rubbing together and chafing it. I really hope that's what's going on. Rugger came to me with really red infected skin, missing hair in many area, had a ratty tail and was just a mess. He was on antibiotics for 10 days, then for another 4 weeks. Halfway through those 4 weeks he was still getting more bald spots so I asked the vet if it could be an allergy. She said it's possible, so I decided to cut chicken out of his diet and his stools immediately firmed up and he stopped losing hair. That was about a month ago and his hair is already starting to grow back and his tail looks a lot better. Good luck and I really do hope it's all minor issues.

 

 

2010. That's so strange about Rugger - the first thing vet suggested was allergy, so we'll work on that next when this is all through. His food is lamb and rice kirkland signature, but there is chicken fat listed as an ingredient. I'm glad your boy is feeling better!

 

 

Second - Anal Glands. Unless the "stuff" coming out is REALLY thick/lumpy, don't worry too much. So long as he isn't scooting/stinky, anal glands always have stuff in them (unless they just pooped). I studied and practiced as a vet tech for 3 years. I ALWAYS got something out of anal glands whenever I expressed them, even on dogs that had normal stools and the owners weren't complaining of that specific problem (some owners just like to get it done).

 

 

 

Thanks for the info The way the tech talked was as if they were agonizingly full. And Enzo sat on his butt today for the first time since we've had him that I've seen. Maybe he just has abnormally big glands? Haha.

[Sambuca]

 

 

I hope he's OK. Did you get him in 2010 or 2009? A lot of his issues sound like my foster boys. I'll start with the histiocytoma. Rugger just developed one. His is not painful, but if Enzo's is between his toes, it may be painful because his toes are rubbing together and chafing it. I really hope that's what's going on. Rugger came to me with really red infected skin, missing hair in many area, had a ratty tail and was just a mess. He was on antibiotics for 10 days, then for another 4 weeks. Halfway through those 4 weeks he was still getting more bald spots so I asked the vet if it could be an allergy. She said it's possible, so I decided to cut chicken out of his diet and his stools immediately firmed up and he stopped losing hair. That was about a month ago and his hair is already starting to grow back and his tail looks a lot better. Good luck and I really do hope it's all minor issues.

 

 

2010. That's so strange about Rugger - the first thing vet suggested was allergy, so we'll work on that next when this is all through. His food is lamb and rice kirkland signature, but there is chicken fat listed as an ingredient. I'm glad your boy is feeling better!

 

 

 

I'm glad you had a good day. Rugger has issues with chicken, but for Enzo it could be anything (although many dogs are allergic to chicken). I honestly got lucky in that the first thing I removed from his diet happened to be what he's allergic to. I would start on the allergy stuff as soon as you can it really helped Rugger and I'm sure he feels a ton better than he did while on chicken. Good luck.

[EllenEveBaz]

Just sending good thoughts to you and your boy.

[Guest issy]

updated in post #1

[Batmom]

Your vet is probably thinking of a full thyroid panel, which is good. The T4 test is OK for screening but isn't very good for diagnosis -- that number fluctuates a lot, and it doesn't measure circulating thyroid hormones accurately.

 

If he's only been home since the end of October, he could in fact be blowing coat. Things like fish oil, it can take a good 6-8 weeks at double or triple your current dosage to get noticeable results, so don't give up too soon .

 

The toe thing is probably a benign histiocytoma. Could be something else, but it looks like one and from your description acts like one. Fingers crossed!