Wart?

[Guest gurehaundo]

I'm not sure if dogs get warts, but Jac has a growth on one of his toes. I read Kim's post about Eddie's foot and thought that maybe the two boys had the same problem, but it's quite obvious that there are two different things going on. Perhaps Jac only has a histiocytoma... Any thoughts?

 

PS - The bump is on Jac's right, front paw (pinky finger-toe).

 

Here are some pictures:

 

 

 

[seeh2o]

What does it feel like? Is it attached or does it move around? Hard, soft? Is Jac hypothyroid?

[Guest gurehaundo]

It's firm and moveable. I can move it with his skin. I wouldn't say that it's attached except to his skin. It doesn't feel boney at all but, well, just like a wart or a raised mole. Jac has no known thyroid issues and is otherwise healthy. One of his front legs was swollen about a month ago or so, but it turned out to just be a pulled muscle. He's been fine ever since. Does hypothyroidism cause dogs to grow bumps?

[tbhounds]

Looks like a histio but, you should have your vet aspirate it just to rule other masses like mast cell tumors. I am not aware of tumors/cancers caused by hypothryoidism.

[seeh2o]

Carl had some bumps that looked a lot like that, firm, but not attached and continuously scaly skin on the bumps. They started to come up in Oct and were big by December/January. He had two on his muzzle, three on the outside flap of one ear, one near the back base of the other ear and three along his lower leg. I was so afraid they were mast cell tumors, I was sure that's what I was going to be told. My vet did not want to remove or biopsy, she gave me Thuja 30cc (two pellets every other day). They were lipid deposits and ended up going away within a couple of months of the Thuja treatment. We started to wean him off of it (under the vet's supervision), but they started to come back, so he's back on it. Carl is hypothyroid and does not process his cholesterol properly (his cholesterol is not high) and before we realized he was hypothyroid, he developed lipid deposits in his cornea. He has been treated with Soloxine now for 2+ years, the lipid deposits in his corneas are almost gone in one eye, but come and go in the other. Vet feels the skin bumps are related to the condition.

[Guest gurehaundo]

Are lipid deposits in the cornea visible? What are the symptoms? Jac's bump is quite scaly-looking, but this is the only one we've been able to find. My dad had a thyroid problem and had to be on medication for the remainder of his life, I'm assuming that Carl will have to be medicated forever as well. I would never have guessed a possible thyroid issue.

 

Thanks for the help! We will be calling the vet tomorrow morning to see if we can bring Jac in.

[seeh2o]

Yes, the deposits are visible on his corneas and he will be on Soloxine for the rest of his life. That's what tipped off my vet that he needed his thyroid checked. So, she did blood work and had me make an appointment with the ophthalmologist. He had just started Soloxine when we went to see the ophthalmologist. The good thing, in the scheme of things, it's treatable and it won't have any impact on his lifespan.

 

I'm not saying this is thyroid related, a friend of mine just had a grey diagnosed with with lipid issues and she is not considered hypothyroid(she had corneal deposits, too), though her thyroid is in the low range of normal (if it were me, based on my experience with Carl, I'd insist on treating the thyroid condition to impact the eye issue!).

 

When I took Carl in for the bumps, I was bracing myself for the worst news. She said she didn't want to biopsy or remove them, she was very certain they weren't mast cell tumors (I was holding my breath that she was right). She said that she doesn't like to remove things initially and that her experience is that when dogs come in with internal tumors that when she looks at their medical history that there is often a long history of having skin things removed. She feels that it is safer to let the body work it out in the skin rather than remove them and force the body to deal with the issue internally. She practices holistically, and I have to say that even though sometimes it really scares me (like this time) she is usually right!

Edited July 5, 2011 by seeh2o