Friday, August 16, 2013

Lipoma again…

Sometimes it seems like Zoe can’t buy a break.  I had noticed that her front feet had started to sort of splay and I was worried about her mobility. We decided to talk to the vet that removed the lipoma (basically a ball of fat) from her side a few years ago, about taking out two that were in and around the armpits of both her front legs.  After looking her over he said he was far more concerned with the large one behind her shoulder, because not only could it cause her trouble walking but that there was a nerve that could be pulled too tight that would cause her pain and trouble walking.  He said that he could remove some of the others in the area after he got that one out, but that he didn’t think they really ‘needed’ to be removed.  He said that the splaying we were seeing was age and muscle related and that taking those out wouldn’t change that, so the big one it was.
Zoe ended up spending the night in the hospital as the surgery took a long time.  The lipoma had infiltrated two layers of her muscle and they ended up cutting it to get it all out and then sewing the muscle back up.  Zoe had a 14” incision and came home with over 55 staples.  The lipoma they removed was almost 2 pounds in size.
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Her hair was shaved, half her ridge gone and yet she came home wagging her tail. She is one tough girl!