Growth .. UPDATE...

Well i took Inca the vets this morning an they reckon it looks like a 'mast cell tumour' ...
A mast cell tumour is actually cancer of the immune system and when Inca was with her previous vets they all said she has a very weak immune system ... Makes me think they could have been right !!

The vet recommended removing it as it has 3 stages that it shows itself as..
Stage 1) Very common (70%) in dogs (esp staffies !) and will not spread across body
Stage 2) Slight chance of them forming on other parts of the body
Stage 3) Definite chance or already has formed on other parts of the body

But we wont know at what stage it is unless it is removed as she doesn't want to presume its a stage 1 and 6 months down the line it pops up again only to find its a stage 2 or even worse a stage 3 !! and we should have removed it earlier...
The opp will cost (at the most) around £272 an that includes sending the growth of to the labs ..

Sadly we didn't get Inca insured when she was young as her skin conditions started from the get go an we didn't get chance to insure her ..

Thanks again everyone for your kind thoughts for my gorgeous girl... We are gunna try an juggle sum pennies around and get this done asap ....

Sorry to hear this Sue, but with the right treatment all will be fine ><

So sorry to hear this. I hope Inca will be okay.

janey wrote:

Sorry to hear this Sue, but with the right treatment all will be fine ><

Arhh thanks hunny bun ... an yeh fingers xd all will be fine xx

aww poor inca.

Glad the vet is on the ball and sounds like inca is in good hands.

I had a similar experience with Diesel, she had a very similar growth on her, vet said it may be cancerous but until histology comes bk, can't be sure.

Anyway, she had it remived, sent away abc thankfully it came bk as a hystiocytoma. Mastocytomas and hystiocytomas look very similar, so here's hoping for some better news once u get histology results xxxxx

Are you using a private vet or 'franchised' like easipetcare? Because they might be worth asking for a quote. I have used them in the past when I was a bit strapped. And they were good from what I remember, only difference was the lack of personal customer care service. More like pet NHS.

Also the PDSA will be able to do it for free if you are on qualifying benefits. I don't see the shame in it either. People lose their jobs everyday etc. Your pets still need care. Don't know what they are like personally but know people who have used them. Might be worth looking on their website.

Good luck Inca! Hopefully this will all blow over pretty soon

Oh Sue you poor thing. I can understand your predicament.
Hope all goes well with the surgery. Big hug to Inca ><

Sue, Im sure Inca will be fine. Do you have a credit card you put the fees on then pay it off gradually ? i know this is not the ideal situation to be in but since you dont have the insurance cover it may be the way to go. At least it is not a huge amount of money, although it sounds a lot right now it could be worse.

PS I'm not giving you a bashing for not having insurance cover, no offense meant.

After having Inca checked at her new vets an being told the growth on her foot could possibly be a mast cell tumour and that the best option is an operation to have it removed... There was a tiny piece of me that thought the vet was just trying to make a quick buck from us so i decided to get a 2nd opinion from a different vet practise who basically said it deffo looked like a mast cell tumour but what i could do 1st was soak it in warm salted water twice a day to see if it disappears ... If it dries up but is still as big then she will still need an opp ...

Av been soaking it for 3 days now an sometimes i think it looks better an then the next time am not too sure !!!!

I'll give it 3 more days an if its not starting to disappeared then am afraid wev'e gotta go down the op route..

Whatever happens Inca will be fine

hollymolly wrote:After having Inca checked at her new vets an being told the growth on her foot could possibly be a mast cell tumour and that the best option is an operation to have it removed... There was a tiny piece of me that thought the vet was just trying to make a quick buck from us so i decided to get a 2nd opinion from a different vet practise who basically said it deffo looked like a mast cell tumour but what i could do 1st was soak it in warm salted water twice a day to see if it disappears ... If it dries up but is still as big then she will still need an opp ...

Av been soaking it for 3 days now an sometimes i think it looks better an then the next time am not too sure !!!!

I'll give it 3 more days an if its not starting to disappeared then am afraid wev'e gotta go down the op route..

did you go to another vet how much did that cost?

Hugs to you and Inca. Hopefully it will go down with bathing but if she needs the op I'm sure she will be fine.

So sorry to hear this. I lost the first dog i had ( i basically grew up in her kennel) due to cancer. She has the mass removed but it came back and she was reaching about 13 or 14 so we didn't want to put her through anything more.

Medicine will have vastly improved since then though, so i hope they can do all they can to help her ><

Good luck to you and Inca

I know opps can be expensive, but rather safe than sorry. I hope all goes well and keep us updated.

Steve wrote:

hollymolly wrote:After having Inca checked at her new vets an being told the growth on her foot could possibly be a mast cell tumour and that the best option is an operation to have it removed... There was a tiny piece of me that thought the vet was just trying to make a quick buck from us so i decided to get a 2nd opinion from a different vet practise who basically said it deffo looked like a mast cell tumour but what i could do 1st was soak it in warm salted water twice a day to see if it disappears ... If it dries up but is still as big then she will still need an opp ...

Av been soaking it for 3 days now an sometimes i think it looks better an then the next time am not too sure !!!!

I'll give it 3 more days an if its not starting to disappeared then am afraid wev'e gotta go down the op route..

did you go to another vet how much did that cost?

Yeh steve i just wanted to see if the other vet said summit totally different an it cost me £26 for the check up and diagnosis..

Remember me sayin i took Inca for a 2nd opinion an the other vet recommended bathin it in warm salty water for a few days to see if the growth goes down on its own ..............................................................

Well WOOHOO .... After bathin it for a few days, the growth has virtually disappeared an am soooooo chuffed as i didn't honestly think it was gunna go without having surgery ...

Thanks again peeps for all your lovely comments and words of support ... YOU ROCK xx

Great news Sue, so glad Inca doesn't need surgery

It usually pays to get a second opinion, well done. Hope it is all OK now.