Meg, our 10 year old terrier has a now very large fatty growth under her chest. We have had another smaller surface growth removed previously, but have not had this one removed because of how invasive the procedure would be. This one has been growing for a couple of years and have consulted our vet every checkup. Our decision was to not have this removed but keep a watchful eye to make sure she was not in pain. Well it's now gotten large enough so her leg is turned out making her foot tow in. She still doesn't seem put off by this at all, still runs, jumps, goes up and down stairs etc. It doesn't bother her at all to touch the area or move her leg. Anyone else on here ever experienced this?
Tough Decision (non-newf)
- Thread starter bears_dad
- Start date
lacey9875
New member
My lab had those towards the end of her life-it had no bearing on my having to decide to put her down. She had one removed, and then another one formed above her back leg, and stayed small for about 2 years. She had trouble breathing ( I forget what it's called ) and was outside literally for 2 minutes and had a heatstroke. After that, it grew, and quadrupled in size. It looked like she was carrying a small dog under her skin. It didn't bother her except that she couldn't lay on that side, and people would gasp when they saw her. I have a picture somewhere and you can see how small it started out as and the location, I'll see if I can find it. I elected to have any others removed after the first one because of her age and other health issues. I may be mistaken, but I think it's something that's common in older dogs,but I'm sure there is someone else here who can shed more light on this.
Alicia
Active member
Maggie our 12 y.o. Rottie mix was just diagnosed with a fattycyst like growth on her leg. We were relieved to find out it wasn't bone cancer like the vet suspected it might be. He said to just keep an eye on it but he doesn't feel it's a big deal or that it needs to be removed due to her age and the risks involved. Sounds like your dog is living a good life so I wouldn't fret over it. 
anya
New member
A friend of mine took in a 10 yr old airedale, Maggie. Maggie had huge tumor in her groin area and my friend was surprised that the original owners didn't have it removed. After discussing this with the vet, my friend had them remove it. Maggie was much more comfortable and it was easier for her to lay down and move around. But, it was a matter of looking at the risk of surgery considering her age. For Maggie, it worked out.
KodysGrandma
New member
We felt we had to put our pit bull mix Becky down just before Christmas with the same sort of thing. She had had several removed prior, this one was in her groin area, growing rapidly, the vet felt it was cancerous and she was over 12. It had become very uncomfortabe for her. The combination led us to that conclusion. If she had been younger we might have tried again.
NinaA
New member
Echo has one of these, too. It's about the size of a Jumbo chicken egg right now - on her side and doesn't seem to bother her at all. I'm leaving it alone. She's almost 11 and I'm not going to put her under again unless it's urgent. AT 10 a terrier is not ancient, like a Newf, so it may not be as difficult. I'd talk to the vet and keep an eye on it.
Leonard and his bud Snuffles
Active member
You may want to contact luvxl k 9 (Karen) if she doesn't chime in here. Her mix breed Sassy who has since passed away due to other problems had a massive growth that caused her to walk with toe out I think. I think Karen did have the growth removed once, but came back. Sassy seemed to get around pretty good with no real discomfort too.
R Taft
Active member
Nugget our little Australian Kelpie, who died in his sleep this year at fifteen, had a lipoma on one of his hind legs. it grew for the last five years and was quite large. In the end it did interfere with his gait, but he also had a cardiac problem and we decided not to have surgery.......Overall I think it did not hurt him and he just walked a little awkward in his last year. Our vet said the lipoma would return if removed so was a risk not worth taking, unless it affected his general life........it never did.
mtnzookeeper
New member
We had a miniature 11 year old dachshund Fanny who had one of these growths on her belly, it started to interfere with her gait so we had it removed (we were nervous because she was getting elderly) She lived for 2 1/2 more years after that and was quite happy.