Anyone ever dealt with this on their Lab? My girl, Lilly, has a lump behind one shoulder that came up over the course of a few days while I was out of town, and I didn't get her to the vet until Saturday. The vet said that he didn't know what it was but wanted to schedule her for surgery to remove it. He said the bump felt too firm to be a cyst, so he jumped straight to mast cell tumor (MST). He didn't want to do a fine needle aspiration because he was afraid that would aggravate it. They clipped the hair around it and cleaned it up, prescribed some antibiotics, and told me to give her 100 mg of Benadryl twice a day to counteract the histamine associated with MCTs. Next step was to schedule surgery for Wednesday morning to remove it and send it off for histopathology. I should add that this spot and bump looks just like an infected cyst...it's a little oozy, inflamed, etc.

My usual vet was out of town, and he rotates associates in pretty frequently, so I wasn't too worried that I hadn't met this guy before. Lilly is healthy, so she doesn't go to the vet much at all, especially since I use a mobile clinic for vaccinations, heartworm checks, and preventatives. As we're walking out the door to check out, this vet tells me he's just visiting while my regular guy is on vacation...

So, how worried should I be if it actually is MST? I hate just dropping her off for surgery, so I'm thinking of taking her elsewhere, too, for a second opinion, but I don't want to delay any further if it is cancer. Plus, this entire interaction with this vet has left a bad taste in my mouth and pretty well makes me unhappy.

Sorry if I'm a paranoid owner, but this big girl is my best friend...Thanks in advance for any suggestions, etc. I live in Frisco, so I'll go back through this forum and look for vet recommendations, too.

Either get a second opinion, or schedule her surgery for when your regular vet is back.

I've never been one to believe, that most vets do unneeded things just to hike up the price.
But I've had the same trusted vet for many years.
I had to take a foster dog in to see a hip specialist. Mind you he is supposed to be well respected in his field. He took, and looked at xrays. Then said she need a hip replacement, and would probably not do very well if we went with FHO instead. The cost would be around $6000.
We got a second opinion with Dr Liska, he is one of the founders of the total hip replacement. He looked at the same exact xrays, and said she was NOT a good candidate for hip replacement, that the device would likely fail, causing her to need more surgery. He recommended FHO surgery for her, and the cost was $4000 less.

If you get confirmation that it is a MCT, and your on Facebook. Go to Ketopet on Facebook. They have a diet, that along with treatment from your vet is showing to have good improvements. You can download the diet for free, its pretty basic, and easy to follow. If I was in your shoes, I would try it.
Hope you get good news, and this is just a scare.

Thanks!!

My dog has had them. Not all mast cell tumors masticize(spelling)and I think the only way to tell on the grade of the tumor or how aggressive the tumor is is to do a test with a needle and go from there.

The vet doesn't know what it is but wanted to operate to remove it??! Wow, if find a new vet asap. You said plenty about how you felt with this vet so yeah, I'd find a new one.

Not understanding why they would recommend surgery to remove something when they don't know what it is and haven't done any testing to try and find out.

A mast cell tumor can be confirmed or denied through a needle aspiration or a plug biopsy. If suspect cells are not detected through either method, the competent vet should suggest removal and further clinical testing. You won't be sorry by being over-cautious and will harbor terrible guilt if you don't take care of it now. This was my Cappy at age 11 following removal of a MCT following a positive diagnosis via a plug biopsy. He survived the surgery but passed a year and a half later when the cancer returned elsewhere.

You should be fine waiting a couple days until your regular vet is in. Just please do something, because your buddy depends on you. My lab went through cancer three times, with the last one taking her life. Screw cancer. I don't regret a dime spent on her.

First off, thank you all for the concern, suggestions, and info. Our regular vet returned and Lilly had surgery last Wednesday to remove the mass. Vet called Friday afternoon with confirmation that the mass was MCT but that the pathology report indicated clear margins all the way around. Vet and I discussed the possibilities of it coming back elsewhere, precautions to take, etc. Guarded optimism, I think, is the way I'd sum it all up. On the other hand, it could come back, and Lilly is my dog.

Lilly is doing well in her cone of shame. She was very, very uncomfortable/painful the first night, but every day has been better since then. She's got a large stitch line, and the vet said she took quite a bit of tissue around the tumor to try and get it all.

I was looking at her sleeping the other night...she had that little snore going and her feet twitched every once in a while as they often do. I was overwhelmed...simply overwhelmed. I'm not overly sentimental, but I do love that dog. I instantly regretted those times when I felt too busy, too tired, or too occupied with other things to take her for a walk, go to the park, or play fetch. We'll fix that.

Glad you had it removed, and they were able to get clean margins.

I had a small bump removed from one of my dogs when she was 2 years old.
It came back as sarcoma, but with clean margins. The vet said it was not if it would come back, but when.
We lost her at 6 years old, due to another reason. But the cancer never returned.

Glad to hear she is doing better.


Barry