[dmccarty]

Penny has a lump approximately 3 inches in diameter on her left loin. It feels like it is located under her spine right in front of her pelvis and is bulging out on the left loin just slightly, forming a lump that can be felt and just barely seen. It does not feel like a fatty tumor. The vet thinks she may have a chiropractic issue because she has pain on palpation, but he is stumped because the pain seems to come from a general area rather than just the spine. He gave me a referral to a doggy chiro.

Penny has a limp in the left hind leg and has muscle atrophy in that limb from favoring it. She is careful how she lays down and gets up, but she lays on each side equally and even sometimes flat on her back with her feet in the air. She does not stand with her back hunched up or saggy. When I take her for her twice daily walks, she heads out at a brisk trot and I have to jog to keep up with her. She only slightly limps at a trot and she will gallop if I let her. When retrieving marks she will fly off the line and run with gusto, no signs of pain or limping until we get back in the house.

I am having little red flags in my mind, something that is saying to me "It's maybe not a spinal issue". She is just too active and twisty-turny. She has been in the field almost every day of her life either hunting or training. So I wonder if it could be a foxtail that had migrated some time ago and been walled off, creating a large mass that is pressing upward on the spine? Or maybe lodged in the spinal column itself?

I am hesitating to have her undergo chiropractic if it could be a foxtail issue. Should I ask my vet to x-ray her for a possible foxtail first, or is my theory highly unlikely?

 

[Billie]

I dont think a foxtail will show up on an xray- an ultrasound, yes. Went thru this with Fats several years ago.I would agree with your suspicion though-
if you do an U/S. none better up here than Dr Esh, at Valley Oak. Hes excellent.

 

[pupaloo]

if she has muscle atrophy I would suspect a blown disc, or something similar, causing a nerve problem. How long has she been limping? X-ray first, and see what the films say....

 

[JusticeDog]

I would get her to a good surgeon in your area. The big lump is what could be causing the problem. It certainly could be a Foxtail or something else. If it is showing 3 inches on the outside, it could be much bigger internally. I wouldn't hesitate to get her to the vet surgeon however. If she is painful and showing signs of pain that tells you she needs to go to the veterinarian. I do not believe that chiropractic is the answer.

 

[dmccarty]

Thanks everyone. Karen, I use Dr. Darling in Chico. I have found that he is very good at listening to my concerns and does not treat me like I'm ignorant when it comes to doggy health. I have never used Valley Oak... beautiful facility they have though!

I will call him and ask about doing an ultrasound. I am thinking it is not a blown disc because she would not be so active, jumping and twisting and turning and running around? This is not a new issue. She has been like this for a while. She was VERY overweight in August and I have reduced her weight probably 10# since then. It was when she started showing a waistline that I noticed the lump. The more in shape she gets, the more obvious it is. It was not noticeable when she was so heavy, which is why she had been diagnosed (by UC Davis) as just being "old and arthritic" and put on pain meds.

I will update this post when I find out more.

 

[Billie]

Dr Darling is great- he used to work for Dr Neves, before he died.
Not everyone does U/S . Dr Esh is great for referral, he found Fats' foxtail , isolated the area, and then surgery was performed( FT had moved bythen though!)
I dont use Valley Oak routinely but wouldnt hesitate to use Esh if I needed the specialty- Good luck with her- I hope its nothing serious....

 

[pupaloo]

Foxtail won't show up on x-ray. If your vet suggested chiro, you should have an x-ray for them to see before they adjust her anyway. Get an x-ray, see what shows up, and then see if you need an ultrasound, or maybe some other kind of scan. Good luck!

 

[Breck]

Always, Always, Always exhaust all diagnostic tools from vets and obtain a definitive diagnosis, if at all practical, Before resorting to chiropractic.
If your vet gives up before figureing things out go to another.

 

[EdA]

I am not sure I understand the location nor do I know where in California you live but I would always consider foxtail a possibility. If you live anywhere in a drive able distance to Oakdale make an appointment with Dr. Cal Cadmus who has a lifetime of professional experience with foxtail induced abscesses.

 

[BonMallari]

I am not sure I understand the location nor do I know where in California you live but I would always consider foxtail a possibility. If you live anywhere in a drive able distance to Oakdale make an appointment with Dr. Cal Cadmus who has a lifetime of professional experience with foxtail induced abscesses.

THIS ^^^^^^ times 10000.....Go see Dr Cal

 

[dmccarty]

I would love to go to Cal. He was my vet when I lived in Central CA and he saved my dog's life, diagnosing a rare presentation of Valley Fever (my dog had boils on his leg, and I posted pics of it a few years back on RTF). He is the best vet I know! He is 5 1/2 hrs away from me now since I moved up north. I have an appointment to see my local vet tomorrow, we are going to ultrasound and xray to see what we can see. If it shows a mass I will be making the drive to Oakdale.

 

[Purpledawg]

You might check with his office. The PRTA Trial is at Corning, possibily a long shot but Dr. Cadmus may be running his dog there. Good luck

I would love to go to Cal. He was my vet when I lived in Central CA and he saved my dog's life, diagnosing a rare presentation of Valley Fever (my dog had boils on his leg, and I posted pics of it a few years back on RTF). He is the best vet I know! He is 5 1/2 hrs away from me now since I moved up north. I have an appointment to see my local vet tomorrow, we are going to ultrasound and xray to see what we can see. If it shows a mass I will be making the drive to Oakdale.

 

[dmccarty]

I took Penny to the local vet today. We did the ultrasound and there was a large mass approximately 2 inches wide by 4 inches long. It was located approximately 2" underneath her spine, just in front of the pelvis. It was just hanging out in there and was not attached to the spine. Aspiration and slide exam showed it to be a lipoma. But it was not pushing on the spine or the pelvis.

I requested x-rays. There was the problem. A chiro would have been a waste of time and may have even made her worse. Her spinal column was well aligned, but the two vertebrae next to (cranial to?) the pelvis were compressed. Her left hip joint showed arthritis. By looking at the films, my dog should not be wanting to do much activity and certainly should not be running around acting like a puppy. But she is.

So now I have my answer. She will be 12 in March. The years of training hard, and hunting harder, are catching up with her. I will still take her out and shoot a duck or pheasant or two for her, till she tells me it's time to stop. I don't know how long her spine will hold up, but that's just a mystery of life. I bought her some Osteo-3 which I am not sure will help her much, but it can't hurt and she likes the taste. She doesn't like her Tramadol so I give her only 1 a day, and a half a Rimadyl maybe 3 times a week. She seems pretty happy like that for now.

And I will always wonder how long that big ol' fatty tumor has been floating around inside my dog. Was it there when I ran Penny in the AKC Master tests? Did it participate in training days? What hunting adventures did it tag along with? I think I will name it the Starship Enterprise, just for fun.