Lumpy

For the past year, Indy's had a little lump on his right hind leg. It started at about the size of a mole, and grew to the size of a dime. When it reached that size, we had it checked out. The doctor said what I had suspected - that she thought it was just a fatty cyst that terrier breeds get (and yes, Indy has got to have some terrier in him). My schnauzer, Ripple, had one for about three years prior to his death at age 17. Indy's much younger, though, he's only 5. The vet thought that if we weren't ready to have a needle biopsy done that we should just keep Indy from licking it and keep an eye on it.


Poor, unsuspecting Indy takes a nap with Lumpy in plain view.

Fast forward to this week. The lump got bigger - about the size of a half dollar. So, we decided it was time to have it checked out again. Indy and I took a trip to the vet (Jason was working). The vet told me that if the lump got much larger it would be really difficult to remove it simply because they have to cut such clean margins, and dogs don't have that much extra skin on their hind legs. Since it was already so large, she thought that they'd have to knock him out for the surgery. Why not have his teeth cleaned at the same time then?

Poor Indy...


Close up of Lumpy the night before it was removed.

On Thursday morning, Jason dropped him at the vet where we had his friend "Lumpy" removed. The vet said the surgery went well, that lumpy came off cleanly and had not grown into the muscle under neath. It was solely in the skin and an easy removal. That's a good sign. Lumpy has been sent off for biopsy and we should have some results tomorrow. We're hoping it's just a benign fatty tumor. It COULD come back some day if that's the case, but at least we don't have to worry that it may have spread. PLUS Indy has squeaky clean, plaque free teeth. The vet said his teeth were pretty healthy!


The scar as it looks today.

Indy will be wearing the cone of shame for the next ten days until the staples are taken out. I shouldn't laugh at him, but he's just so pathetic and completely ungainly. When you hear indy moving through the house it's like thump, thump, thump - he's hitting it on everything and having a really hard time getting through doorways of all things. It's also a snore amplifier. I was awake from 4-6am this morning listening to Indy snore in his megaphone cone. He can't help it, so I just have to laugh about it. Something woke him up in the middle of the night with a bark. Indy then proceeded to fall asleep sitting up. I had to physically lay him down. Poor little guy. He was really out of it!


Indy in his cone of shame. He's also pretty loopy and out of it.

Currently, he's coneless and curled up next to me on the couch where I can see him and keep him from licking at his staples. The cone will go back on him tonight so he doesn't lick while we're sleeping.