6 months 3 weeks 2 days old
So, we saw the vet early this afternoon and the news is a little unsure for now. I definitely did the right thing by taking him there as it could be serious, and either way definitely needed looking at.
The vet thinks it could well be an infection of a hair follicle (folliculitis) that has turned inwards and has become hard and boil-like. We have some rather strong antibiotics for the next five days in the hope that they will clear it up.
Another fairly likely possibility is something called a histiocytoma, which is a benign tumor usually found in young dogs on their heads or limbs. They usually shrink and then disappear on their own, after 1-4 months, although occasionally do require removal. In the past they were routinely removed but more often vets just leave them now. Looking at images online of dogs with histiocytomas, it looks quite possible it could be one of those.
The most dangerous possibility is that it could be something malignant, but the vet said in a young dog like Knightley he'd guess at a 1% chance of something like that.
The idea is that he goes on these antibiotics for five days, and we hope the lump goes away. If it doesn't then he goes back in for sedation and a needle biopsy for diagnosis. The vet gave the go ahead for the show this weekend, Knightley shouldn't be experiencing any symptoms.
Cross fingers for us that it is just the infection and is nice and simple. Keep Knightley in your thoughts!
Lyssa, you probably saw my comment on one of your previous posts about Logan's histiocytoma. Is there a way to email you from your blog?
ReplyDeleteI've created a new special blog email address. Feel free to email me at assistance(dot)dog(dot)downunder(at)gmail(dot)com - just replace the dots and at with the relevant symbol! Hopefully email scanners won't pick that up. I'd definitely like to hear about your experience with this.
DeleteAnyone else interested in emailing me about anything can go ahead.