Lump on right hind leg

[Canned Ice]

I found a lump two weeks ago on Buckley's right hind leg, near the knee joint, but on the outside of his leg where the two muscles meet. It didn't go away so I had the vet look at it yesterday. She was a little perplexed by it. The lump is a little squishy and not well-defined. At first she thought it was a localized reaction to his rabies vaccination but it's been nearly six weeks and I only found the lump two weeks ago (which means it would have developed a month after the vaccine). She aspirated the lump and found some fat tissue but also a lot of inflammatory cells including a lot of white blood cells, indicating it wasn't a simple lipoma (her other hunch). She said to watch to see if it disappears in the next three to four weeks. If it goes away on it's own, it likely is a rabies vaccine reaction. If it's still there or gets any larger over the next few weeks, they are going to re-aspirate it and decide what to do then.

So, I'm asking all the brittany folks, has anyone seen anything like this with their dogs? Could this have anything to do with the massive amount of bird shot peppering Buckley's rear end (he was shot before I adopted him)? Should I be worried about the large number of inflammatory cells in the lump?

[MaggieRocks]

Poor guy...I didn't know he was shot. I hope it was an accident? (Or it that why he ended up in rescue?) Here's hoping it goes away on its own and he's back to normal in no time!

[AuntieMom]

Candace, I have not encountered this to know what to say. Hope Barb and others who are more help are around this weekend and will weigh in. Please give Buckley extra hugs from me!

[Cindy]

Sorry - no experience with this on my end either. But absolutely keeping fingers and paws crossed that it's nothing to worry about. I have had lumps and bumps appear and disappear so am hoping you have the same thing happen.

[britlover]

First, I hope Buckley is OK. This post caught my eye because my older boy has a lump in the inside of his front leg, just above the elbow. But his is different from what you described, although he also has several fatty tumors that feel squishy like you describe, and once had a fluid-filled cyst that was aspirated and that was the end of it. Any chance it is a reaction to a bug bite/sting, or a sliver or thorn that got embedded and infected?
My younger boy has some birdshot, mostly in his rear end, and has never had issues like this so I'd be surprised if they are related, but guess nothing is out of the question.
Lumps are always scary, but so often turn out to be harmless. Hope that's the case here and you can breathe a sigh of relief.

[Barb Wright]

Over the years a little experience with lumps and bumps, from benign to the Dread Mahaka. So, from what you reported this is how it strikes me....."strike" meaning just guessing

1. The rabies shot surely was not given that close to the knee....usually it is given IM and that would be in the muscle mass, back from the knee. more to the rear of the thigh. Not positive, but I think that if a lump occurs because of the shot it will be at the injection site. Rabies vaccine has a lot of possible nasty repercussions, but "lumps" as such are generally at the injection site.

2. Since there were white cells in the mass, along with fat cells and other cells indicating an inflammatory reaction going on, I'd put my money on bird shot, or some other foreign object. The body isolates foreign bodies like that, surrounds them with just that kind of mix to keep them in quarantine so to speak. And most of the time will try to move the object out of the body. This can take months or even years sometimes, and if the slowly moving mass does not run into something like bone or tendon/cartilage that it can't move around or through, it often makes it's way to the outside of the body, sometimes in the form of an abcess, sometimes it takes another form like a hard object coming out through the skin. I suppose an x-ray would answer the question about bird shot, but time may also give the answer.....dunno

3. If it was my dog I would give it the few weeks the vet wants, then if it has not become a little more clear what is going on, or resolved (best case scenario), have the vet aspirate it again....and if she doesn't like what she sees then do a biopsy.

When the diagnosis is unsure, and there is not a serious time consideration, I always like to give the body a chance to make the fix

[adele]

I can't help, sorry. Does the lumpy seem to bother Buckley? I hope he's okay. He's had his fair share of trouble already. Give him a good rub from me.

[rtropeano]

Sorry no info to offer, but I hope Buck's okay...he's a sweet boy. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Rose

[holisticmom]

Orion had a bunch of lipomas and cysts. They felt squishy and not that well defined. I'm sure your guy is fine--and I send pats and hugs to you both.

[Canned Ice]

No change in the lump. I prodded around a bit and it seems to be more cylindrical than spherical. The only time the lump seems to bother Buckley is when someone messes with it. I'm trying to leave it alone as much as I can but I also need to make sure it's not growing.

I'll have the vet look at the previous x-rays if the lump is still around in a few weeks just to see if there is bird shot in the same area. If there was a piece of shot trying to work its way out, maybe it would form a cylindrical lump?

[britlover]

Is the lump tiny like birdshot, and is it hard at all? Piper has had the birdshot work it's way out, but it was in perfect, round shape when it came out. It was embedded near his wrist and I was worried that it could find it's way into the joint and mess things up, so I checked it regularly. It was always hard and was very easy to identify as birdshot. After a year I noticed it seemed to be closer to the skin, and then one night it was almost translucent thru the skin and I noticed Piper licking the area. I pinched the lump between my thumb and forefinger to get a feel for how close to the skin's surface it was, and to my surprised it popped thru the skin and I was left holding the birdshot. Kinda freaky, but I was glad it popped out. He still has a few in his rear end, fairly deep so I doubt they will surface.

[Barb Wright]

..I'm trying to leave it alone as much as I can but I also need to make sure it's not growing.

I've found that I can't check a lump more than once a week and determine if it has grown. Check it closely, get a "visual" of about what size it is, like the end of a pencil, a pea, a grape, etc. Also, like you have done, determine the shape and firmness. Write down your perceptions. Then, in 6-7 days, feel it and again decide if it has changed and how much. In between times DO NOT feel it. If it has grown substantially you may have a serious issue.

I had one virulent type cancer on one of my dogs where a somewhat small growth on the underside of her ear flap doubled and sent out runners I could feel in a week When it was all over, after two surgeries to get it all, she had lost all of the ear flap clear down to the outer entrance to the canal Had another case back in the late 70's where another of my sled dogs had what appeared to be a small lesion/wound on his shoulder. I fussed with it for a couple weeks but it slowly enlarged to an open ulcer about the size of a half dime. When I got into the vet (which was a four hour drive one way, hence the delay) it also was a fairly fast growing cancer, had runners all across the shoulder blade and deep into the muscle There were no options at that time but PTS

Scary tales aside, have also had many lumps and bumps that were nothing, other than "mysterious" Have had porcupine quills show up months later as abcesses or even just firm nodules making their way out of the body. Sometimes very small "objects" have been expelled that were purely mysterious, though thinking back now I'd venture to guess were cysts of some sort....dunno. Back then I did a lot of guessing Actually, I guess I still do a lot of guessing

[Canned Ice]

The vet measured the lump and she said check it maybe twice a week or so, no more. The lump is about 1 cm in diameter so if there's shot in there, we can't feel it. He does have shot near the skin that you can feel in various spots but not in that area. Previous x-rays taken for his knees and hips did show lots of shot scattered throughout his rear end - too much to count.

So it may or may not be shot. Or it may be something else entirely. My rabbit had a squishy lump on his abdomen when he was younger and the vet determined it was a weird fatty cyst fluid-filled likely caused by a bug bite. We'll wait and see I guess, and hope it goes away on it's own.

[AuntieMom]

Maybe all that circling he used to do was a healing incantation.

Get better, B-man. We love you!!