I have been watching this forum for a few years now, and have responded occasionally. I feel that it is a great learning place, as we have only bred occasionally for the last 15 years, and by no means do we have all the answers.

We have 10 yr old girl that developed a lump on the base of her nose. I first thought rough play or bee sting. Well, turns out it is a reoccuring bump that seems to swell, then disipates across the whole muzzle, then disappears. Last week the vet took a whole series of x-rays, profile and complete dental, thinking if it was a bad tooth it could be extracted. Not one tooth was bad and every bone was clean. He extracted what fluid he could get from the small lump on the nose and sent it out for a cytology. Unfortunately, his call today was to tell me that it was mast cell, can't tell what stage unless they remove the whole lump. Problem being that the location is very difficult, and would not be easy to heal. She has never been sick a day, gave us three lovely litters, and just the sweetest dog on earth.

Would greatly appreciate any input if you have experienced something similar to this. We are going to a specialist as soon as I can get an appt. Wondering if a teaching college would be a good option.

Thanks in advance, can e-mail me privately,
Michele

We just went through a similar situation with our 11 year old except the lump was on the side of her face.

We had it removed a few weeks ago but the vet said even though she did her best, she could not get it all The mast cell tumor was so full of blood vessels and went so deep into the boney portion of the cheek, she would have had to remove her whole face and scrape it out of the bone.
As it is she has an 8 inch scar from the incision.
It was likely deep inside there for awhile before we were able to see it.

All I can say is that our girl was looking ill prior to the surgery, just not "right" and had dropped a small amount of weight. Not normal for her, she has always been one of those that gets fat easy.

Now 5 weeks post-op, she has gained weight (with a cup increase in food) and is looking healthy and shiny again, her old self for the most part.
She took the surgery very well and recovered fast (although she was quite ticked off about the cone she had to wear for 2 weeks!!)

We don't know what the future will hold for her, but we hope for the best of course and that would be a few more years

Different location, same problem. Surgery was not able to get clean margins. The answer at this point seems to be radiation therapy, costing either $2400 or $4400, depending on the protocol. My dog is 8 years old and, gulp, I think I'll be doing it.

That is going to be a very hard place to get to heal because there is no skin to lap over to help the healing process. I think that I would not put an older dog through that surgery for any reason. I had an eye removed from a bitch who was older at the vet recommendation. I wish I never done it as she was so confused because she had trouble seeing from the one side of her face. She was 11 and shortly thereafter she had to have a tooth removed, which I agreed to, and then she had cancer in that space. So I learned, the hard way, to not go for the quick cures that they so hard to press on us. Good luck and hope she does not have to deal with the pain. e