# Giant lump on neck !HELP!



## Zor'sMom (Dec 16, 2009)

My GSD has A larg lump on the left side of his neck that has doubled in size over night. It is also causing him pain.
Zor will be 4 in Feb but is currently acting about 105 years old and has hardly eaten a thing since we noticed this issue on Sunday.
Went to the vet today waiting on final results. 

Has anyone ever seen or heard anything like this????

I'm so scared, he's my baby.


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## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

What did the vet do today? What kind of tests were run? Did he have a fever? Were tick tests run? Etc?


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## Kaity (Nov 18, 2009)

could just be an infection.


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## Ruthie (Aug 25, 2009)

So sorry. Hope all goes well. One of my family members had a absess that did that. Hopefully, it is something that will heal quickly.


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## Zor'sMom (Dec 16, 2009)

Blood, X-ray and aspiration
2 things I don't understand - Idexx SNAP T4 & Gen Health Profile Major (can)
Yes he had a fever and high white blood cell count, sounds like infection right? They gave him pain meds and antibiotics.
Over $900.00 in test later Vet is leaning towards Thyroid mass.
Cancer or non cancer vet said it will need surgery.

I think he seems a bit better tonight tough


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## Zor'sMom (Dec 16, 2009)

Kaity,

I hope the vet is wrong and it is just infection because I think the antibiotics are working.


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## lucymom (Jan 2, 2009)

Sorry, I posted then saw your reply. not relevant now.

I'm so sorry...so much worry. keep us posted. Are you happy with your vet? Are they skilled in surgery and oncology?? Scary stuff, I'll be keeping fingers and paws crossed here.


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## Kaity (Nov 18, 2009)

So sorry my response sounded so careless. My cats have had lumps on them that I just cut open at home and drain. My sisters cat Moki had a lump on his shoulder and was in the bathroom when all of the sudden we heard him meowing like crazy as he ran out and there was a bunch of orangeish colored stuff everywhere. 900 is quite a bit to pay for. Did they give him an IV or anything? I personally wouldn't have gotten an X-ray done. I too hope it is just an infection!! Keep us posted! Hope your baby is doing good.


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## BJDimock (Sep 14, 2008)

$900 for bloodwork, aspirate and radiograph?








The general health profile is going to test all major organ functions, like kidney and liver.
The T4 snap is for Thyroid function. That should have been back to you today. It's a quick test, and if they are charging you that much, I would have expected it. That will tell you if the thyroid is acting normally.
Did they say anything at all about the aspirates??? The vet should be able to look at the stuff he/ she got and comment to you on the consistency or anything else.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I say it could be an infection as well, they next 24 hours you should be able to tell, if the swelling goes down...hopefully that is all it is!
Welcome, zor's mom, you found the right place for support.


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## Zor'sMom (Dec 16, 2009)

Dr. has all results except aspirates. T4 was low.
I really don't think they needed all these tests.

Thanks Jane- glad I did


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## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

> Originally Posted By: zor'smomYes he had a fever and high white blood cell count, sounds like infection right?


Low T4 doesn't account for the fever and high WBC. 

Any chance of a tick disease?


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## RebelGSD (Mar 20, 2008)

It could be an abscess or a cyst. A thyroid would not grow so, quickly, at least i don't think so.


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## Riley's Mom (Jun 7, 2007)

Wow, that would scare the daylights outa me to see something like that on my dog! It does sound like an infection, hopefully that's all. Was he injured in that area that an infection could set in?

This is scary because both my dogs have hypothyroidism .. does this make them susceptible to this thing called "thyroid mass" that was mentioned?

KaityKaity: I could never cut open one of my dogs. I'm going to assume you use something to keep them from feeling the pain?


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## Kaity (Nov 18, 2009)

Oh god no. was my cat (only did it because it seemed to be bothering her quite a bit.. was on her cheek. ]dogs are so differrent then cats when it comes to medical sometimes. My cat just sat there like nothing while I drained it, just poked her with a needle is all.


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## Spiritsmam (Nov 10, 2007)

One of my dogs had a thyroid tumour (thankfully he wsa the 1 in a million who had a benign functional adenoma. Thyroid masses are found at the front of the neck. My Shep's grew quickly taking about a month to get from "unfeelable" to egg sized. We found his mass on labwork and physical exam - he was losing weight and had a HIGH T4.

I'd be thinking more along the lines of an infection given the fever, pain and high white cell count.

Hoping the aspirate results come back as just inflammation/supparative inflammation.

Joanne


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## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

As an aside, I wonder if dogs get thyroid nodules from an autoimmune reaction, like humans do. Don't think that's happening here, just a thought though....


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## Alto (Nov 18, 2008)

I apologise for going off topic but



> Quote: Oh god no. was my cat (only did it because it seemed to be bothering her quite a bit.. was on her cheek. ]dogs are so differrent then cats when it comes to medical sometimes. My cat just sat there like nothing while I drained it, just poked her with a needle is all.


cats do feel pain just like dogs & humans (& most other creatures), they are just designed by instinct/evolution to hide that pain - generally by the time a cat is in obvious (to a human) pain, they are very ill indeed; your cat was extremely stoic to allow this


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## Kaity (Nov 18, 2009)

I am aware that cats feel pain, didn't know that they hid it. I didn't use a scalpel to chop her open, just a prick of a needle! She's a talker and usually makes noise when she wants to see me or come to my room. Very good with me, just not with anybody else. It (whatever it was) didn't seem to be getting better so I took action and it worked! Hopefully it didn't cause her a lot of pain, not enough to pull away from me anyhow.


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## Raziel (Sep 29, 2009)

It could be an enlarged saliviary gland.
My dog was on antibotics for 2 weeks before it went away.
But it didnt hurt him to the touch.
(He didnt try to bite me or the vet when we touched it)


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## Riley's Mom (Jun 7, 2007)

> Originally Posted By: KaitykaityMy cat just sat there like nothing while I drained it, just poked her with a needle is all.


Oh thank goodness, when you said cut I thought you meant literally (eeeeeeks!)


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## Zor'sMom (Dec 16, 2009)

Update:
It was just infection as far as we can tell, the antibiotics started to work now the lump is gone. final vet check was today. Yeah!


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## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

Glad to hear it's getting better, thanks for updating!


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## Alaskan49er (Apr 15, 2015)

Vets kinda like dentists$$$$$$$$$$
I have had 4 previous GSD and now have a 7 year old mama and a 5 years old son GSD.He also has a lump on his neck.over the last 2 years it has increased in size maybe large marble size.My previous male GSD 8 years ago went to the Vet for shots.One of the shots into the left side of his neck.2 weeks later i noticed that he was tilting his head towards the right and when i checked he had a large bump size of plum on his neck.Went back to vet and he wanted to keep him overenight.he called me the next day and told me it was cancerous and had attacke3d his spinal cord,best thing to do is put him to sleep.I requested that he would creamate ect the remains and recieved a 1250.00 dollar bill.So the days of the old livestock docs are gone.I now am a proud owner of a 25 cent sorry about your loss card.I will continue to keep an eye on this lump and hopefully find an animal friendly vet,cause my opinion about the last one is not proper to express in this forum.


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## Skyla22 (3 mo ago)

Zor'sMom said:


> My GSD has A larg lump on the left side of his neck that has doubled in size over night. It is also causing him pain.
> Zor will be 4 in Feb but is currently acting about 105 years old and has hardly eaten a thing since we noticed this issue on Sunday.
> Went to the vet today waiting on final results.
> 
> ...


Hiya I think this is what my GSD is experience at the moment, can I ask what the outcome of all your tests were? My girl has a throat tumour which they believe is benign but without doing an MRI they said they can't be sure. She also had high white blood cells, so they believe she had an Infection as well as the growth, we are managing hers with tablets atm but I just wanted to know if your ever found out what your boy had? Thanks


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## Gwyllgi (Aug 16, 2017)

OP posted this 13 years ago.


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