Anesthesia

[MayaNSofie]

Don't understand vet costs but I'm leaning toward the biopsy instead. It's been about 5 months with the lump and it is not growing.

[MightyThor]

Not sure where you are in Northern CA but I'm in San Jose and have an excellent vet that I can recommend if you're looking for a second opinion. So far we've only had to go for the regular puppy care/vaccinations but they're very highly recommended and I've had nothing but excellent interactions with them. They're really responsive on email even to non-patients (I spent a lot of time chatting with them on email with my many questions when I was 'vet shopping' before we even brought our puppy home).

[JenC]

I don't understand vets sometimes. My vet takes a needle during our office exam time, pokes the lump, smears it on a slide and puts it under a microscope. If it's fat, we're done. If it's not, we have a more detailed discussion. The needle poke and looky is part of our $60 exam fee. Seriously, $170?

[MayaNSofie]

Yeah, $170! They said it cost $130 just to send the results to the lab. Ridiculous. And the other vet said that the needle biopsy might not show anything. I'm probably going to cancel and wait until I visit the vet again with maya or Sofie. I'm too worried going to him (even tho he is recommended and got good reviews) for a surgery after seeing him once. I'm still debating what to do since the lump appeared out of no where and hasn't budged in months. the vet said he would be fine waiting a couple more months because he thinks it's a cyst or something else (non cancerous or he wouldn't say to wait obviously).

I'm in Lodi, so San Jose is a little far from me but thank you!

[Snowco Labradors]

Is that the kind where they are partially sedated? I've actually heard that can be more dangerous....their heart rate and everything slows down so much. And I know at my vet when they use full anesthesia, they are intubated and ready to go where if they were to stop breathing or something, they could be immediately resuscitated. I had similar concerns over full anesthesia being used and asked my vet about it, and that is how they explained it to me. She said she gets really nervous to see animals under partial sedation, since the heart rate and everythign slows so much. If something goes wrong, it is harder to intervene to help them.

Propofol is used with Isoflourine for C-sections. They are completely under.

[Snowco Labradors]

A needle biopsy is different than a needle aspiration. The aspiration is done right in the exam room and just draws fluid from the lump to check for clear fatty fluid vs blood. The needle biopsy is more invasive and takes flesh from the lump to send to the lab. I don't think $170 for a needle biopsy is high at all.

Their are 3 types of biopsy: needle, laporascopic and wedge. Wedge being the most invasive surgery but the most definitive, needle being the least.

[smartrock]

Of course, if you opt for the removal (which is sometimes also called a biopsy even though they'd be removing the whole thing, not just a section), it'll be out, they can do a pathology exam to see what it is, no wondering if there will be changes in the future and worrying that you should have had it done sooner.

[Snowco Labradors]

Of course, if you opt for the removal (which is sometimes also called a biopsy even though they'd be removing the whole thing, not just a section), it'll be out, they can do a pathology exam to see what it is, no wondering if there will be changes in the future and worrying that you should have had it done sooner.

I agree. When I mentioned the types of biopsy I was thinking along the lines of an organ that can't be removed (liver) because of what I went thru with Miya. A wedge is major surgery and they would remove the entire lump. However, I would do an aspiration first in the hopes its just a fatty lump that may not need to be removed. My Abbey had a number of them in her old age and I never removed any of them but they were not in invasive areas.

[Georgia]

Sam had a needle biopsy on a lump in his cheek over the summer. He had to be lightly sedated to do the biopsy because she didn't want to poke at the lump with a needle since it was so close to his eye. The biopsy results came back as reactive lymphoid tissue. My regular vet consulted with an internist and the pathologist and they felt that maybe Sam got a sliver of a stick embedded in his check because he has been known to chew up sticks. She wanted to keep an eye on the lump because she felt it would eventually resolve on its own. It took a few weeks after the biopsy but finally went away.

[MayaNSofie]

Maya chews sticks all the time. It could be that, but it has been so long with the bump. Some days it looks bigger-some days it looks smaller. I don't know, I'm probably just paranoid. I might take her in for the needle biopsy or whatever my vet normal vet recommends. I still have the appointment for removal on December 10, but if the biopsy shows nothing serious I might as well leave it if it isn't bothering her. I heard if I remove it more could pop up?? She's only three.