So far, I've had about five bumps aspirated. Pretty routine. Last week, found a tiny, hairless bump about 1 cm below the hairless edge of his lower jaw. It was hard & had a bit of a peak at the time. Now it looks like a simple bump. Saw the vet today. It's probably nothing to worry about - a sebaceous something that's about oil, glands... something like that.
A tiny chance it could be a mast cell tumour (which I thought happened on the body, not the jaw).
Too small to aspirate. Can't be sure unless surgically removed. This means, of course, blood work as prep for the surgery, the surgery, and another cone of shame during recovery. Pet insurance won't cover the blood work and surgery because the cost will equal the deductible but if (I sure hope not and the odds are against it) he needs more medical treatments, insurance should kick in then.
Advantages of Surgery:
- I'll know for sure it's not mast cell
- if it turns out to be mast cell, probably low grade so high odds of clean margins
- I won't have to monitor the bump for changes
Disadvantages of Surgery:
- it's surgery and Boomer's older than the last time
- it's probably not mast cell and money will be spent that doesn't need to be
In the two and a half years I've had Boomer, he's had to wear the cone of shame four times. He's had three surgeries. I was SO happy to have a cone-of-shame-free summer with Boomer. The blood work we'll do because it might indicate something that might be related to his recent bouts of nausea and buy me time to make a decision.
This is me thinking this whole thing out.