News from the Visiting Vet

Case of the Month
Buzzy's big scare

Buzzy, an almost 9 year old 33# male neutered Bishon dog presented in January for acute weakness, vomiting, lethargy and inappetance. He had been seen at the Emergency hospital the night before and they had done blood work, x-rays, a quick ultrasound of his abdomen and his pcv was 42% (not anemic). A possible abdominal mass was noted in his abdomen outside his intestinal tract. This was not good news as with his age and location of the mass there was a very good chance that it was neoplasia (cancer). His pcv was rechecked and was now 32%, which indicated blood loss, probably into the abdomen. Buzzy was started on iv fluids due to his vomiting and slight dehydration. I observed him for the day and reviewed the radiographs. His very concerned owner opted for an exploratory surgery in hopes of finding the mass and possibly saving his life. She knew that the prognosis was not good if cancer was found in the abdomen, especially if on the spleen but she said that she really wanted a little more time with him even if it was just a few days. Antibiotics and pain medication were administered and surgery was started at 7 pm. A huge baseball sized splenic mass was found in addition to much blood in his abdomen. I was able to resect his spleen and remove the mass which was submitted for histopathology. Laser surgery was used which was very helpful for this type of surgery. The most common bleeding splenic mass in an older dog is hemangiosarcoma, which is a very bad cancer with a very poor prognosis. There were no other masses noted in his spleen and the rest of the abdomen looked good. Buzzy did well post op and went home the following evening. His pcv the next morning was 24% (anemic but expected after further mass bleeding and extensive surgery). His owner knew that the prognosis was not good. I thought we had gained many weeks to possibly months with him. Upon recheck exam a couple days later his physical exam was normal and his pcv was up to 30. Three days later Buzzy's histopath report was received and amazingly, this mass was not cancerous! It was a benign hyperplastic nodule with a huge hematoma. These can occur spontaneosly in older dogs. Both myself and his owners were absolutely thrilled to get that news. His prognosis changed from guarded or poor to great and he is now safely home and hopefully will have many more years with his family.