Snow Leopard

Snow Leopard
Snow Leopard cub (7 mos old) - Cape May County Zoo

Friday, September 30, 2011

What Will It Turn Out To Be?

A few months ago, I discussed a case where a pet owner thought their dog "tore a toe nail off" and that's why his foot was bleeding. Early into the exam, I knew this was NOT the problem.


It was clear this 12 yr old mixed large breed dog most likely had a cancerous growth of the toe. The only potential cure would be to amputate that digit (the dog would be fine without this toe). I say potential because there are some types of growths that have a higher potential to spread (or metastasize) to other parts of the body. We just won't know until the pathology report comes back what we are dealing with here.

The dog finally came in for surgery today and this is a post op pic of the foot - minus one toe! 




It will probably take more than a week to get the pathology results back. I will post the final "answer" when I get it!

2 comments:

  1. Did the dog seem to be licking and biting the cancer spot before it had to be removed? I ask because my dog has a similar looking growth above her nail

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  2. Yes she was licking at it. They tend to lick at areas like this even if it's a benign lesion, but this did turn out to be cancer. This dog is no longer with us as she finally succumbed to metastasis to the chest the following year (2012).

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