Histiocytom: Den Godartede Hundetumor Med Et Ikke-så Venligt Udseende

2024 Forfatter: Daisy Haig | [email protected]. Sidst ændret: 2023-12-17 03:07

Begge mine franske bulldogs har lidt af grimme, ofte kløende og teknisk godartede tumorer, vi kalder histiocytomer. Selvom histiocytomer typisk løser sig efter to til tre måneder, fører usikkerheden ved denne tumors herkomst til, at de fleste dyrlæger klipper den af (eller i det mindste en del af den) for at sikre dens godhed.

En kirurgisk skalpeling af en “godartet” masse lyder måske ekstremt for dig, men da histiocytomer kan være både irriterende og skræmmende, er kirurgi ofte indikeret.

Irriterende: Fordi de ofte dukker op på hoved og fødder, steder hvor en perfekt rund, sårformet masse let kan ridses eller slikkes.

Skræmmende: Fordi det er svært at fortælle, om hvad der lige dukker op på din hunds hud (og det sker normalt hurtigt) er en grim mastcelletumor (eller en anden sådan monstermasse) … eller dens mere afslappede fætter, histiocytoma.

Skræmmende: Fordi det er svært at fortælle, om hvad der lige dukker op på din hunds hud (og det sker normalt hurtigt) er en grim mastcelletumor (eller en anden sådan monstermasse) … eller dens mere afslappede fætter, histiocytoma.

while young dogs (under three years of age) are more likely to get these, they can happen to dogs of any age. indeed, my older frenchie, sophie sue got one about a year ago. she was nine-not exactly a spring chicken. vincent has had three. and he’s not yet two years old.

some breeds are more predisposed. labrador retrievers and boxers, for example. though frenchies aren’t on the list, perhaps they should be… (perhaps they should be on the list for almost everything if my recent round of healthcare scares is any guide.)

ugly and prominently placed as they typically are, most owners want histiocytomas removed. some vets, however, will counsel owners to either wait a few weeks (especially if the dog is young and statistically less likely to be suffering from a malignant mass) or to have a simple section of it snipped (with a local anesthetic) for histopathological analysis at the pathology lab.

other vets will even take a needle poke at it, though most pathologists find that histiocytomas are not easily disgnosed definitively through this method (cytology).

if the dog is older or the mass is especially annoying to the dog or owner, however, we remove the whole sucker and clean up the mess quickly. unfortunately, though, this approach is more costly and usually requires general anesthesia. it’s nonetheless the approach i take for more than half of these tumors…better to be safe than sorry, right?

still, most owners need to know they have a choice. the nervous nellies among you (like me) are less likely to want to stare at a mass for a couple of months to see if it simply goes away. the rational or more anesthetically cautious, however, are justified in waiting-as long as their dog is young and/or hasn’t suffered from malignant masses in the past.

whatever choice you make, consider histiocytomas an excellent foray into the world of skin tumors. it’s like a warm-up for what’s likely to come as your dog ages. and it’s not all bad. look on the bright side: curing cancer is sometimes just a scalpel slice away.