Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs lung mass & ultra sound?

Has anyone ever heard of a dog Having a mass or growth that wasn�t� a tumor. A month ago our Weimaraner was coughing so we took her in. Vet did chest xray & found out she had pneumonia & bronchitis. In addition the xray showed an incidental mass on the lower lobe of the lung that is about the width of a rib & length of 2-3 ribs. We treated her with a couple general antibiotics & one round of wormers. Then came back in a two days did full blood panel, & I believe a trach wash as well in hope of finding something with a lab culture. This turned up nothing, blood panel was fine.
Because we had be in SD this last November the vet said it was possible that the mass was a parasite, or fungi & the body sometimes would isolate it or section it off . However last week went back in for another xray & while the pneumonia has cleared up & the bronchitis is almost gone the mass had not changed. It wasn�t bigger or smaller & they really have no idea what it is. So they recommended one of the pet emergency offices in town that has an Ultra Sound & could do a biopsy & possibly remove this lobe.
However, I don�t like the Emg. Vet that was referred, & I can�t get past their vet tech in trying to find out an estimate & she is no help. & just says I need to schedule an appt. with their specialist. I kind of think I would like a second opinion from other vet whether or not an ultra sound /biopsy is the best next move, or if we should just watch it. Don�t know if there is another ultra sound in town or not will have to find out.
Has anyone heard or experienced similar?

Seeing how you were in South Dakota you or your vet may want to check with someone here to see if the symptoms ring a bell. I don't know who in particular but here's a link to the ultimate source in the state:

South Dakota State University, Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences

How old is the dog? If the dog was struck or ran into something, It could have developed a plurasy tye infection, similar to a blood clot, that takes several weeks to go away.

I myself once suffered such an ordeal after I wrestled a guy in the barricks who was 50 pounds heavier than I. This guy fell on my rib cage and within a week I started having problems. Went to the doctors and this is what he told me. An animal can get the same thing.

I would take the dog to an establish animal hospital that has all the machines, lab and tools to find out what the real problem is ok. An operation is going to cost at least $1,200 dollars upward. Good Luck!

Your alternatives are not good. Having been in SD recently the raised possibility of parasite or fungus is real. I would also throw in the possibility of Foreign Body, particularly as in spear grass. Porcupine quills are a possibility from Alaska I suppose, but there just aren't enough trees in SD to support porkys unless they have them around the Black Hills area.

Lung surgery is not a whole lot better outcome than doing nothing if it's a FB in many cases. Even with a super ultrasound tech I would be very leery about doing the biopsy. The lung tissue could well be friable and a needle biopsy could be enough to cause a pneumo thorax and force surgery to save the dog. Unless the biopsy practice is set up to do chest surgery, a biopsy on a friable lung could be a disaster.

I'd be weighing out carefully what to do if the dog is more than 3-4.

Consult a vet you trust. Discuss the possibility of the pneumo thorax during the biopsy, the possibility of FB and ask about the pros and cons of watching and repeating the Xray over a more extended period to see what if anything changes. If it is a FB, then unless things are changing/moving it may be better to do nothing.

"Having been in SD recently the raised possibility of parasite or fungus is real."

Definitely, lots of bugs in the soil right up to anthrax. I don't personally know of dogs that picked up such infections, but people sure do, usually when the soil is drought dry, extra windy and tilling going on. Some years the clinic keeps darn busy. One of those years my dad developed a mass in the lower lung that scared the hell out of the doctors. Repeated x-rays showed it didn't grow. By the time they decided to biopsy it had started to resolve itself and they never did figure out what it was. I think it was fungal, took about six months to disappear.

May be something the SD vet school is familiar with if it's a bit of a mystery in AK.

Thanks miles, I appreciate the advice & I thing I am more inclined just to let it be for now.
The dog is 8 & the risks just seem to out weigh the benefit at this point.

Nighthawk, I appreciate the address for the SDSU vet, I sent them an email as well.
You are correct there are a lot of things we don't see up here so the newer vet probably don't have a great understanding of.

Yes, I experienced it. My bitches mother developed Nocardia from a speargrass awn. Started out as an abcess on her ribcage. We got it healed & she later presebted with a pneumo thorax. They x-rayed to try to find out why she developed the pneumo thorax & found a small mass in her lungs. A chest tap re-inflated her lung & consequent antibiotic treatments healed all else.
Speargrass does not show up in an x-ray, if surgery is done, they try to remove tissue around the infected area in hopes to remove it. Lady, our bitch, healed up fine & had no further issues. (abcess was where awn worked in, causing pneumo-thorax & infection)
I will look for the vets name who helped my vet here in PA treat her. (she was out west running FT's, that is how she got it)
This is explains what she had, your dog could have the same possibly:
http://www.essfta.org/health_research/actinomyces.htm

I would read the second paragraph of zodiac's link carefully.

The fact that the panel came back unremarkable indicates if it is an FB, it is likely clean. That does not mean that it cannot or will not go septic at some point in the future. Neither ultrasound nor Xray will likely be useful for diagnosis at this time. A biopsy might well not be any better. Have the discussion I suggested with your vet. If you do see any sign of lung problems in the next three years or so go back to this vet and get an Xray to make a comparison, and don't waste time doing it. Make sure he/she keeps Xrays on file for at least three years. If they use a digital system pay to get a CD burned, do not trust that his computer won't crash.

Correct Miles, our bitch never went septic & as weird as it sounds, she was probably saved by the pneumo-thorax. This allowed us to catch it early on, between the abcess, pneomo-thorax, fact she had been out west & a friend there I was discussing this with, we figured an awn the culprit.
Although we will never know for certain, she was treated with an antibiotic course & 6 years later is fine.

greyghost,

This is why you want to be careful and think it through. Go into a biopsy with the FB in the lung and the lung close to breaking down creating the pneumo-thorax and you have can a full blown emergency chest surgery on your hands without much provocation, and you're poking around in there with a needle.

If it is a FB the dog's body will encapsulate it and then try to expel it. It may remain stable and not present a problem for years, or in the matter of a few days blow up into a big problem. Xray or ultrasound are at best poor diagnostic tools for this without comparison Xrays.

Done at the right time and done well like zodiac's dog, you can enjoy a long life without major deficit. But I am sure zodiac would tell you they got a whole lot closer to losing the dog than she'd ever want to go again.