A Lump Found on Dog Skin

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Tried to poke the lump to remove pus (Abscess, or Pimple) - nothing happened.  It was as solid tissue filled with blood vessels. It was not a fatty lump  (Lipoma) on the skin at all.  I was hoping that it was Mast cell tumor, it was a result of cells used by the body to defend against outside element and had gone through malignant change.


From the research, the firm solid cutaneous swelling - seems to meet the definition of  Neoplasia Nodule -Histiocytoma. The growth started like a pimple bump to 1/2 cm in diameter over 5-6 weeks period.

K9, Dog Allegy

Pollen count was extremely high in the past month, I didn't feel a thing because I am smarter now. To my dislike, I decided to take allergy medication regardless of having symptoms or not .

Dog suffers inhalant allergies too. To my surprise, the symptoms are different than the human kind. Dog chews on feet, scratches everywhere, instead of sneezing, or having running nose.


Vet tried to treat allergy symptoms as inhalant, and food/flea bite allergy.
1. Bath with right kind of shampoo - or use wet towel rub daily to remove pollens.
2. Flea control medication - I don't see flea, why take the medication? The vet checked sign of flea around feet, flanks, groin and armpits.
3. Corticosteroids - It reduce itching by reducing inflammation - bad for the dog. I was warned the side effects - increased thirst and appetite. Long term use - can cause diabetes, seizures.
4. Fish oil - (Omega-3, Omega-6 Fatty Acids) - improving the dogs natural anti-inflammatory defense.

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The standard treatment Corticosteroids is to take a high dosage for 4 days, and then cut back 1/2 for 4 days, and 1/2 the amount for the next 4 days etc. I don't think the Corticosteroids should be used to contain the symptoms because its side affects. But rather it shall be only used to suppress, keep the chewing and scratching to acceptable level.

I gave my dog a standard treatment as prescribed, and began to cut back on the medication as soon as the dog stops scratching and chewing feet.


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The follow up visit to vet office - 2 weeks after the "all-out treatment" -
The Corticosteroids treatment is replaced with antihistamines treatment.

5 Antihistamines - 25mg-50mg of Benadryl. (Tavist, Chlortrimeton, Seldane, Atarax). The drawback is sedation. As turnout Benadryl is commonly prescribed to dog to manage anxiety problems. I wonder whether Beneadryl can be used to control overly hyperactive dogs..

Discovering Dog Food Nutrition Labeling - Costco Kirkland

Strolling through Costco dog food aisle and see the brand names (ones you hear/see on radio & TV) costs almost twice as much as the Costco brand, pound for pound. I begin to wonder whether dog food is branded like the generic Ibuprofen versus Advil’s Ibuprofen.
I lifted the $40 bag dry dog food next to the Costco’s $20 and started to compare the ingredients shown on labels. They were nearly identical. Once key part of the labeling language differs from our food labeling – “contain no less than” – what does it really mean?
Murray – the family dog once turned down the doggie biscuit treats from the Vet office when he was 10 weeks old. Now he wouldn’t eat plain-o-dry dog food, unless I leave him cold without treats for days.
Mixing the wet dog food with the dry dog food seems to work for couple months, now he turns that down too. The bad part is the “dry” & “wet” make the food soggy – not very pleasant to look at.
The latest concoction I found Murray enjoys – hard boiled eggs. I dice up egg white, and break up egg yoke by hand, mix them up with dry dog food pallets. It seems to work for now.
It seems like a big taboo having too many egg yokes in a day. Bad for your heart – according to the tv experts. I can only wonder why Spaniard still enjoy that a dozen egg omelet dish. How many egg yokes is too many for dog to have in a day. I can’t get a consistent answer from googlng the web.
I will tentatively (an un-educated guess) set the limit to 2 a day for my 60 pound 27 kg dog.


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