Katie with the nose, at the vet - update

[Stacy]

Small update for anyone who is interested: Katie had her nasal mass biopsied today. We should get results on Tuesday. But in the interim, she's doing really well and acting like nothing happened. Initally the Internal Med Vet thought it might be a polyp or a TVT, which is new to me, but I guess a sexually transmitted dog disease. Despite the fact that Katie's been spayed since she was 8 months old and hasn't ever been bred or really had any significant contact with other male dogs, or other dogs at all. The vet said she took a slide of the growth and it looked like "some sort of epithelial cels." So not the TVT, but we're not sure what it is. They are still very hopeful and encouraging that it's not anthing bad given her age and overall health. I have all my parts crossed that this is just a blip in an otherwise healthy life.

Apparently Katie has secretly been jealous of all of Ava’s vet visits. I don’t know why. Ava hates going to the vet, but maybe Katie thought it was her turn.

 

Saturday night when I got home from work Katie wasn’t feeling well. She had some vomiting and diarrhea, didn’t want her dinner and sounded congested. But her gums were pink and she was alert if a little less active than normal, so nothing that seemed life threatening. I decided to watch and monitor. But when I was looking at her I saw this thing in her right nare that looked like – a tumor. It didn’t look like just nasal congestion. The appearance of the tissue is irregular.

 

I look at the girls a lot. I think I would have noticed if it had been there for very long. She woke up Sunday feeling better. No more vomiting, ate breakfast, stools a little soft but not too concerning. But this thing in her nose is still there.

 

We went to the vet this morning and he was also concerned. He said it could be a polyp or a wart or a tumor. And for the first time ever he recommended going to a specialist to have a scope done to see how big it really is and possibly have it biopsied. He said he could try it, but the problem is bleeding. I don’t want him to do anything that he’s not confident in, so we would definitely go the route of the specialist. But first he wanted to try some steroids and doxycycline to see if it went away. But I don’t really feel like he was super optimistic about it.

 

I’ve been looking online a little bit, but I haven’t read anything that made me feel better yet. Has anyone seen anything that looked like this? I feel sort of numb right now. Katie is only 3. I just can’t hardly believe that something like this could be happening. I really want someone to say, oh she got stung by a wasp and that’s localized inflammation and it will be gone in four days. Can anyone say that?

 

Thanks for reading, Stacy

[Stacy]

Sorry, I should have embedded those photos the first time

[F, Calla & Luca]

This looks like a nasal polyp to me but it needs to be removed to be sure.

[Stacy]

Do you have any experience with removing something like that from a dog's nose? I know they do amazing things surgically, but it's such a small space! I had to ask my vet if vet ENTs were a thing. He said internal med. Maybe I should sneak her in to my hospital and make the people doctors do it. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

There are IMS's who specialize in one area of veterinary medicine or another, though, so maybe you can find one who specializes ENT. 

[Stacy]

I'll have to look. I've never needed one before, so I've never checked. It seems like we do have all of the specialists though. We're lucky that way.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I know how worried you are. But let's try to be positive. JD has had all kinds of strange growths, and he did have one at the base of his tail that looked something like Katie's. My vet also seemed a little worried about it, and after the first biopsy came back "inconclusive", he recommended just taking it off. Turned out to have been some odd kind of mole, totally harmless. 

Then there was the hemangiosarcoma on his third eyelid. Just typing that word scares me, but it turns out that if your dog is going to have a hemangiosarcoma, the eye is where you want it. Completely cured with removal, and that was done under local anesthetic, too! 

I'm hoping Katie's growth turns out to be just as harmless. :)

[Stacy]

That Jack is pretty amazing! He's been through a lot, but he is a champion! I am always amazed at what he's overcome.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I did find this article, though, which is pretty positive. It says the most common nasal tumors are non-cancerous.

https://wagwalking.com/condition/nasal-polyps

[Stacy]

I guess my biggest concern is that the location will make treatment difficult. If it wasn't on the inside of her nose it would be less worrisome. But he said to give the meds 7-10 days. So I'm going to try to hang on and hope really hard that it magically resolves. I don't have much confidence in that. But I think it's our turn for some magic healing.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Amen to that! 

[Nancy]

Keeping on the positive side, that looks very similar to the papilloma that Oliver had in his mouth.  He had it for about 1.5 months and then it went away, not treatment at all, I just kept looking at it to see how it changed.  This picture was about 3 weeks after I noticed it, I can't find the one when I first noticed it but I recall it being more red and moist looking.  It had a "cauliflower" look to it and that is what I am seeing on your pups.  My vet did not at first say a papilloma, it was after I mentioned it, then she agreed.  Good luck and keep us informed. :) 

[Stacy]

This is the answer I was hoping someone would have for me. I love that it self-resolved. Let's go with the idea that that's exactly what Katie has and it will go away on it's own as well. It does make me feel better! Thank you.