cyst, 12 year old and surgery

[Cathygirl]

Hi,
I am unsure of what to do and am hoping someone can help me figure out what is the best solution.
I have a almost 12 year old Shepherd. I have had her since about 8 weeks of age. She has always been extremely healthy, really never been sick a day in her life. Well, she recently had a cyst that has burst on her side. I took her to the vet and she cleaned it and cut the hair back and I have been nursing it and trying to get it to dry up. My vet said that it will probably keep leaking and opening up unless I have it taken out.
I am really, really worried about putting my girl under anesteshia at her age. What do you think?
It starts healing up and Tank wants to lick it and he licks the wound open again. He is almost obsessive about it. I put a tank top on her and that lasted a few hours and she took it off. She is a little houdini that way. What about some kind of coat, or wrap or anything to try to keep Tank away from it while it heals?
Anybody have any experience with a cyst like this and have you found surgery the only option?

[Jazy's mom]

How large of a cyst are we talking about?

[DianaB]

in the short term, try to put some kind of anti-chew collar on her so it forces her to leave it alone while it heals. Something like this. I've tried the clear version of the black one (with the golden in the pic) and that works best for us. Just be sure you get the right size. I prefer the opaque ones vs. the black because they do not lose their peripheral vision. We own the black one in the pic because it is soft and can be folded under (instead of removed) for meals, but she hated not being able to see out the corner of her eye, so do not use it.

http://pet-supplies.drsfostersmith.com/s...0&subtotal=0.00

[3K9Mom]

How big is the cyst?

I've had lots of "big" cysts that burst, drained and were rather ugly for weeks and they did heal on their own. I can see that if the cyst were extremely large, it might not. But I would definitely want a second opinion on that.

Before I put a 12 year old under anesthesia, I'd get a consult with a dermatologist. It would be money very well spent. Also, I would consider strongly having the surgery done by a board-certified surgeon. They can get in and out a lot faster than a regular vet can -- which means less time under anesthesia. For seniors, that's really important.

I've had seniors that NEEDED to undergo anesthesia. Sometimes, we have to do it. But my feeling is that we need to be completely sure it's necessary, and then we need to have the procedure done by experts to ensure that the anesthesia is as short as possible. A regular vet may do a few surgeries a week. A surgeon can do a several surgeries a day. That's a big difference!

Going to specialists costs a bit more. But the peace of mind and the better probability of a good result is worth it.

[LisaT]

My vet told me the same thing about Max's cyst. It didn't reappear for about a year, and then just recently opened again. In fact, now that I think of it, the first time it didn't open by itself, I had them open it up and clean it out when he was in for another procedure. It's really gunky in there, pretty gross.

The fact that she keeps bothering at it, makes me thing that it isn't ready to heal up? Did the vet by chance look at any of the cells under the microscope to make sure that it's just annoying, and not anything else?

When Max's opened up, I gave him the homeopathic remedy silica to help it expel stuff, and also used warm compresses on it nightly for several days. I never put any ointments on it, but only rarely did clean it with peroxide (peroxide will erode new skin that is trying to heal, so many don't use it, though I use it every several days, only if necessary). You can put some aloe vera with potassium iodide in there, to help disinfect and heal too, but liquid pot iodide is probably pretty hard to find.

IF, it will keep healing and opening up, then you can always do the procedure at a later date, if it really is bothersome. I understand your girl would be older then, BUT, it might not come back, and your vet may be wrong.

It just seems odd to me, that if it's opened, and cleaned up, that she would bother with it that much?

[Cathygirl]

Hi,
Thanks for responding. The thing is that she is not bothered by it one bit. Its one of my other shepherds Tank, who is obsessed with it. Anytime he gets a chance he is trying to lick it. And she just lays down and lets him.
So, I tried putting a shirt on her and she just takes it off. I tried putting a gauze pad on it and wrap it and it just moved down her body. Tank leaves it alone almost all the time in the house its more when we have to leave and put them in there kennel outside. We have just been leaving them in the house lately when we leave for 2-3 hours and he doesnt really bother it in the house.
I was more wondering if anyone knew of a coat or something else that she could wear that would stay on while I cant be watching Tank.
The cyst is about the size of a quarter. The vet gave mr chlorhexadine to wash it and then rinse it and dry it and then spray with Genone Spray.

[middleofnowhere]

Well, if you have to put them outside when you leave, can you seperate them? That's going to be a more sure fire fix than trying to get her to wear a coat.

[LisaT]

Clearly I didn't read the initial post very well!

middle is right, you have to separate them outside so that it can heal.

[3K9Mom]

Size of a quarter? oh gosh.... my girl Grover had cysts bigger than that big that healed on their own.

I'm not saying disregard your vet's advice. I'm not a vet and can't give you veterinary advice. I'm just saying, get a second opinion from a specialist.

If you're going to cover it, you'll need vet wrap http://www.petedge.com/product/Top-P...apes/47508.uts to keep it in place. (don't wrap it *too* tight). Often feed stores stock this, although I do buy mine at Pet Edge. And as the others say, separate the dogs... in a medical situation like this, can a friend take Tank for a few days, can you erect xpens and keep your girl inside, or even kennel Tank for a few days, just to get that wound enough time to get a good start on healing?

[Cathygirl]

Well,
After 2 weeks of keeping a close eye on Tank so he would not disrupt jessies cyst and keeping them in the house any time we went anywhere because Tank only bothers it when they are put in the outdoor kennel, it still did not heal. It would heal for a couple days and then break open and bleed.
So, today my old girl underwent surgery to remove the cyst. She also had been bothering her back end and I suspected anal gland problems (for the first time in her life) and yes, they were infected so the vet infused them also.
She is doing great. She has already pottied. Ate a small amount and resting comfortably. My girl has been through a lot today. I love her so much!! But she is a very, very tough girl and never complains.

I do have a question though. Any thoughts of why at her age she would suddenly have anal gland issues? Just wondering?