Jack is a beauty, but he’s had a run of bad luck lately.
He came in a couple of months ago to be examined for a breathing problem, and we found a corneal ulcer in his right eye. It wouldn’t heal properly, so we referred him to our board-certified veterinary ophthalmologist, Dr. Laurence Galle, who performed surgery.
At today’s Medical Progress Examination, Dr. Galle found the right eye to have healed beautifully, but now the left eye has an ulcer! Jack is on medicine, in hopes it will heal without surgery.
While Jack was there Dr. Galle mentioned to Jack’s owner, “Dr. Randolph needs to see this lump on his lip right away.”
Rather than take Jack back home, “Mom” called, then came straight to the office. I looked, and agreed with Dr. Galle, “That thing needs to go.”
Jack’s preanesthesia laboratory testing is finished, the results are good, and he will have surgery Wednesday.
The take-home lesson in this story is when you see a black lump have your pet’s doctor check it!
Just as in people, dark-colored masses can mean trouble, even cancer. Sometimes they aren’t dangerous, but the only way to know is to have the growth removed and send it to a pathologist for histopathology. The pathologist will then section it, stain it, and look at it under a microscope to determine its exact nature. Only then will we know.
See you tomorrow, Dr. Randolph.
