Fast growing lumps being kept at bay with prednisone

[Shelly]

Abby just turned 7 this month. We noticed back in October that she had a small hard lump below her left eye. Within one week it had grown like crazy and spread back to her cheek area. There was also a small bare reddish patch of skin next to her other eye. We took her to the vet & they took a biopsy of the lump and did a blood test. They did not find anything. She was put on prednisone and everything disappeared immediately, literally, within the first day. We kept her at 2 pills per day for a month and then reduced her to 1 pill per day for a couple weeks and gradually took her off them completely. The lumps started to quickly reappear within a month, so she is back on 1 pill a day for 1 month and then we are supposed to reduce it to half a pill per day. The vet wants to get her off the pills completely. I am hoping to get some advice from other owners as to what could be causing it.

 

[biowicks]

I would want to know what the vet meant by 'not finding anything' with biopsy and blood tests. I assume that blood work was normal, but I can't believe that growths such as you describe showed normal pathology. Maybe not cancerous, which I think is what the vet meant, but 'normal' and 'cancer' are only two of hundreds (at least) diagnoses that can be determined from cytology.

Is it possible that her tear ducts were plugged up? That the lumps disappeared in a day from prednisone suggests that to me. if that's the case, then you have to find out why that is happening. My two cents!

I'll be interested in what our professionals have to say.

 

[Shelly]

Thanks for your reply biowicks. I just remembered something else. During the month that we had taken her off the prednisone, she kept raising her rear leg as she walked as though she wanted to scratch at an area she couldn't reach. She would do this many times throughout the day. We would check her over, but couldn't find anything. Once again, when we started her on the prednisone it stopped.

I live in a small town where the vet is an hour's drive away & only comes to our town once a week. So again, any advice from other owners would be very much appreciated.

 

[bi-blacks]

It does sound like some type of allergy, especially when you mention that while she was off the prednisone she looked like she wanted to scratch an itch. Also how quickly is reappeared and on both sides of her face just seems like an allergy. Dogs like people can develop allergies at any time. Our girl Meadow developed a similar spot on her face. After doing a scraping and blood work with nothing showing up they decided allergy and perscribed antibiotic steroid cream which after a long time did clear things up and fortunately it has never returned. Oh and the vet is right about getting her off the pills, prednisone is a nasty drug and should only be used for the short term. I hope Abby will be back to normal soon. Best wishes.

 

[Shelly]

Thank you bi-blacks for your reply. I am wondering what are some of the most common allergies that Shelties suffer from? Food? Environmental?

 

[mellie]

Hi !! Sounds like your vet is just treating symptoms and has managed to get the lump down with pred, but you really aren't adressing the cause...I would make sure the thyroid levels are what they should be for shelties- there are many threads on the forum concerning this. You can also put the cone of shame on to discourage scratching/facial rubbing when you aren't around to watch her. Switch her food to a limited ingredient food with different protien source and carbs than she is eating now, do this gradually. And might not hurt to get a second opinion- skin things are tricky to dx, and two heads can be better than one. And, as mentioned by others, there is a price to pay with long term use of pred.