Sheltie/Camel Fat deposits

[Chins-n-Sheltie]

I feared the worst, taking Sada in yesterday morning. As you may know, she's a senior rescue who we know very little about. We'd noticed severe difficulty pooping in the last week or so, wetting her bed a bit, and right in front of her hips, but behind her ribs, two large lumps growing.

Thankfully, turns out she has a urinary tract infection (on antibiotics for it now... hoping it's not an indicator for Cushings or Addisons). They also decided that her difficulties that we thought was constipation was just so much pain from her breaks that she couldn't get in a good position. Thus, she's also on Metacam. Already we've noticed she moves more easily and has been consistently chasing my poor cats around.

However, the vet seemed to think the lumps were nothing special. She said that dogs like Shelties store fat in those areas and that the lumps appeared because Sada has finally gotten to her ideal weight (she was at least 6-7 lbs under when she was found). I want to believe her, I've just never heard of a dog storing fat like that-- and they're scarily hard and large (like two melons cut in half, under her skin).

Vets? Other sheltie dogs with melon fat deposits? Should I go somewhere else for a second opinion?

Leave it to Sada to store up some fat for the days I don't give her ten-million cookies!

 

[Fergusmom]

I'm glad to hear Sada is on the mend and her problems were not serious. You always know they're feeling better when they start terrorizing the cat.

From what you described I think the vet is right about the lumps. Most of my Shelties have had the same thing. Fergus my little tri guy doesn't have them but he's a very lean dog, he never seems to put on any weight. I don't blame you for worrying, with no backround info on her at all you just never know.

 

[The Quahog]

Without a biopsy one can never say for sure about lumps.

However there are criteria which we use to try and determine which ones are worth looking into, and which ones merit a 'wait and see'. Yes, of course, one tends to err on the side of caution, but you don't want to stick a scalpel blade into every lump of fat on a dog.

Are they soft, are they 'homogeneous', are they encapsulated - these things all help in our decision. You can needle aspirate, but looking for cells doesn't help much, in essence if its a lipoma the aspirate won't tell you much. However if you stick in a needle and get a syringe full of blood... that wouldn't be good. So it's worth checking.

Yes, there are other masses that look and act much like lipomas and can be bad, such as the hemangiosarcoma, a blood vessel tumor, and every few years we get fooled on one, so the owner is always advised to watch and bring the animal back in if the lump 'changes in character.' The bad ones generally go bad in a hurry. Take home message - for a classic looking lipoma we don't worry that much, if it behaves for 3-6 months, we hardly worry at all.

So from your post it sounds like the veterinarian is saying they are lipomas- probably ok but keep an eye on them. That seems eminently reasonable. Often odd looking fat storage can occur after weight loss. This happens in people, for example, who look chubbier after they lose weight, because they go from 'apple shaped' to 'pear shaped.'
One final thought - the term 'lipoma' meaning 'fatty tumor' is of itself somewaht alarmist. They are tumors in that 'tumor' means 'lump'. We generally think of tumors as some sort of abnormal tissue. Lipomas are simply globs of fat stored in an unusual shape. Lipoma removal is basically liposuction.
- Dr. Mac

 

[Bellesmom]

Dr. Mac, thank you for that excellent explanation..

Glad that sweet Sada is on the mend, and that her problems are not serious..

 

[OntarioSheltie]

Glad that Sada is feeling better, we used Metacam for our arthritic cat a few years ago and it made a huge difference in the quality of her life.

We've had a couple of old cats with lipomas, which are scary when you first notice them, but they never grew bigger or changed, they were just like you described, fatty deposits.

 

[Chins-n-Sheltie]

Sada's blood panel results just came in and she is normal on ALL counts (except for that nasty urinary tract infection). We are beyond thrilled to know she doesn't have any thyroid/liver disfunction.

Of course, now with all the medications helping her feel better, she's realized she can be a NAUGHTY dog. Daddy's Gloves: 0 Sada: 1

Sit? Stay? Come? Psh! I'm a happy sheltie. Forget that!