When a fatty lump is not a fatty lump.
This is Harley. He has had several fatty lumps that have been growing slowly and not bothering him. They are called Lipomas. Then there was a new lump that seemed a little different. It felt like a fatty lump. Harley’s owners were going away for a few weeks so decided to have his lumps checked.
The first 2 lumps looked like this under the microscope – lipomas.
The new lump looked different. It was stained up and looked like a suspected mast cell tumour.
Harley was booked in for surgery the following day. Strangely the tumour was smaller the next day. It had been 60mm diameter but was now less than 50mm. Mast cell tumours commonly change size. This is probably why Harley’s owner had been alerted.
Any concerning tumour needs to be removed with a margin to make sure it is completely removed. Harley is 11 years old. Taking a deep muscle layer would make healing very challenging so it was decided to take a 10-15mm skin margin and remove all the tissue above the muscle layer. 
Harley was home that afternoon with pain relief onboard and more pain relief to give over the following days. He was kept very quiet to avoid any swelling of the wound. Swelling is always a possibility in large surgeries like this.
The lump was sent to the laboratory for analysis. Results showed that it was a Grade 1 Mast Cell tumour that had been completely removed. This is an excellent result. The tumour was dangerous but has completely excised and should not return or spread elsewhere.
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