Ask the French Bulldog Veterinarian - Mast Cell biopsy on French Bulldog
admin July 14th, 2008
Our 5 year old female Frenchie had an egg-sized “mass” removed from her left side at the top of her hip area last December. We thought all was well, but a couple of months later, the incision site began to break open and ooze. The Vet told me it was probably caused by the internal stitches decaying, and that sometimes that took up to 9 months to decay.
We have been treating her with antibiotics and topical treatments ever since. In the past 2 weeks, she has had 3 more “knots” pop up on her sides, 2 on both sides of her rib cage, and another larger one close to the original mass. Also, she has a small marble-sized knot under her left eye. Her Vet has aspirated one of the knots, and the labs have found no cancer, have said her white blood cell count was normal, and there is nothing they can put their finger on as to what is the cause of her condition.
He wanted to do a biopsy of one of the places, but we don’t want her intubated or cut on again, for fear that she may have more wounds that don’t heal, and don’t want the risk of putting her to sleep.
Have you ever encountered anything that sounds like this? We are all so perplexed and teribly concerned for our little Maddy.
Dr. Lori writes -
Hi there… it does sound like you need to do some surgery again… I know that is a scary thing for you, but with multiple masses popping up suddenly and the strange history with the original mass, I think it is in your dog’s best interest.
Was the original mass removed in December biopsied? Fine needle aspirates are only sometimes diagnostic, and more often than not, can miss the crucial cells… so a full biopsy would be indicated.
I would suggest surgery and a different kind of suture 
Good Luck with Maddy
Dr. Lori Hunt, DVM
