I have a dog with a Lump. Please Read!

I have a dilemma. I am out of work, and it seems there is none to be found around here...
Now, I am already having a hard time making end's meet because of this, and now I discover my pretty little tri-color Beagle has a lump! There's no way I can afford to take her to the vet! An office visit is 30$ upfront! Not to mention they'll probably have to run tests to find out what it is... and it is big enough around that I feel like whether it is malignant or not, they will have to do surgery. I can't bear to not do anything. It makes me feel like a bad pet owner!!

I have set up a donation button on my livejournal, where I also have a history of her, and a couple of pics. Feel Free to check it out!

http://www.livejournal.com/users/sweetsweet/

Anyway, I hope no one gets angry for me posting this, but I feel like this is the only way I can get her checked out! Thanks for taking a look! I know I am new here, but from being a previous member, I know you guys are a caring community! Thanks again!

 

how old is she

 

She is six. She looks to be older because of her white face, and that's what I thought when I first saw her, but I know the original breeder, and he told me that she was only about six.

 

ahh right, is there no places you can take your dog for free? like ovr here if people are skint theres the PDSA but thats in england, i dunno what there is in America - but there must be something

 

not really. there are credit programs, but since i don't have a job, i can't qualify...

 

ahh thats a bit crappy cause you need think about it if the lumb is cancerous then she will need treatment which can go into thousands, where is it? how big is it? does it have a little head on it?

 

My goal right now is to just get her examined. If she has cancer, I will NOT put her through chemo. I have watched too many people die from chemo treatments to even think of doing it to a dog. There is a pic of her lump on my livejournal. It is above her right rear mammary, near her thigh. It does not seem to be painful, and is generally round. It has the stiffness of, well, a penis... (of course, the first thing that pops into my mind.) Hard, yet still gives a little when you squeeze it. :s She does not mind for you to touch it, and in fact, I was feeling it today and squishing kinda hard... she didn't seem to care. (I was not trying to hurt her or anything... I just want to make sure it is not getting sore) Hope that helps you get an idea of what it looks like. Oh and, as of today, I am up to 14$, so I am about halfway to an exam!

 

well i suppose you wont truley know what it is untill you get her to the vet (im sorry your broke i know how that is at the moment). my dog daisy has had quite a few bump arise on her that sounds like what you mentioned. my father had taken her to the vet while i was away (per my request) and he told me that the vet said it was just a growth (whatever that means) and that its not threatening her health nor is it painful but it does need to be removed "whenever we get around to it". (some fucking vet, right?) im taking her again in a couple of weeks to talk to the vet about it in more detail and find out how we can get them removed. so it may not be a serious thing.....dont get all upset just yet...however, of coures a vet visit is needed and trust me if i had an extra $30 or whatever id donate to you but i dont right now~ good luck

 

A friend of mine from Asheville, NC just sent me 10$ more, so I am now at $24.33!! Almost there! Yeah, I am hoping it is just a growth, because I want her to still have a good long life ahead of her. She is such a good dog, and a great mother, and I want to get a couple of quality litters out of her. Good luck with your dog, too Elle. Maybe you should take her to see another vet? That sounds pretty weird, but I guess they figure they're not life-threatening, so they don't have to be in a rush? But you'd think they'd want to get paid right? o_0 Strange...

 

and I want to get a couple of quality litters out of her.

i dont like people who breed their dogs, what will you do with the puppies, give them to friends? instead take her to the vets get her spayed and make people who want puppies go to a shelter.

 

I have to agree. with the unbelievable amount of homeless animals being killed each year (not to mention living in kennels waiting for a home) breeding animals in this day and age is unkynd and irresponsible..esp if its for profit. sorry, i dont mean to sound rude but i had to throw that in there with wiggys comment

 

i didnt mean to sound mean!!!! i was telling the truth.

 

Well, I am not surprised you feel that way... I have heard that before. I enjoy breeding dogs, and I intend on only producing two litters a year. (Dogs only come into season twice a year.) I agree that dogs that are not inteded to be used to continue the prosperity of a breed should not be left verile, but I also want to preserve the integrity of the Beagle, as most breeders wish to do with their purebred dogs. Not only that, Beagles are used as tools for those people who hunt. (Though I don't hunt and never will)

There are irresponsible people out there, even ones who claim to be 'experienced' breeders. I don't like that dogs and cats are killed in shelters, but how many purebreds do you see in them? I have yet to see one at my local shelter. And when the SPCA gets hold of purebreds, they are substantially more expensive to adopt.( as I saw on a 20/20 or 60 minutes report...I'm not sure which one) I feel that people should only buy dogs from reputable breeders, or the dealers for those breeders, or private, no kill shelters. I will NEVER under any circumstance adopt a dog from a shelter run by a government agency that euthanizes.

And for the hunters out there that believe in 'Kulling' (if a Beagle, or any hunting dog does not perform to the hunter's standards, they are shot on the spot.) as it is called, I will not sell to them. (Responsible breeders interview prospective owners.)

I do not take these comments in a negative way, you both are entitled to your beliefs, and I understand why you, and others, feel that way. I would like you to explore my side of the spectrum, though.

And as a side thought, Ideally, my goal is, if I ever get a comfortable amount of money, opening a no kill dog shelter in my area. (A friend of mine runs a no kill cat shelter, and she offers assistance with sterilizing low income people's cats. I would like to do something like that with dogs one day...)
I am a member of the Continental Kennel Club. You can check out their website if you'd like. www.continentalkennelclub.org

 

i understand what you are saying but i def feel like there are so many people that simply dont care and will continue to breed dogs...there are no shortages of pure breeds as it stands now and every one who chooses to forgo breeding is helping instead of harming the situation. i know i wont change your mind and im not really trying to (maybe just a little, eh?)

anyway, no kill shelters are another conversation for another thread but im torn on that issue.

with the staggering amount of homeless animals there just is not room for all of them and alot of the animals that get turned away from no kill shelters (due to the shelter being maxed out) end up on the streets or meeting an untimley death by the hands of their "owners" who just dont care and want to get rid of them. on the flip side, many "kill" shelters do it in a more than horrible way....because lethal injection is too expensive the animals sometimes are shot or thrown in piles into a "gas chamber" and die that way. ive seen footage and its not pretty.

i had a beagle once when i was 9. my parents brought her home and then gave her away a week later due to her howling at night. i was so upset.

 

I feel like there needs to be more education out there for people. (not only on this subject, but many...It'd take me all day to go into all that 9_9...)

It's true that there are a LOT of people who still see animals as property, and don't worry about their well-being. It makes me sad. I still haven't wholeheartedly decided whether to breed twice a year or not...my first thought was to breed only once a year to give the mother dog a break. When i was talking to a friend of mine who used to do it, she told me that her Vet encouraged her to breed every time her female cane into season, because dogs that go into season w/o being bred tend to develop endometriosis more readily. I dunno though... I don't intend on making a living off my dogs, but they are such quality specimins of the breed, and they both have such loving dispositions, it would be a shame to not implement their characteristics into the gene pool. OH, and also, I do not stud my male beagle. Too much headache! @_@

Ultimately, I don't think this problem will 'go away' until someone mandates that dogs that are not registered with a purebred affiliation are required by law to be sterilized. (and I wouldn't be surprised if there were restrictions on how many litters a breeder can produce per year either, and they would probably end up paying extra taxes on those dogs as well...) Kinda like Rabies vaccinations. But with education, I think that it could be reduced.