Dog care, symptoms, health issues, and dog health advocacy from an owner's perspective. In loving memory of Jasmine.
Mast cells are inflammatory cells that originate in the bone marrow and circulate in many body tissues. They are important in allergic responses, tissue growth, wound healing, and nonallergic skin diseases. Mast cell tumors are more common in dogs than in cats. They are most common in boxers, bull terriers, Boston terriers, Labrador retrievers, shar peis, golden retrievers, schnauzers and cocker…
A mast cell tumor is a cancer of mast cells, a type of immune cells involved in allergic response. Even though they can form internally, you’re most likely to find a mast cell tumor (MCT) when you detect a bump on your dog’s skin. Some breeds are especially susceptible to developing these tumors, such as: Boxers Bull Terriers Boston Terriers…
What if a solid tumor could be removed without surgery? When your dog is diagnosed with a mast cell tumor, surgery can often be curable. It is, however, not enough trying to simply take out what appears to be part of the lump. Sufficient surrounding tissue needs to be taken out to make sure that all cancer cells were removed.…
Nobody likes to find new bumps on their dog, particularly since one was a mast cell tumor already. Since having his bumps aspirated and a mast cell tumor removed last October, JD decided to grow a couple of new ones. Again, they were quite small and there was the possibility that he might have run into a branch and that’s…
Nobody can identify a bump just by looking at it; not even a veterinary oncologist. Do you think you know what a mast cell tumor looks like? Can you tell a benign lump from cancer? You cannot unless somebody examines the cells it contains. JD’s mast cell tumor diagnosis Recently, we found three bumps on JD. One of them was…