I noticed for the first time today that one of my yearling does has a tumor on her belly, in front of her udder. My plan is to run her to the vet in the morning, but second opinions never hurt!

The tumor is hard, about the size of my fist, but it doesn't seem to hurt her at all. This past fall she jumped the fence and got in with the buck, so many of you can guess what happened. Surprisingly, she had triplets, but the labor was dificult and we lost two. She was out of commission about a week and took some time getting back on her feet. I'm not sure if this has any bearing on the tumor, but it's a history to start from. I am quite certain that this is a problem for a vet, but if any of you have had similar experiences, please let me know! Thank you all for your help!

-- Salem Taylor (salemishere@hotmail.com), April 16, 2002

Answers

We had a similiar experience a few yrs ago with one of our does. She was a top ten milker, #3 in production in US in 1996. She milked a lot. then, a few yrs ago she developed a small but hard knot like lump on the side of her ribs. The vet checked her out, thought it might be either a calcium deposit or tumor. So he drew fluid, nothing, but he still cautioned about the tumor. So about 6 months later she kidded, her lump grew, vet came out, did biopsy, wa stumor, we ended up ahving him put her down. I wish I could offer more positive hope. Maybe your vet may have a better treatment or answer. Good Luck. Oh, it was the stress of kidding that sparked the tumor to grow.

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), April 16, 2002.

Between my story and Bernice's you will be very sorry you asked. Jodice had just got home from winning the Houston Livestock show, we actually thought that perhaps she had been injured in the trailer. Her lump which was much to hard to be this, so I thought was a hernia, where the intestine literally popped through the abdomen wall. Surgery went well until a stitch was put through her milk vein, it got infected and overnight she went from a "on her way to be Champion LaMancha doe" to a doe who only milked out of one side of her udder. With other complications from this we ended up also putting her down. She leaked milk in front of the abscess the infection caused. I will say that if this is a valuable doe to you I wouldn't just go to the vet, I would go to a small ruminent specialist. Vicki

-- Vicki McGaugh TX (vickilonesomedoe@hotmail.com), April 16, 2002.

With unknown growths there so many things to look for and consider, like the rate of growth, is it adhering to underlying tissue or freely moveable, is it smooth or irregular, is it located where it could be lymph associated or a cyst, is it at an old injury site, etc. You have to take into account not only the anatomy of the area but the embryology of the area also; some areas (tissues) are more prone for the development of abnormal growth’s (neoplasm’s) than others. While other sites are more prone for the development of cysts, rather than tumors.

Maybe someday, it will be available for everyone to post pictures of what they are talking about and seeing. Then it will be much easier to help people with problems that their critters are having. Several of the Univ. already have such services for diagnosis of garden pests and plant diseases now. Seems that farm animals can’t be far behind.

If the lump is at an area that is prone to herniation, you might consider that, if a loop of bowl gets strangulated, that is definitely a medical emergency. Since she just went through a difficult birth, this is a possibility.

Would appreciate feedback as to what the vet finds/determines.

-- BC (desertdweller44@yahoo.com), April 16, 2002.

BC, do you have any links for any animals that give pointers on the embryology you spoke of, and the tendencies for different areas, please? I'd be very interested. If I had to, I'd actually pay money for books on that subject; but it's not so easy to get the books YOU know about to here at a reasonable price, and I'd prefer it if it was available on the web somewhere. Thanks.

-- Don Armstrong (from Australia) (darmst@yahoo.com.au), April 17, 2002.

My friend had a young doe that got stomped on by a horse. The doe lived, but had a large protruding lump in the area, don't know if it was hard or not. The doe lived for awhile like that, and then was culled, mainly for cosmetic reasons I think.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), April 17, 2002.

Don,

There are some internet sites that have information that you are requesting, however these are more formal information sites from Vet schools and such. It would be like opening a veterinary text without any guidance, but I would be happy to direct you to these sites and give you some pointers, one starts with a veterinary technicians course, so depending on your back ground, it might be a good stating point.

Email me and give me a little background about your kowledge and what you want to accomplish and I'll see what I can do.

-- BC (desertdweller44@yahoo.com), April 17, 2002.