chixxi

Hello,
this is my first post here. I have a question about older dobermans. We have a female doberman, 9 years old, very active and well taken care of. About a year ago we noticed a small soft lump at her breast bone. We were told it was a lipoma and not to worry. About 4 months ago we purchased a female doberman puppy. Since we got the puppy our older female has gained a lot of weight, she seems to make sure that all of her food is eaten whereas before we would give her a bowl full once a day and there usually was a little left over at the end of the day. We feed the pup separate and she is growing big but anyway, since this weight gain these lumps have also grown significantly. The older one is very active, she runs (we live in the country so she has wide open spaces to take off) I'll be taking the pup to the vet friday but I'm worried they'll want to cut into her or something invasive. She's 9 and happy otherwise so I wouldn't want to put her through anything painful. Any advice would be great, TIA

MaryAndDobes

Lipomas are quite common on older Dobermans, but how do they know that hers is a lipoma? Did they do a needle biopsy? If so, the general thought on lipomas is to leave them alone unless they are bothering the dog, impeding movement, etc. However, they often grow very large so removing them when smaller is sometimes a good idea. I had to remove one from a 10 year old because it just got too big and was making her elbow out - it was 3" X 5" and weighed 1/2 lb when it came off.

Anyway, I haven't worried a lot about lipomas but I just got word recently that a puppy from our first litter (he's 11 now) just had what they thought was a large lipoma removed and it was actually something called a hemangiopericytoma, an aggressive mass that will keep coming back. So, things that appear to be lipomas aren't always just innocent lipomas.

Some people believe that daily doses of turmeric (curcumin) help to reduce the size of lipomas.

alwayshadpets

Zeus, my daughters 9yr old has quite a few lipomas. With the original ones they were taken off, but others developed. Her vet said as long as they are not bothering him (ex. getting really, really large and interfering with movement let them be) None are cancerous.
Copper our 11yr old lab, has one and he never developed any others, nor has it grown in size. He has had it for 4 or 5 years.

hbwright

Cleo started getting these around the age of 7 or 8. She had them on most of her nipples by the time she died. They did biopsy and they were benign and once they appeared they never seemed to grow and the vet never seemed concerned about them at all.

chixxi

she has several of them, the largest one is on her chest, it started out the size of a grape (somewhat flattened) but now is about the size of an orange. She gained a lot of weight, too, though, since we got the puppy. She is quite active but at 9 years I've noticed some things, I think she's developing a cataract and she doesn't like using the stairs without the lights on. She's becoming very much like a needy human. The lumps don't seem to inhibit movement. I guess I could give her some suggested supplements to help her with things since she seems to be going strong. Thanks for all the replies, too!!!

melbrod

Seems like 8 or 9 was about when we noticed lumps in our dogs. We had them removed if the dog was under anesthesia for another reason (dental work) and also if they were impairing the dog's movement (one had a lipoma on her ribcage next to the shoulder muscle which was impeding her front leg movement.) Our male also had a lipoma alongside his sheath that the vet found actually had started to grow into the muscles instead of staying on top of the skin, so we had that off. I don't know if that was due to location or not. They can get unsightly, but don't seem to hurt the dog.
A question--do dobes get them more frequently than other breeds, or are the lipomas just more visible with the short hair?

reddobes

I would recommend a trip to your vet. A cataract (and an increased appetite) can be a sign of diabetes. There are several other causes/types of cataracts as well. The other thing that some people mistake for cataracts is a normal aging change (and slight clouding) of the lens called nuclear sclerosis. With vision changes, though, I would get her in. Has she had any change in her drinking/urination? The other thing I would recommend for her would be a thyroid panel. Hypothyroidism (low thyroid) is relatively common in dobes and can cause weight gain, decreased energy, skin/coat changes, behavior changes, etc.
Good luck w/ your girl.

Scoob

Lypomas are benign non-cancerous tumors that occur in old age. My late dog Fred had them all over his body. As much as I wanted them to go away, they were a malady that I had to put up with as my dog aged. You might want to check with your vet just to be sure. These bumps rarely cause a problem.

Scoob (Jim)

reddobes

Correct spelling is Lipomas - and yes these are common benign tumors.

DLS

Fatty Lipomas. Quite a few of my old dogs have had these. Mostly the females though. I agree with many of the other here, do not have them removed unless they are a problem or your dog is under for some other operation. One theory is that the fatty lumps are associated with a low thyroid. Which makes sense as it seems to be older dogs who are overwieght that get them. Does anyone here have a dog who has been on Thyroxin all their life? Do they have fatty lipomas in their old age?