Like us humans, sometimes our pets suffer ongoing medical conditions that require veterinary attention on a regular basis. What may appear to be the same problem over and over can sometimes turn out to be something different, which is why we encourage clients to bring their pets in for examination by the vet each time. One of our patients, Benji, an 8 year old crossbreed Shih Tzu has been a frequent visitor to our Vetwest Canning Vale clinic, as he suffers from seasonal allergies. It was during one of these check ups for his allergies that Veterinarian Dr Cirsten Werndly noticed something was not quite right.

During the physical check Dr Werndly examined Benji from head to toe including palpating his abdomen to feel for any abnormalities or pain. Whilst feeling Benji's abdomen Dr Werndly thought he felt a lump or mass that was not normal, however it didn't appear to be causing Benji any discomfort. His owner had not noticed any change in Benji at home other than his skin irritation had gotten worse and was not responding to the treatment we had prescribed.

Without any further diagnostic testing Dr Werndly was unable to confirm what it was he was able to feel and what it could mean as far as the prognosis for Benji. It was decided that the best thing to do was for Benji to have an ultrasound to try to determine what the mass was and where exactly it was located in the abdomen. Pets can suffer from cancer just like us humans so it is important to investigate any abnormal lumps in case they turn out to be a life threatening malignant tumour.

An abdominal ultrasound was performed on Benji and it revealed a mass the size of a cricket ball attached to Benji's spleen. The mass appeared to be invading the outer capsule of his spleen which is a very life threatening situation. Often we see patients in a critical situation who have these sorts of tumours which have gone undiagnosed. The spleen is a blood enriched organ that, if damaged, can lead to deadly internal bleeding. Tumours of the spleen often become very unstable as they grow and subsequently they easily rupture causing massive internal bleeding. If this bleeding is not controlled as soon as possible then the pet could die. Diagnosis of this must happen quickly and the pets must undergo surgery to remove the spleen before too much blood is lost. Often, life-saving blood transfusions are performed to keep the pets alive before and during surgery. Luckily for Benji we detected the tumour before it had ruptured so Benji was still stable and in good health. At this point we still didn't know if the tumour was benign or malignant. To determine this, samples of the tumour would need to be sent away to a pathologist. However, given the nature and location of the tumour, this was not possible.

At this point, after much discussion with Benji's worried owner, Benji was booked in for further staging of his disease and possible surgery. Blood tests were carried out to ensure Benji was not anaemic, that his liver and kidneys were not showing any signs of damage, and that his white blood cell count was normal. Chest radiographs were then performed to ensure there were no secondary masses in his lungs. Luckily Benji's bloods tests were all normal and x-rays of his lungs showed no abnormalities. Benji was in the best possible shape he could be to undergo surgery to remove his affected spleen.

Dr Werndly performed a splenectomy on Benji the following day. Surgery went really well and Benji had a stable anaesthetic and good recovery. Benji remained in hospital that night so we could administer a constant infusion of pain relief through an intravenous line. Benji went home to a relieved family the following day and with a few adjustments to his pain medication, he was soon back to his old self. One more hurdle for Benji and his family was the anxious wait for the histopathology report which would give the final diagnosis for the mass in Benji's spleen.

It was with great joy a week later that we were able to inform Benji's owner that the histopathology report confirmed the mass was a benign tumour in his spleen. This was the best outcome possible as it meant the tumour was localised and had not spread to any other parts of Benji's body. Benji's family was ecstatic with the news, as was all the team at Vetwest Canning Vale.