It's very much a personal decision isn't it, but I think that if it was me, with a dog of that age, I would take the route of leaving well alone and making sure that the dog's life was as happy and comfortable as possible.

Of course, if there was great pain or distress then that might be a different matter but Fizz doesn't sound to be worried at all.

To my mind (and I am sure that others may disagree), this is a case of fiddling about with Fizz and possibly stressing her, in order to find out whether it is cancer or not. If she went through that, and it WAS cancer, would you then be willing to put her through the treatment?

What a rotten thing - it must be playing on your mind so much.

I will ask on Monday about them doing it without sedation and see what they say, now I am quite annoyed that I wasn't told she didn't have to be sedated when having it done.

I am really hoping this is the case, where the lump was squishy it is now hard in the middle, does that make any difference?

TBH if she did have the testing and they found it to be cancer I don't think I would put her through the treatment, I think she is to old but just have the thoughts I don't want to not know, do you get my drift? if I know then I can do what I can to make her last days/months/years the best of her life, I would get in a cottage holiday for her etc, we are going to do this anyway but haven't got the money at the mo, but if I knew for definate I would lend it and take her a.s.a.p

I must sound so silly

You don't sound in the slightest bit silly.........just worrying, caring and doting like the rest of us.

My Dads Dog (white Lab) had a very large one between her shoulder blades. She was 7 year old at the time.

My dad had them removed, and that was the biggest regret.

She really suffered. She came home from the vets with drains galore, and was really poorly for about a month. (not a nice op).

Within 12 months, the lump was back. (it cost him a lot of money, she was a big dog, and the anaesthetic, x rays etc, cost him a fortune).

I would say, after Ellie's experience, leave well alone unless it is attached.

Thank you

Now you said that I got a funny feeling thats what they meant by the x-ray to see whether its attached, I don't think we are going to have it removed but if I can get it aspirated without sedation I may go down that route

If it were my dog at her age I would leave well alone.

As has been said, if it is cancer unless you are going to have her treated for that, which can be very unpleasant and may only give her a little longer, is there any real benefit in that being diagnosed?

Needle aspiration is basically a backwards injection i.e. a sterile needle is inserted, attached to an empty syringe and the plunger is withdrawn to (hopefully) pull some sample cells into the syringe for microscopic examination. This can be tricky if the mass being aspirated is solid when it can be more a matter of a biopsy (removing a small sample for testing).

Some dogs will be happy with needle aspiration without a sedative, others may not, e.g some dogs need a sedative to take blood, scrape teeth or clip nails.

The chest thing may be chest imaging to look for any secondary tumours spreading there.

Sorry you are both having to go through this, best of luck with it.

Madison has 4 fatty lumps,one on her chest has grown to the size of a tennis ball, my vet put a needle into the lumps and removed some tissue( not sure if thats called aspirated) she didnt need to be sedated and mads didnt even flinch he had a look at it under a microscope and said they were just fatty - the one on her chest had some blood in the sample so he sent it away for more tests in case it was cancerous but it came back clear.

Can completely understand you being worried i purposely put off taking mads when her chest lump grew as i was so worried it would be cancer.

Thank for explaining, I haven't got a clue about any of this if i'm honest.

Fizz has always been healthy and I can count in my head how much she has cost me in vets fees. The only major thing that she has had done and that really isn't major is she had to have inbetween her toe stitched due to stepping on glass.

She isn't bothered about anything so I don't think it will be a problem, she is fine with needles, nails clipped, grooming, teeth cleaning etc

I'm in limbo a bit, I want to know but then I don't.

Thanks for letting me know about your Madison, it helps to know its not always bad news

I know what you mean, I have been in that position myself at times.

As you know, Teagan has cancer, and she had a lump on her face aspirated without any sedation!
Took only a few mins, and had the results quickly.