Nose Biopsy

[AbbeyLou]

Hello!
I'm mainly just here to vent. I took Abbey, my terrier mix (4.5 yrs), to the emergency vet a week ago Sunday because she had kinda pink spots on her nose, and it just didn't look right. The emergency vet recommended we see a dermatologist or our regular vet for a biopsy to test for lupus and cancer. My regular vet, who we just switched to this year, got her in today for what he called a skin punch, about 6mm. An hour and a half after I dropped Abbey off he called and said she was out of surgery all ready, that they took a wedge sample, she has stitches, and by the way the bill is $800. I'm a little stunned that they took so much tissue, and I'm upset with myself for not asking the price beforehand- my other dog had growths in her mouth that were removed and biopsied 4 years ago, and that was only $350. I assumed it would be a similar price, which I realize is my own fault. I love my dogs and I understand we have to know early if it is cancer or lupus, but $800, esp. right before Xmas, is just a bummer. >sigh<
Anyone else out there have a dog with lupus? How has treatment been working for you?
Thanks for letting me vent. =)

[Bclover92]

hmm, thats wierd that they even did that...Were the spots irritated or just kind of pigment color change my dogs nose turned pink but i know its nothing..so dont think its bad it may be nothing at all.

[weezyNollie]

First of all, that does seem over priced. I would ask for an intemized invoice so you can see what the cost is. It might be the histopathology lab cost?

As for lupus.. my mom's dog has it. The dog gets two medications, three times daily. He gets Tetracycline and Niacinamide. The tetracycline is an antibiotic which is prescription and the niacinimide (which was more or less prescribed by the vet) my mom gets at a health food store.

He does fairly well, he still has some cracks on his nose but it's not as bad as before he was treated.

[AbbeyLou]

That's how I feel about it too- if it's mostly pathology, then I can deal with it. I know they did a lot of bloodwork too (I imagine to rule out cancer?), which was probably $150-200 alone. They aren't prescribing any pain meds either, and I feel bad about her nose hurting.

It started out as just a pinkish sore looking thing on one nostril, and over 3-4 days it kind of spread, and just looked weird- swollen, cracked, dry. Every day it looks different- some days pink spots, some days fissures, yesterday it looked like there was a pit on the one nostril. Which makes me feel better, because I don't think cancer would progress that rapidly, and lupus is manageable. The emergency vet, my reg doctor, and the dermatologist all mentioned biopsy, so I feel pretty comfortable that it was necessary.

I'm glad to hear your mom's dog is okay with treatment. I was really scared when they said lupus but the more I read about it, it doesn't seem as scary as I would have thought.

[Bclover92]

okay, that sounds bad I would have done it too then wasnt sure what it was like before...

[kshort49]

I don't know about Lupus in dogs, but I have had Lupus for many years and with medication it is pretty manageable. I wonder if the dog version is similar to that of humans-I never knew dogs could also have it.

[weezyNollie]

Originally Posted by kshort49

I don't know about Lupus in dogs, but I have had Lupus for many years and with medication it is pretty manageable. I wonder if the dog version is similar to that of humans-I never knew dogs could also have it.

The lupus in humans is most commonly systemic, while lupus in dogs is most common dermatologic only. It affects the nose, eyes, tips of ears.

[AbbeyLou]

Well.. I think I'm switching vets

I asked why he didn't do a punch like he'd mentioned originally and he said it is more traumatic. I just find it hard to believe that a quick injection, 15 second punch, is worse than keeping her down on inhalant and intubating her to take the wedge. Plus the histology is only $184.. the anesthesia was 200 and he charged 50 for an exam and 150 to biopsy.

She is doing fine- leaving the stitches alone. Her nose of course looked pretty good on Monday, but looks pink and swollen again this morning (up inside one nostril). I just hope the biopsy was from the right place and will be informative.
Thank you all for your kind words =) I'm much less worried about it maybe being lupus now.