Lump update

[BabyElephant]

We went to the vets last night, she inspected the lump, at first she thought it was an "injection reaction" and asked when she'd had the injection in France - that was over 4 weeks ago. Well then she realised it was near where her microchip would be. She got out the scanner and it was in the exact spot, this lump is where her microchip is.

So we have to wait and see if it goes down over the next two weeks, if it doesn't then it will have to be surgically removed and sent off for analysis. This brings with it a whole load of what if's, but's and why didn't I????? It's not simply a case of just putting in another chip, what if it happens again? Her passport is tied to that chip number, we might have to go through the whole process of getting another passport - which takes at least 7 months - it's not just the cost (£150 - $270 US) and time of doing that BUT is it safe for Poppy to have another rabies vaccination within a year of having her first one (the booster isn't due until 2 years after she had the first rabies vaccination).

The vet said they may be able to sterilise the chip and reinsert it so there wouldn't be a problem with the passport but I asked "What if the chip is disintegrating?" she'd never heard of this. I told her that I'd read about it happening in rare cases so she said she's going to look in to it.

I really want her to have a chip in case she ever gets lost, if we have to not get another passport then so be it, we will simply take holidays in this country, but I'm concerned about why it has happened, whether it will happen again, what if they remove the lump, they put in another chip at the same time and then they find something bad in the lump and she's not suitable to have a chip - then what? We have another chip inside her that's going to go the same way?????

I know I'm going to have to wait and see but I can't believe my baby might have to have surgery all because of some technology the size of a grain of rice

[HarveyMoo]

I have read somewhere about microchips causing growths but I can't think for the life of me where, I will keep racking my brains.

Your vet sounds to be really understanding and helpful. I hope everything turns out OK for both you and Poppy.

[weezyNollie]

The only weird thing I've heard of with chips is them migrating out of the body. Or just plain falling out.

Good luck with finding out what's going on. Did she aspirate the lump? Maybe the lump is on top of the chip, and due to the chip.. but is not the chip. And is a benign tumor or something? Or did she take radiographs to see where the chip was located. Cause she could have scanned the same area, and the chip be deeper inward and coincidentally underneath this lump?

Those are just a few questions I thought of, don't know if they have been answered.. or if it's possible to ask the vet about?

[KellyJean]

*HUGS*

Perhaps the lumps been growing at a slow rate since you got the chip into Poppy? I know that, even as much as I pet him, I wouldn't notice something different about Sam right now, he's just growing too much, I've got no "physical memory" of how he felt the last time I petted him.

I hope that things get clearer, and that answers come quickly for you guys!

Kelly

[Dobified]

Wow, that is really strange. I don't have the dog microchipped but 5 of our 7 horses are. The only thing I have been told about them is that the chip can migrate to another spot and then you have to find it again.

I guess it can very well get infected if not sterilized or handled properly. Maybe it is just like a subaceous cyst that formed around it or a pimle type lump.

I didn't know you could get passport's for dogs. We have nothing like that here in Canada.

[Dax]

Poor Poppy... Before paying that kind of money to change everything, I would try to find out who manufactured the chip and get one reprogrammed with her existing number.

[sheplovr]

I micro chip all puppies and my dogs even though they come from germany with tatooe in right ear?

The chips are very safe, they build us a mucus lineing and the chip never moves, that rumor just started from somebody thinking up a story. Just like tatooes, I have equipment to do those, but they are painful and can be smeared so u cannot prove it is your pet. Trust me the chip is safe. Send me your dog and I will do it free........grinning. Yes, I would do that for you.

[barnjess]

there can be problems with chips, they can migrate out of the body if the dog was stressed when it was inserted, there is a possiablity that a infection has occured, let us know what happens

[BabyElephant]

OK, to answer some questions, the vet did not aspirate the lump or do anything with it other than feel it and check (with the scanner) to see if it was where the chip is located. If the lump does not go down then those are things they will do before surgery.

I called the chip manufacturer to see what they said, I only told them that a lump had developed in the area of the chip and if it does not go down it would need to be surgically removed. Since she had a passport would it be possible to manufacture me another chip with the same number (I have found out what to do re passport if chip is replaced with another one with a different number - talk about paperwork and time - it would be better to do the whole thing again if it wasn't for having to give her another rabies vaccination.). There Product Manager called me back, the first thing he asked was "Has she had an injection recently" so I asked "How recent is recent?" he said in the last 2 months. So I told him that she'd had an injection 4 weeks ago, then he asked if she'd taken a knock recently, so I told him about the tunnel experience last week. Basically he said it's quite common for a lump to form at the chip site in response to an injection or after taking a knock and it can take 4 weeks (or more) after an injection for that reaction to occur. That injection was the first one she'd had since having the chip inserted last year. Most people don't check their dogs that close or often enough to notice, 9 times out of 10 the lump goes down but it can take a few weeks. However in some cases the lump never goes down so the vet surgically removes it. If the chip is still working (as Poppy's is - it's still reading and taking her temperature) then they can sterilise it and reinsert it. The lump is most likely above or to one side of the chip rather than around the chip he said but in some rare cases the body starts to reject the chip and push it to the surface through the dog's skin.

I showed the training club owner as she does microchips and she said they inserted it too far down anyway, it should have been between her shoulder blades so if it is the knock that did it it's because it's in the wrong place. She said the vet should pay for the surgery because they put it in the wrong place (but I think that's because she does't want me suing her because her equipment wasn't properly secured!).

In the end it doesn't matter whose fault it is, as long as she's alright that's the main thing. So I have to wait and see for the next couple of weeks to see if it does go down, hopefully we'll fall in to that category!

<sorry for the looooooong post>

[HarveyMoo]

Do all chips take the dogs temperature? You learn something new every day!!!! I think if the lump was caused specifically by the chip and not a knock or bump then it would have appeared more gradually. Fingers crossed that the lump disappears quickly.