(inspirational music)
- Hi everyone.
I'm Dr Sue Cancer Vet.
In this video I'm gonna give you the tips you need
to do a monthly lump and bump exam for your dog or cat.
Why do we need to find those lumps and bumps?
How to exactly do it and the tools you need
to make it quick and easy.
It's the first of the month
and there's a couple of really important things
we as pet owners should be doing.
An important thing to be doing
is to be giving heartworm preventative.
- Dabbie, sit, sit.
- [Dr Sue And Hudson] Awe.
- [Dr Sue] Another important thing
we should all be thinking about doing
is flea and tick preventative.
Especially in those warm Summer months.
I have an additional thing
I would like you to think about doing
and if you remember to do it at the same time
I think that would be great.
I would like you to be checking your dogs and cats monthly
for lumps and bumps.
Why? Because early detection is so important
when it comes to finding lumps and bumps.
Do you remember the guidelines
of the masses the size of a...
- Pea.
- [Dr Sue] And then there're a...
- For at least a month.
- [Dr Sue] Perfect.
What are you gonna do?
- Take her to a veterinarian?
- [Dr Sue] Perfect.
Can your mommy, who's a super fantastic oncologist
look at a mass and tell what it is?
- Yes. (buzzer buzzing)
Or actually no.
You have to go in and like take a needle and get cells
and put it under a microscope.
- What about your daddy?
He's a really smart internist.
Can he look at a mass and tell what it is?
- Yes. (Buzzer buzzing)
- [Dr Sue] No!
- I don't know.
- [Dr Sue] Can you take a picture of it
and send it to your veterinarian
and can they tell what it is?
- No.
- [Dr Sue] No, so what are we gonna do?
- We're gonna check for lumps and bumps.
- [Dr Sue] And then if we find it we're gonna bring our...
- Dog.
- [Dr Sue] To the...
- Vet.
- [Dr Sue] And hashtag.
- Wait, wait, aspirate.
- [Dr Sue] Yay!
So I know you're worried.
You're like why would Dr Sue the cancer specialist
want me to be looking for lumps and bumps?
What are the chances that it could be malignant?
The good news is guys,
the good news is about 60 to 80%
of lumps and bumps in dogs and cats are benign.
So that's great,
but early detection is so important
for those malignant ones.
So what I need you to do is every month
from nose to tail check your dog and cat
for lumps and bumps and note where they are.
I'm gonna make this really easy for you.
I'm gonna show you with my dog Matilda
how to do that lump and bump exam
and I have a skin map.
What the heck is a skin map?
That is a little chart that you could mark it down
so when you go to your veterinarian
you don't have to remember was it on the left,
was it on the right?
Where on your dog or cat it was.
Couple of tips when doing an exam
for lumps and bumps on your dog.
Sometimes it's helpful to have some treats on hand
and give them a couple of treats as you go through
that kind of keeps them focused.
Another good tip is you can,
you know, do this while they're napping.
You really just wanna take a good look.
You wanna look under their ears, you know,
and black dogs are gonna be hard,
but you wanna lay them down.
Look on their neck,
You're gonna look in their armpit.
Look at their legs.
Separate their toes.
Some dogs don't like their toes to be touched
and another good tip is
you wanna start doing this exam when they're puppies.
And I know you're saying,
ugh, I'm not gonna find tumors in a young dog,
but you really want your dog to get,
and your cat to get used to being touched all over.
It'll make these exams much easier as they get older.
So again you're gonna be looking for anything
and then when you find it,
you wanna take out your skin map,
yes you can have one more.
You want to take out your skin map
and note where it is.
So we have right, left.
We have a head on here
and we have the top of the dog
and the bottom of the dog.
And then here you could put a number on the dog.
You could put the date and the size.
Buddy, you have the calipers?
- These are the calipers.
- You can use a measuring tape,
but you can get these calipers, again,
on my website as well,
drsuecancervet.com.
Dr Sue 2019 will give you 15% off.
So we have these calipers
and then we also have the caliper pens as well.
They're really inexpensive.
It can help you measure and you can also describe it.
Is it hairless?
Is it raised?
Is it red?
And all these,
you know, you can put a little description on it.
What you wanna do is you get your calipers
and when you find the mass you don't want to squeeze it,
because then you could falsely make it smaller.
So you just wanna find the mass,
take your calipers and just go around it
and measure it in it's most natural state.
So here it is right here.
So I'm gonna see where this is.
This is on her right side.
I have the calipers around it
and then I'm gonna look at it
and this is a two centimeter mass.
Okay so then I'm gonna go to my skin map.
Good girl.
Don't worry Matilda,
we made up a mass.
She doesn't really have one.
Okay so then I'm gonna go to my skin map.
Matilda sit.
Good girl.
Okay so we're gonna go to the right side.
We're gonna put a one right here.
And then down here,
number one,
today's date is 6/1/2019.
We have a two centimeter mass.
It was haired.
It was under her skin.
And now I can keep track of that for my veterinarian.
So again if the mass is the size of a pea
which is one centimeter,
and been there a month,
we know that we should bring this
to my veterinarian's attention.
So if I go back and it's not there in a week or two
I'm not gonna be worried,
but if it's still present then we know
that we need to bring her to a veterinarian.
Maybe it's just going to be a benign lymphoma
and maybe it's something
that we need to be more concerned about,
but at least we know,
yes we do and you're so good.
And you're so good.
This is the exact same skin maps I use in the clinic
and then I'll photocopy these and put a copy
in our digital medical record
and give a copy to the owner as well.
This is where Matilda actually had a benign mass removed.
So we have her scar.
So that's been noted in her record.
We've talked about this,
we'll put a link to the vlog about mammary masses,
but dogs have 10 mammary masses
so you're gonna wanna do that
as part of your monthly exam.
Cats have eight mammary masses
so you're gonna wanna feel those.
And it's not just the nipples,
you wanna feel along the whole entire mammary chain
again you're gonna be feeling their back legs,
you're gonna be feeling their toes.
You're gonna be feeling everything
and then you're gonna need them to sit up.
You're gonna be,
wanna be checking under their tail.
If you're dog doesn't have a good disposition
you need to be careful.
You know, I don't want anyone getting bit with this.
So you need to know your dog.
If your dog doesn't have a good disposition for this,
talk to your veterinarian.
Maybe you wanna invest in a muzzle,
maybe you don't wanna do this,
but for most of our dogs,
I mean you can see Matilda thinks this is fun.
She thinks this is relaxing.
She's getting belly rubs and again,
lots of positive reinforcement.
Make this a pleasant experience for everyone as well.
Another tip guys and again
this will really vary on your dog.
Come here Matilda.
Is the fourth most common tumor in dogs is mouth tumors.
So if you're comfortable with that,
I don't want anyone getting bit.
Try to take a peek in your dog's mouth as well.
Another good thing I really recommend feeling your dogs for
is feeling their lymph nodes.
We'll link up another video,
where are your dog's lymph nodes,
but the mandibular lymph nodes are right here
under the mandible which is the lower jaw.
Prescapular lymph nodes are right here
in front of the scapular which is the shoulder bone
and then the popliteal lymph nodes are behind their knees
which are right here.
Those are the main lymph nodes.
If you're ever not sure of something you're feeling
call your veterinarian,
bring him in for an exam.
See something, do something.
Why wait? Aspirate.
So if the mass is the size of a pea
and been there a month,
bring your pet to your veterinarian.
What are we gonna do?
I can't look at a mass.
You can't look at a mass.
Dr Google can't look at a mass.
So what are we gonna do?
We're gonna do something
and that something is an aspirate.
And that is a simple test
where we stick a needle in the mass,
extract some cells and we make a microscope slide
and we're gonna look at those cells under the microscope
and that's gonna help us determine
if it's benign or malignant
and then your veterinarian
is gonna make some recommendations for you.
Remember most masses,
even the malignant ones,
can be cured with surgery alone
if we find them when they're small.
So that's the key guys,
we have to find those masses when they're small.
So do your monthly exam.
Note them on their skin map
and remember if the mass is the size of a pea
and been there a month bring your pet to the veterinarian
for that simple aspirate.
Good girl, okay,
thanks guys.
Thanks for watching.
Why wait? Aspirate.
Again you can find everything you need on the website.
Calipers, skin maps are all there for you.
Please let me know if this was helpful
and thank you so much for watching.
And Hudson.
- [Hudson] Yes?
- What are they supposed to do?
- Like and subscribe.
- Say that again clearly.
- Like and subscribe.
- Thank you very much.
All right, all right, Penelope.
It's your turn girlfriend.
Yay!
(inspirational music)