Dolly Gets Cryo-treatment Again: What is Cryosurgery?

Dolly smiling after her treatment

As dogs age some develop skin tags, bumps, lumps, and growths. Some of them are in places where they can be torn open, so they should come off. Our 13 year old Weimaraner, Dolly, can't have anesthesia because she has an "air pocket" or "bullae" in her lungs so we opted for "Cryosurgery," which isn't really surgery... it's a freezing of a growth the kills the tissue.

LAST FALL'S FREEZE - Dolly had a 1 centimeter in diameter lump on her ear back months ago, that she scratched and it bled like crazy (Ears tend to bleed a lot). So, immediately, I quelled the bleeding by using the dog-styptic powder that is used when you cut a nail too short. Turns out it was the right thing to do. We had that frozen 4 times, but because the growth was too large, it didn't entirely work (just 1/2 froze and fell off). So, it has to be surgically removed, somehow.

THIS MONTH'S FREEZE - This month she developed a small 3 millimeter bump or pimple in the center of her back, so we had that one cryotreated. Hopefully, that will come off . It usually turns black, dries out and falls off in a couple of days to a week.

BOTTOM LINE: Cryotreat small bumps or pimples before the grow too large. Smaller growths come off more easily.

A PATIENT PATIENT - She's really patient and just stands there allowing the doctor to freeze the growths and she doesn't move. The doctor said she's the best patient, ever!

the cryo-treated small lump on Dolly's back

WHAT IS CRYOSURGERY? Cryosurgery refers to the application of intense cold in order to kill living tissue, according to Wagwalking.com. Indeed, the procedure is slightly misnamed since no surgical cutting is involved, so 'cryotherapy' is more apt. Cryosurgery is used to treat lumps on the surface of the skin or tumors in places where surgical removal would be difficult, such as the mouth. It is not necessarily the first option for treatment, but reserved for patients for whom the anesthetic risk is considered unreasonable, such as elderly dogs. The actual procedure is temporarily painful, but can be overcome with local anesthetic. Cryosurgery used to be more popular than it is at present, and now first opinion clinics offer it as a treatment option.

Read more at: https://wagwalking.com/treatment/cryosurgery