I'm freaking out!

kat

Hey everybody,

  Many of you already know my Wilma, a 18 month old EBT. This novice has a question for you seasoned BT owners. My husband and I have noticed this bump of the back of Wilma's scull between her ears. This bump has seemed to appear over the past few weeks (neither of us had noticed it before and our old EBT doesn't seem to have one. At first we thought it might just be an "intelligence bump" (our basset hound had a large one but it was on the top of his head) but it seems to have appeared out of nowhere. Nothing has really changed with her. She spent 9 days in Florida running on the beach and swimming in the ocean ( maybe she lost a little weight but doesn't appear to have lost any), her temperament/obedience is the same.... if not maybe even improved. She hasn't fallen or hit her head on anything. I would so appreciate any feedback/knowledge you may have. I will try to attach some pics that I took tonight. thanks  Kat

Xtracho

Maya had that on the crown of her head as well. Concerned me at first but it has gone down considerably over the last several months. I'm guessing it's the crown of her skull in the developmental stage. But that's just from a novice's viewpoint. The experts will chime in.

philsergeant

If you know a quality vet, have them look at it... By quality I mean one that is not inclined to use every/ any excuse to charge you for doing things that are not desperately needed. Is the bump soft, semi hard, or hard?
If soft it could just be a local edema caused perhaps by jumping up under a table or something the way Bullies can. It could also be a local tumor, Bullies often have these, which mostly go away. Isabella had one on her foot which grew to the size of a large marble, then disappeared as quickly as appeared (a week).. Marco had one on his chest that got as big as a golf ball in 2 weeks and we had to have it cut out.  But you really should find out.

kat

I looked back at photos from Florida ( Nov 8th) and she had it then but wasn't as big. I will get her to our vet ASAP. 

kat

Here are a couple more pics.  I'm scared to death.

kat

more pics.

BulliesofNC

The bump that is visual on the head of a Bull Terrier puppy is normal for many EBT's and will be noted from the age of 6 weeks until maturity. However, the normal small bump you see on puppies gets better (meaning smaller) not worse.

This bump I'm seeing on Wilma is NOT normal and the (one) photo you provided on the first post really scares me especially if it's a hard lump. That needs to be looked out and tested by a Vet.

Please keep us posted as to what your Vet determined it to be. My fingers are crossed for Wilma.

philsergeant

@Kat, The photos are not posting, make sure they are less than about 3Mb and .jpegs for best result.

kat

:-/

kat

Hi Everyone. I took Wilma to the vet today and after examining her he said the lump on her head is her skull bone and just her anatomy. I went home and scoured all her pictures and the one below with the ducks (although not a great pic) doesn't appear to have the protruding lump on her skull. That was taken in September. The second and third pictures were taken on November 8th while we were in Florida. The 4th picture was taken last night (Nov 23rd) and the lump appears to be bigger. Although she doesn't appear to have lost weight (she weighed 42# today and is solid muscle) my husband feels she may have lost weight since Florida since she ran in the surf for hours every day making the bone more pronounced. I just don't know. I think I will contact her breeder (whom I send pictures to all the time) and ask if the sire or dam have this bone structure. I also thought I could measure the lump with a cloth tape measure and keep tabs on it that way. Is there anything else I should do?

Quinnofhearts

Did the vet offer to take X Rays? I know we've already mentioned not talking to vets who want to do crazy stuff just for the sake of medicine, but really the only way to guarantee that it is part of the anatomy/skull is to X Ray it. If you do not like the vet you have already spoken with, is there an orthopedic surgeon/doctor (for dogs) near you? We had such a good experience with an orthopedic surgeon after Quinn broke her leg, I can't stress enough how important good doctors are, especially after reading some of the ridiculous treatments and failures other owners have had...

It just seems abnormally pronounced and considering the amount of muscle and build around that spot on my own dog, it just seems very strange.  :-?

philsergeant

It's unfortunate that we are "bred" to almost automatically believe the "advise"/ analysis given to us by theoretical experts and professionals.... But my experience is that there a few really good pros, and far to many "total dickwads". So, from whom you receive the advise is totally critical. To believe that the kid's skull has just "changed" suddenly and rapidly it a bit of a stretch... although not out of the bounds of possibility.
Personally I doubt it... especially if he has no X-Ray support to his statement. If it wasn't there, and continues to grow and doesn't recede... then you need to find better advise....  To help you judge the progress, you could make a mould using kid's plastercine or glaser's putty....pressing it gently on to capture the size.  Something to record accurately the size it is today, and the reducing size it gets to be in future, hopefully.

BulliesofNC

I'm utterly shocked any Vet would say that lump was her skull bone. I've seen thousands of Bull Terriers and never have I seen one that had a skull bone formation like what I see in the photos. As mentioned in my first post, it is normal to see a slight bump in the same location on a young puppy. However, as the puppy grows, bones develop, and skull forms this bump gets smaller and smaller until it's no longer noticeable. The lump on Wilma has the complete opposite effect in that it has gotten worse. In my opinion (and I'm no medical expert) if in fact that lump on Wilma's head is actually skull bone than I could only speculate she may have suffered some sort of head injury. Possibly a skull fracture that healed in a manner that left a lump.

I noticed that Wilma has clear evidence of scars on her muzzle caused by another dog. Were you present during the dog fight and if so how was the fight broken up? Could there have been injury caused during the fight or possibly the method used to break up the fight?

I sure hope your Vet is correct in the "assumption" that the large lump is simply the way her skull has formed naturally. I was more worried about it being a tumor. I agree with others stating there should have been better tests conducted to provide accuracy on his diagnosis. You may wish to consider a second opinion from an alternate Vet.

kat

$-)

kat

Steve, Wilma is very active and plays HARD with our other dogs. She often grabs the alpha's collar/neck and rolls like a gator, hurting him. He has the patience of a saint but will put up with this just so long and puts her in her place but she doesn't ever seem to get hurt. Now, the scars on her face are from Willard, our old EBT (who is a wonderful, kind old man) but has little patience with her shenanigans and has lashed out at her tons of times when she was younger. His bite is so strong that he has left wounds/ scars on her. She has learned and is now very cautious when initiating play with him. There has never been a full out fight...just her getting nipped.

kat

I have an appointment with an alternate vet for xrays/exam today.

kat

Great news. I took Wilma to her second vet appointment today. She is fine, it is just a really pronounced "intelligence bump". Both vets examined the lump and read the xray and all is fine. The bone is very pronounced but there is no fracture or edema/swelling. #:-S

philsergeant

Well we all know that Bullies are extra smart, but I never heard of one with two brains yet! :-) But I'm really glad that they reckon you have nothing to be concerned about! Better keep your eye on your iPhone though, she'll be making International calls (or interstellar ones) :-)

BulliesofNC

That's great news and a big relief to any thoughts of it being a cancerous tumor. It would have been tragic to hear about any Bull Terrier (especially those on this forum) that ended up with a cancerous tumor of some sort.

alexa

Wow that's a big one! Be careful, I've made the mistake of getting a little head bump with one of those guys...Maya seems to use her's as a weapon  )