Has anyone ever seen anything like this?

[tommyboy72]

I was going to post this in health and nutrition but figured I would get more responses in the general chat area. I came home tonight to find what looks like a lump on my pups chest but it is not a soft lump like a cyst or bite but it is hard more like the chest, ribs, or sternum seemed to drop down. This is an 8 week old pup who is in the kennel with her litter mates and is allowed out once a day when I get home from work for about an hour and allowed out twice a day on my days off for a couple of hours to run and play in my yard under my supervision all the time. The only time this injury or whatever it is could have occurred would have been sometime between 8am and 4:30pm today. It feels like the rib cage or sternum has dropped down for some reason but I have never experienced anything like this before. The pup is not affected by this in anyway. She does not act like it hurts, she still runs and plays just like normal and I only noticed this today and I handle all the pups on a daily basis so I would have noticed this if it had been there yesterday. I plan on monitoring her to see if it gets worse and take her to the vet on Thursday which is my first day off work. Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated and like I stated before she is going to the vet on Thursday since it does not appear to be affecting her adversely. Here are some pics.

[Sharon]

I'd say a diaphragmatic hernia ( incomplete closure of the wall). Common in young pups. I'm not a vet. I could be wrong. See the vet .

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm ... 90&aid=442

[Dirtysteve]

I assume you are referring to the large chest and not the small lump (looks like a hernia) on it's belly, right?
If so I have a dog that had that same thing as a pup. I was told it's called pigeon chested. He has almost grown out of it and now you can hardly tell.
It never affected any of his performance.

[CherrystoneWeims]

Looks like a diaphragmatic hernia to me also. It's genetic in Weims I don't know if it is in EP's.

[Sharon]

The third picture shows it the best.

[tommyboy72]

Ya I was talking about the large chest lump not the small hernia from the umbilical cord.

[birddogger]

I have never seen anything like that, but I hope it is nothing serious and/or costly. That is a nice looking pup tommy. I wish you the best with her.

Charlie

[myerstenn]

It looks like a puppy that is pigeon chested , try google for some information

[postoakshorthairs]

That's interesting! The diaphragm is a muscle that divides the chest cavity from the abdominal cavity so, in humans at least, a diaphragmatic hernia...which is usually traumatic in nature...lets the abdominal organs get into the chest cavity causing pain and difficulty breathing..and sometimes death. I've seen a few of these from car wrecks and looked like no fun and needs treated immediately. Hernias, as a rule, should be soft because it's basically a split in the muscles of the abdominal wall that allows the "guts" to poke through. The only time hernias usually cause a problem is if the bowel gets trapped. I found a few examples of what your pictures looked like on the internet and they were described as "pigeon chest" or "sternal Callus"...the description of both were a hard bony malformation of the sternum. It didn't sound like it was life threatening or caused any performance issues. I'm just thinking out loud and have ZERO training with anything other than humans. Good Luck and hope it's nothing serious.

[dog dr]

diaphragmatic hernias are not visible

[bowhunter1221975]

i would agree with postoakshorthairs i have seen this in humans. pigeon chested dogs dont norm cause problems but if you can get the pup to the vet to make sure it would be in his best intrast.

That's interesting! The diaphragm is a muscle that divides the chest cavity from the abdominal cavity so, in humans at least, a diaphragmatic hernia...which is usually traumatic in nature...lets the abdominal organs get into the chest cavity causing pain and difficulty breathing..and sometimes death. I've seen a few of these from car wrecks and looked like no fun and needs treated immediately. Hernias, as a rule, should be soft because it's basically a split in the muscles of the abdominal wall that allows the "guts" to poke through. The only time hernias usually cause a problem is if the bowel gets trapped. I found a few examples of what your pictures looked like on the internet and they were described as "pigeon chest" or "sternal Callus"...the description of both were a hard bony malformation of the sternum. It didn't sound like it was life threatening or caused any performance issues. I'm just thinking out loud and have ZERO training with anything other than humans. Good Luck and hope it's nothing serious.

[big steve46]

Depending on how it feels, it could be a fatty tumor, which is usually harmless.

[tommyboy72]

My dad had a doberman he had put down last year with cancerous tumors on him but this was not soft and gelatinous like the tumors were. I had a guy come by today and sold him another pup for his buddy up in South Dakota and when he felt it he said it felt like a rib or breast bone but it is strange, neither one of us had ever seen anything like it. She is going to the vet first thing in the morning so I will post back tomorrow afternoon or evening with a diagnosis and treatment. Thanks for all of the advice and info. on what everyone thinks it is and for all of the concern and compliments on the pup. Hopefully it is nothing too serious and we can get this taken care of quickly, easily and inexpensively.

[ACooper]

The only pup I have seen with an issue like this was a Vizsla that a guy I know has, the vet tol him it was a sternum issue and was a birth defect but would not cause the dog any issues, and to this point it has not caused him a single problem.

[diane303]

Grace Pointing BDB-3 LR.jpg

My English Pointer is pigeon chested. When I first got her it was pretty pronounced as she matured and filled out, it is usually not noticeable. She's built a lot of muscle around it and if you see her standing, she chest is quite beautiful. Only when she is sitting a certain way is it noticeable.

[tommyboy72]

Good news. It is a sternum issue but not life or health threatening. It was not a birth defect since it was not there at birth but could have been caused by playing, rough housing, or getting slammed by one of her littermates. My vet said that it will not affect her in any way and may even help her. The cartilage probably tore or stretched and the extra room created in the chest cavity by the sternum dropping down and the ribs expanding could actually allow the lungs more room to expand and allow more oxygen in and help her since she is an athlete as all bird dogs are and that this could be a benefit rather than a detriment. She also stated that she may grow into her chest and later on it may not even be noticeable. All ribs were still connected and unbroken and the sternum was still intact, just very pronounced and dropped down. Heart and lungs sounded good. No pain, no mobility problems, no loss of appetite, no problems breathing, everything was tip top. Doesn't look pretty but the pup is perfectly healthy. Thanks for all of the input and advice. I appreciate it very much. I had the vet in particular feel around the area where the node is in the sternum and that was definitely not the problem.

[birddog1968]

Very good, glad all is well TB72

[Mr. Crappie]

Tommyboy, glad it is nothing serious. I had never seen anything like that before. Here is a photo of my year old female that looks very similar to yours.
She is pointing wild birds with much more intensity than this photo where she is on a pigeon.

[smilinicon]

Glad pup is OK! Best of luck...

[tommyboy72]

I thank everyone for the sentiments. It is greatly appreciated.

Tom

[birddogger]

Great news!!!!

Charlie