Vets amazed by large mass in small dog
A Jack Russell is recovering after the removal of a melon-sized tumour that was more than 20 per cent of its body weight.
Nine-year-old Jessie was growing bigger and bigger over the space of two weeks, so her owner, Mandy, took her to the PDSA's Leicester PetAid hospital.
An ultrasound scan and x-rays revealed a large mass in Jessie's abdomen that was non-cancerous, but weighed 1.6 kilos (4lb), so the decision was made to operate.
Upon investigation, vet Chris Sherwood found that the mass was a growth on one of Jessie's ovaries. He said he was amazed to see a tumour so big in such a small dog.
"Jessie only weighed 7.8 kilos [17lb] before the surgery so you can appreciate how big this mass was," he said, adding that Jessie was neutered during the operation, to make sure the condition does not occur again.
The PDSA said this is one of the reasons vets recommend getting pets neutered, and that it is especially important in rabbits, who have an 85 per cent chance of developing cancer of the womb or ovaries by the age of three.
Mandy said: "I had no idea that [Jessie] could have developed something like this and I would definitely recommend other people to get their pet neutered to prevent the same thing happening to their animals."
The BSAVA has opened submissions for the BSAVA Clinical Research Abstracts 2026.
