6 May 2021
Corgi-crossbreed treated for rare transmissible venereal tumour just one week after arriving in UK home from Romania.
Paul Imrie
Job Title
Mr Pickles following his treatment at Willows Veterinary Centre and Referral Service.
A rescue dog that had only been in the UK a week before developing breathing difficulties and an increasing flow of discharge and blood from his nose has been treated for a rare tumour.
The stricken corgi-crossbreed, a Romanian rescue dog christened Mr Pickles by his new owners, was taken to Willows Veterinary Centre and Referral Service in Solihull, where internal medicine specialist vet Mark Dunning and European College of Veterinary Internal Medicine resident Megan Work investigated the case.
Dr Work said: “Mr Pickles had reduced airflow through his nostrils and experienced pain when the front of his nose was touched. A CT scan confirmed there was a large mass inside his nose, which was taking up much of the space within the nasal cavity and we were concerned this could be cancerous.
“Needle samples and biopsies were taken from the mass and sent to America for special testing, and those tests confirmed the diagnosis of a transmissible venereal tumour (TVT) inside his nose.
“Dealing with a TVT is quite unusual for us, as they are usually confined to tropical and subtropical areas around the world and are uncommon in the UK.”
Dr Work added: “The positive news was that, unlike other nasal tumours, TVTs have an excellent prognosis when treated with chemotherapy, so we started Mr Pickles on a six-week course in January.
“The results were excellent after just the first weekly chemo injection. The discharge from Mr Pickles’ nose immediately improved and he was snoring less.
“Within three treatments, the nasal discharge had stopped completely. He was no longer experiencing pain around his nose and airflow through his nostrils returned to normal.”
