My 6-year-old dog had a severe bout of Ehrlichiosis 5 months ago that triggered a massive drop in platelets and a seizure. He completed treatment and recovered well. For the past few months, we did monthly blood checks where his ALT liver enzymes initially spiked to 5x normal (now down to near-normal with supplements), and his platelets and reticulocytes were steadily improving. However, his latest blood work showed a sudden, sharp drop again (platelets down to 130 K/µL, low reticulocytes), even though he tested negative for tick-borne diseases.

We just did an abdominal ultrasound that revealed a 1.68 x 1.29 cm vascularized nodule in his spleen with splenomegaly, a 2mm kidney stone, and mild liver hyperechogenicity. Clinically, he is completely stable, active, eating well, and has bright pink gums with no signs of bleeding or abdominal pain. Despite his stability and the small size of the lesion, the vet is pushing for an urgent exploratory laparotomy and emergency splenectomy, warning that it could rupture at any moment.

Given that he is stable, his blood cells are just mildly low, and the splenic mass is under 1.7 cm, is an emergency surgery truly necessary right now, or is it reasonable to seek a second opinion and consider less invasive diagnostic steps like a fine-needle aspiration first? We want to do what is best for him, but we are terrified of rushing into major surgery unnecessarily. Any veterinary insights or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated.

So we have been monitoring my 8 year old terriers lipoma on her shoulder for a year now. We had a series of 3 vets/5 samples - 3 vets examined in office under microscope and two were sent to path for review. First one, probably lipoma, second too few cells - and that sample was poked in many locations of it.

The vet suggested removal because it was by her shoulder muscle wall, grew a little and she thought while young and mass is small, lets do it now. Ended up being a 10x 13 long removal.

I am worried now it is something else in there. Anyones dog have a lipoma that big or have the diagnosis change once the mass was removed. Could all 5 samples be that wrong?

I am a worrier so I paid the extra $83 to have it done priority. It arrived at the Antech lab on Wednesday and as of Friday not back.

Anyones dog have large lipomas that were just lipomas and did not come back as cancer ?

Anyone have FNA that were all incorrect?

Hi everyone,

I'm currently trying to optimize Masson's Trichrome staining on cryosections of chicken embryo hearts, but the staining consistently turns out much paler than expected.

We are using the Polysciences Masson's Trichrome kit.

The myocardium stains only weakly pink, nuclei are poorly defined, and the contrast between myocardium and collagen is much lower than expected.

As a technical control, we also stained adult mouse heart cryosections in the same staining batch.

Current protocol

• Chicken embryo heart cryosections: 10–15 µm
• Adult mouse heart cryosections (technical control): 6 µm
• Sections stored at −80 °C for 3–5 days
• Thawed for ~5 min at room temperature
• 4% PFA fixation for 1 h
• PBS wash
• Bouin's mordant:
  • 1 h at 35 °C
  • OR overnight at room temperature
• Freshly prepared Weigert's Iron Hematoxylin 10 min
• Biebrich Scarlet 5min
• PTA/PMA differentiation 10min
• Aniline Blue 5min
• Acetic acid 2 min (1%)
• Standard dehydration and mounting (Ethanol 70%, 90%, 99%, Xylol)

All comparison slides were stained simultaneously using the same freshly prepared reagents.

What we've already tested

• Brand-new Polysciences kit
• Bouin's fixation for 1h 35°C incubation or for o/n RT

Despite this, both mouse and chicken sections remain much paler than previous stainings performed in our lab.

I've attached:

1. Previous successful mouse heart stainings (reference Pic 1+2)
2. Current chicken embryo heart stainings Pic 3
3. Current mouse heart stainings Pic 4

https://preview.redd.it/bhsej3x6wsdh1.png?width=960&format=png&auto=webp&s=657c0e74860b0b6bac2bb9ed5dab356cb54db388

https://preview.redd.it/zaonn2x6wsdh1.png?width=939&format=png&auto=webp&s=8aa91ea8129f690816be8ce7d436661ade12a679

https://preview.redd.it/p3lmf3x6wsdh1.png?width=754&format=png&auto=webp&s=2f12ae181be68b78ca85e537b03b1c1c2f9675e2

https://preview.redd.it/3jy1b4x6wsdh1.png?width=952&format=png&auto=webp&s=b3231ed7510ad8da900a48cbf79ef65626515221

Questions

1. Does anyone have experience with Masson's Trichrome on cryosections, especially embryonic tissue?
2. Could 1 h PFA fixation before Bouin already be excessive for cryosections?
3. Have you had to modify Biebrich Scarlet or PTA/PMA differentiation times for cryosections?
4. Are there any cryosection-specific modifications that made a significant difference for you?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

These are the results of my dogs current brucellosis test. I’m freaking out wondering why they are re-running the test. Anyone seen this before? What does it mean????

Brucella Canis - Screen
BRUCELLA CANIS - SCRN 1
Comments
Brucella Canis - Screen

1. BRUCELLA CANIS - SCRN – THE RESULT IS BEING RECHECKED AND WILL BE SET UP ON THE NEXT REGULARLY SCHEDULED TEST
   RUN.
   --Interpretation of IFA screening test results for Brucella canis--
   A negative result usually means there is no infection with Brucella canis, although false negatives may occur in the first 8-12
   weeks post infection. Dogs that have been exposed in the previous 12 weeks should be retested.
   A positive result may be a false positive or may be due to Brucella canis infection. Confirmatory testing is recommended. If you
   wish to confirm a positive result please contact customer service and ask to add test S16131 (Brucella Multiplex).