Hi Daniela
First of all it’s unlikely that the appearance of these growths relates to the testicular tumour. Whereas testicular tumours are important and must be dealt with it’s unusual for them to spread to other areas of the body. Castration almost always is curative.
However once a dog has been castrated their metabolic rate slows and this can lead to weight gain. The weight gain is predominantly fat and that means that there will be a tendency to form lipomas, these basically being fatty growths. So there may be a link in that regard.
We must be careful though to not simply presume that these new growths are lipomas. It’s important that they are at least identified if not removed. So you have suggested two options…..biopsy or excise (and presumably then have them assessed by a pathologist). If the growths are not too big and seem to be quite localised I would opt for an “excisional biopsy’’. This means the growth is fully removed rather than just sampled. Often this is not much bigger a procedure with uncomplicated superficial growths than a “sample biopsy”. But should you have all removed or just a selection? Which ones do you choose to leave?
To decide this I generally do a fine needle aspirate (FNA). This is a very simple and painless procedure that doesn’t usually even need a sedative. A fine needle is inserted into each growth and a tiny sample aspirated into a syringe. This can then be assessed by a pathologist. If the sampled growth was small, not worrying the patient and was not growing fast and it turned out to be a lipoma then it could be simply left alone. If not then surgery could then be scheduled. This way an anaesthetic is only required if there is a definite need and the surgical procedures are kept to a minimum…quite important in an 11 year old dog.
I would agree that a full blood panel should be done, particularly if an anaesthetic is to be done.
The laryngeal paralysis is common in dogs at his age. Surgery is available for that but I would only consider this if it started to cause breathing problems whilst he’s awake. Often weight reduction will reduce the snoring so consider a calorie control diet.
I hope I’ve been of assistance.
Kindest regards, XXXXX
Dog Veterinarian
Bachelor of Veterinary Science (University of Melbourne, Australia)