Rare tumor removed from canine patient in Washington

When Jessie was 10 months old, she was brought to a veterinary clinic in Mount Vernon, Washington for a health check after being rescued by an area organization from a California shelter. While she was at the clinic, she met Ken Baber, DVM, who instantly fell in love with Jessie, and the duo have been together for almost 12 years now.

Fast forward to October 2024, Jessie woke up in the middle of the night and began to frantically pace, alarming Baber.

Jessie had surgery at the Washington State University’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital to remove a rare tumor on he adrenal gland (Image courtesy of Washington State University’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital)

“I thought there must be some animal outside because she was really agitated, panting uncontrollably, shaking, tremors, elevated pulse,” Baber explained to WSU Insider.¹ “It was almost like a dog experiencing anxiety over fireworks. After about an hour, she settled down.”

At first, Baber shrugged the incident off, but he knew something was seriously wrong when the episodes continued after that. He brought Jessie to local veterinary clinics for testing and discovered she had a pheochromocytoma, a rare form of tumor, on her left adrenal gland. According to WSU Insider,¹ these types of tumors can cause the body to create excessive amounts of hormones that are responsible for the fight or flight response, leading to anxiety and in severe cases, cardiac arrest.

Pheochromocytoma tumors are notorious for aggressively spreading and becoming entangled with the blood vessels surrounding it. The adrenal glands themselves are between 2 major arteries, making removing them surgically a very risky procedure as well. With his medical background, Baber knew he needed to act fast and immediately started looking for a surgeon willing to perform the surgery on Jessie.

“It takes some courage to do adrenalectomy,” Baber said. “They’re fraught with potential complications, so it really should be done by an experienced board-certified surgeon.”

Baber was able to get Jessie in at the Washington State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital after a cancellation provided an opening for Jessie. Baber and Jessie drove the 5 hours to the hospital to meet with Boel Fransson, DVM, PhD, DACVS, whom Baber was already familiar with after taking her laparoscopic workshop 15 years earlier, and now needing her expertise first hand.

A month and a half after Jessie first displayed symptoms, she was at WSU for surgery. Adrenal tumors can be removed through traditional open surgery, laparoscopic procedures are preferred when the tumor has not spread yet because it leads to a shorter hospital stay and faster recovery.¹ 

With the assistance of surgery resident Natalie Heape, DVM, Fransson was able to make 3 small incisions in Jessie’s abdomen and carefully move the camera and specialized instruments to separate the tumor from delicate blood vessels and the surrounding tissue. The surgery lasted 2 hours and had no complications, both the tumor and adrenal gland were removed successfully.¹

Days after the surgery, Jessie returned home and now months later, is not experiencing symptoms from the tumor. Her prognosis is good, as almost 9 in 10 dogs that have successfully undergone the procedure are alive after 3 years.

“We don’t know what the future holds for Jessie, but we’re hoping we’ve bought her some years of continued robust health and that she can remain active as she gets older and more gray, just like me.” Baber concluded.¹

Reference

1. Rokyta D. WSU surgeons remove rare tumor from retired veterinarian’s dog. WSU Insider. Published April 18, 2025. Accessed April 18, 2025. https://news.wsu.edu/news/2025/04/18/wsu-surgeons-remove-rare-tumor-from-retired-veterinarians-dog/