well here I am

[Vicky&Gabby]

My name is Vicky, and Gabby is my Corgi. She's a long hair tri, about 14 years old, we received her as a gift just over 3 years ago when my husband was first diagnosed with cancer. 3 cancers later, she's still the apple of our eye, and we're distressed to think she may get old and die...and would want one just like her if that happened.

She came 'perfect'...already trained, and she's trained us, as well. She's super intelligent...as I understand Corgis naturally are (Pembroke Welsh Corgi, sorry I didn't clarify).

Anyway, here I am, and I hope to hear from fellow corgi owners/lovers.

We've encountered a new issue...a possible lipoma about the size of a tennisball, that is being removed next week.

Any guidance here would also be helpful.

[Michael Romanos]

It was a well healed senior Pem that you got three years ago. Gabby could very well live another three years. Some canine nutritionists etc believe that dogs the size of Corgis are potentially capable of living til they are 30 depending on genetics, nutrition, fitness, low stress levels and utilising all the health and medical aids.
There was one guy in New Zealand who had two Pem Corgis - one lived til he/she was over 23 and the other lived until he/she was 21. This was quite a few years ago and since then nutritional food for dogs has improved out of sight and there are as many medical benefits and improvements for dogs nowadays as there are for us humans - if one can afford it and link up with medical profession in the loop.

Fatty lipoma is non malignant. They can grow well pass the size of a tennis ball if allowed to. They can be a discomfort for the dog and an operation to remove them from an elderly dog should be successful. One of my neighbours had a dog who died almost aged 17 - and she had a lipoma between her two front legs that was never treated because my neighbour thought her dog was too old at the time it was first discovered when she was 13. The lipoma grew to restrict the dog's stance. My neighbour regretted not having the fatty growth removed at the early stages.