Santa Clarita veterinarian Dr. Jaimie Ronchetto of Cinema Veterinary Centre recently appeared on KHTS AM-1220 to talk about why pet owners should usually have masses they find on their dogs removed, even if they’re benign.

“Depending on the location (and) where they’re at, we do recommend still removing it just so they’re more comfortable and it’s not going to continue to grow and become more of a problem,” explained Ronchetto.

Jaimie Ronchetto, DVM

Ronchetto stressed the importance of getting these masses looked at by a veterinarian because they have the potential to be dangerous.

“It’s always best to get them checked out, because you never know if they’re benign and nothing to worry about, or something that we should be paying more attention to,” said Ronchetto.

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To give an example, Ronchetto spoke about how she would go about removing a mass located near the dog’s eye.

“While they’re under anesthesia, to remove an eyelid mass or lesion, we usually just take a little wedge resection, so like a little triangle type of wedge out of that area to remove it. Then that makes it nice and easy to close the edges, so you get a nice, pleasing look as it heals,” explained Ronchetto.  

“I always use absorbable sutures in that area just in case they don’t allow me to take it back out,” Ronchetto added. “When they’re ready they’ll just dissolve.”

Ronchetto encourages pet owners whose pets are in need of multiple procedures– such as a dental cleaning in addition to a mass removal –to take advantage of the fact that their pet is already going under anesthesia and have them performed at once if possible.

This is done both to be efficient and for the safety of the animal.

“(Performing) preventative or necessary treatments under one anesthetic procedure … is safer for them too that way,” explained Ronchetto.

Dr. Jaimie Ronchetto, DVM, is a Santa Clarita veterinarian who opened her own veterinary hospital in Valencia after spending several years in private practice as an associate veterinarian at other SCV hospitals. Ronchetto and the staff at Cinema Veterinary Centre strive to give every dog, cat and pocket pet outstanding quality care in the areas of medicine and surgery. A Hart High School graduate, Ronchetto earned her BS degree from UC Davis and graduated with Honors from Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine.

Cinema Veterinary Centre

23460 Cinema Drive

Valencia, CA 91355

(661) 253-9300