Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
so, one of my dogs just past away and i was comforting my other dog who seemed to notice my dead dogs absence.. they were best buds/packmates/bff lol
well, anyways, im hugging my dog and petting the sides of her and i notice a lump. i thought i felt something like a lump back in may, but it was nothing compared to what i felt on my dog the other day.
its near the ribs, soft and moveable/ like if you feel it with your hands it can be moved..not exactly squishy but not hard and rigid.
she obviously has a vet appt. but im a nervous wreck, i keep feeling it hoping that it goes away, but no.. its still there. its even noticeable when shes walking around. i can see it.
im hoping its just a sebaceous cyst, that needs to be drained. but i think those are hard.
does anybody know anything about this or had to unfortunately experience this with their own dogs?
It is most likely a cyst if it is soft and movable and encapsulated...and it may not even need to be drained or removed. My Rottweilers get these and with the first few rescue dogs I had them excised and sent to pathology. My rule of thumb is now "if the vet says cyst, it probably is". I have 2 Rotties now with what you are describing. One has a cyst about the size of a golf ball, maybe not quite that big, but it's just a circular mass on the lower rib cage. This dog is older and I don't want to go the anesthesia route. The other Rottie is a little younger, almost 8, but he's blind....it would just be traumatic to him and I won't put him through what is basically a cosmetic surgery. His is in almost the exact same spot as the first boy's. I know there's no real definition until pathology looks at it, and I know Rotties are cancer-prone, so I'm just hedging my bets.
Tumors tend to be hard and immovable, not roly-poly, with more irregular borders. Sebaceous cysts come back unless the inner lining is removed, and even sometimes then they will recur. Sometimes they get so big they have to be removed if they are interfering with motion of the leg or something, but if you trust your vet, then my recommendation would be to make your decision based on their professional opinion.
I think some breeds are very prone to these - age and breed of your dog may factor in.
The vet will do a needle biopsy. Soft and moveable is likely a fatty tumor, which would be good news. I never opted to have surgery done on fatty tumors. I'm not going to put my dogs through surgery for aesthetics. I'd only do surgery if the tumor became so large it caused difficulty with mobility. I've heard horror stories of fatty tumor surgeries going badly.
If it feels like a little water balloon it is most likely a sebaceous cyst.
Any dog that I've owned that had cancer, the lump felt solid and irregular.
You'll want to get it checked out by your vet.
I've gotten so I don't even have the cysts removed. They can just stay there until the dog is going under anesthetic for a different reason. Because of the risk that comes with anesthetic, I don't have a dog put under unless it is major necessary.
omg thanks everyone, it too is on the side of her near the rib cage area. it feels perfectly round soft and moveable. its like the size of an egg yolk.
i was trying to self diagnose her all nite because im so worried and i was reading about something called lipoma which is a benign fatty mass tumor. it sounds exactly like what my dog has but when i go to the appt./ the vet will aspirat it so that i can know for sure or if more testing has to be done.
i also read that malignant tumors are pretty much unmoveable and dont fel smooth but rather like the outside of a pineapple.
no kudzu, thank u i hope to hear good news from the vet as well.
u guys are great.. and very knowledgeable! thanx for responding back to me.
A few of our dogs have had these. We had one removed for a former dog (golf ball size - it's location and size were bothersome). Our current dog has a couple (German short-hair pointer). I wish I knew what causes them. We feed quality food (Innova, Blue, and hamb/rice) and she's not overweight.
hey Zelva, i found this website, its a doberman rescue site but theres a medical section that might answer some of your questions. i googled other causes and i read age and hereditary factors can cause these lipomas.
omg thanks everyone, it too is on the side of her near the rib cage area. it feels perfectly round soft and moveable. its like the size of an egg yolk.
i was trying to self diagnose her all nite because im so worried and i was reading about something called lipoma which is a benign fatty mass tumor. it sounds exactly like what my dog has but when i go to the appt./ the vet will aspirat it so that i can know for sure or if more testing has to be done.
i also read that malignant tumors are pretty much unmoveable and dont fel smooth but rather like the outside of a pineapple.
no kudzu, thank u i hope to hear good news from the vet as well.
u guys are great.. and very knowledgeable! thanx for responding back to me.
Our older dogs had so many of these. We did a couple of needle biopsies, but sometimes we didn't even do those because the vet was so certain they were just harmless lumps: lipomas. A sebaceous cyst is entirely different and can be pretty gross when it decides to rupture. Those are pretty common at the base of the tail. Over the years, our vets have advised that unless a cyst interferes with movement or becomes unusually large, it should be left alone.
I hope and am confident you'll be very relieved when you leave the vet's office, and I am sorry you have recently lost your other pooch. It's so hard on everyone, especially the surviving dog, who can't make sense of it.
thanksfor sharing your story TinaMcg, i will update you guys!
i have 2 other dogs and shes the one who was very close to my great dane that just died. its been really hard for her, and i often find her sleeping in my deceased dogs favorite spots. ive been giving her a great deal of attention to sort of ease the mourning that i believe my dog is going thru. .
my other dog is a small 10 pound poodle and never got along with my great dane Texas. believe it or not, my poodle was the one who always started the fights,. great danes really are gentle giants.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
i thought i felt something like a lump back in may, but it was nothing compared to what i felt on my dog the other day.
