Dog's Lumps and bumps

The pet’s cuddles are the best stress buster. Even the pets are in love with the belly rubs, coat brushing, and cuddles sessions with their humans. In rare cases, you can observe the bumps and the lumps on the pet’s skin becoming common in middle-aged dogs. All the bumps and lumps are not scary or dangerous.

Skin bump

The bumps and lumps can be experienced on the pet’s body at least once in a lifetime. It could be due to an allergic response or due to an infection such as dermatitis.  Some puppies might have excessive tissue growth in some parts of their bodies, which are termed as Nevus or mole, and is not at all abnormal. It is commonly observed in all species regardless of age and is not dangerous. The commonly encountered bumps are-

1. Cyst:

These are the small growth on the skin and are a sac-like pocket of membranous tissue that contains fluid, air, or other substances. They can grow anywhere on your pets’ bodies or under the skin. The most common cause is blocked sebaceous glands. Sebaceous glands secrete oil on the skin surface for protection and lubrication of hair and skin of mammals. Therefore, any reason causing the blockage of these glands can be manifested as a bump on the skin and is usually not dangerous.

2. Abscess:

The bumps on the skin are usually formed due to pus-forming bacteria and usually follow any penetrating wounds on the skin surface due to the introduction of foreign bacterial particles. These can be treated with antibiotics along with other needed therapies.

3. Dermatitis:

It flares up in the cases of infections or non-infectious allergic events such as flea-associated dermatitis, etc. in case of mixed bacterial and fungal skin infection, there might be bumps observed on the skin with associated alopecia, itching, and fur loss.

4. Lipomas:

These are the small raised bumps on the skin containing fat and can be surgically excised or can be left untouched as they are benign. It is essential for lipoma -bumps should be tested at the earliest.

5. Allergens:

Due to the foreign allergy antigen being introduced into the skin, there is a bump formation due to the localized reaction by inflammatory cells and edema formation. For example, a bee sting if your pet gets stung by a bee, there is a local lesion with edema and bump formation.

6. Warts:

These are the small-sized, cauliflower-like-looking bumps that are caused by a virus known as the papillomavirus. They occur most often in pets with weak immune systems and are commonly found in puppies as they have a weaker immune system. The papillomavirus-related growths can be surgically excised or left as is since in some cases, these growths can disappear on their own based on the immune response.

 

Are all lumps on dogs cancerous?

Well, no, not all growths or lumps on the body are cancerous. Lumps and bumps can be of different types. Cancerous bumps have a different mechanism of function whereas non-cancerous bumps are more frequently encountered daily. It’s best to be checked via diagnostic procedures at the earliest. Detection of these dog lumps at the earliest provides a good prognostic outcome and mostly bumps if deemed cancerous can be surgically treated (+/- chemotherapy) thereby reducing their chances of spreading [metastasizing].

You may raise suspicion on the growth is cancerous if you observe the following:

1.  Your dog is middle-aged or elderly

2.  If your dog has concurrent signs such as dullness/anorexia which warrants for diagnostic tests to rule out different diseases

3.  If your dogs’ ancestors/parents/siblings have had a history of cancer

4.  If these bumps are increasing in size

5.  If these bumps are diffuse or located on different parts of the body

6.  If there is any change in shape/size/color/consistency of these lumpy growths

7.  For lumps on mammary glands, there is always a chance for it to be cancerous

Cancerous lumps can be Liposarcoma, MCT [Mast Cell Tumour], Adenocarcinoma, Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

 

Differentiate between cancerous v/s non-cancerous growths?

 

Your veterinarian may prescribe tests such as FNAC or fine-needle aspiration cytology. In this test, a needle is inserted into the growth and then, the aspirate is placed on glass slides which are further stained and observed under a microscope by a veterinary pathologist who the observes the cells, morphology, and features of the aspirate and then conclude the growth to be cancerous or not. This test is widely practiced to figure out the cancer status of lumps

The other method is via excisional biopsy wherein the entire lump is surgically removed and sent for histopathology testing which then observes and confirms the cancer status.

Whereas in case growth is observed on the mammary glands in adult non-spayed female dogs, there’s always a higher chance for these growths to come off as malignant or cancerous, however, they might be of being natural as well. For adult non-spayed cats, there is a 90% chance for these growths to come back as malignant. Hence, it’s always a great option to get these lumps checked by a veterinarian at the earliest.

These growths can be treated by WARTGO DROPS for pets. It is the homeopathic medicine by The Goel Vet Pharma for treating the conditions of Warts on any part of the body with exceptional improvement in papilloma conditions. It cures the spread of papillomavirus symptoms in any part of the body. WARTGO DROPS for PETS is an excellent remedy that reduces the Papilloma infection in the body and removes warts fast.