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My dog has a painful, bleeding lump on his stomach. What should I do?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Large (61lb +) | Male | neutered | 11 years and 1 month old | 97 lbs

My dog Trey has a mole looking thing on his stomach and he keeps biting it. It bleeds when he bites it. It looks painful for him but I don't know what to do to help him. Please help! do you know what it might be and how I could help him?

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Shaneez Wallani, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on March 28th, 2017

Without further testing, there is no way to tell if this growth is due to infection, trauma or allergy, or if it is a tumour. Tumours can be of a malignant (cancerous) type that can spread elsewhere and/ or invade the healthy tissue around them, or a more benign (noncancerous) type that is unlikely to spread. I recommend making an appointment to see your vet to have the growth tested. In many cases this can be done using a fine needle aspirate, where cells are removed from the growth using a needle and examined under a microscope to determine what it is and to guide treatment. In some cases further testing may be needed to determine the necessary course of treatment, but it is important to get new growths tested in a timely manner, as some can be cancerous and quite aggressive in their growth, and growths due to infection, allergy or trauma can lead to complications or be indicators of underlying health problems. In the meantime, it is very important that you keep Trey from licking the area to help prevent infection by making sure he wears the “cone” (also known as an e-collar or Elizabethan collar) at all times when he is not being directly supervised by you, including while sleeping. Pain medications meant for humans can be very dangerous (and even deadly) for dogs, so I do not recommend giving any to your pup without consulting with your vet. Your veterinarian can prescribe safe medication to help with the pain as needed. Hope your pup feels better soon!

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