My senior dog has a swollen ear lump. What could it be? Is it serious?

Question

My ten year old Retriever has got a lump on his left ear and its very swollen. He isn't bothered about it but I was wondering if he could have been bitten by a bug ??. We are planning on taking him to the vet later. Pet's info: Dog | Golden Retriever | Male | unneutered | 10 years and 2 months old | 83 lbs

Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS · Accepted Answer

This lump could be due to a aural hematoma, an accumulation of fluid/blood in between the cartilage of the ear and the skin, or due to a proper solid lump/growth. In this latter case this lump/growth needs to be ideally assessed by your veterinarian to have a definitive and specific answer. Usually there are two ways your vet can do that a part from examining it directly during physical examination. A biopsy can be taken under local or general anesthetic, otherwise a smaller sample through a fine needle can be aspirated (this technique is called FNA= fine needle aspiration). Differentials include skin cysts, infections, benign or more sinister type of tumors. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation (where you can post pictures ) if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

My senior dog has a swollen ear lump. What could it be? Is it serious?

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