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What is this pink lump on my dog's head? Should I be worried?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Shiba Inu | Male | unneutered | 2 years and 4 months old

This is my Shiba Inu's head, what could the pink "thing" be?

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2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Emily, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on May 31st, 2017

Hello That mass could be an adenoma or essentially a wart, or it could potentially be a cyst, an infected hair follicle, or a tumor. The best way to tell is to actually take a sample of the mass and look at under microscope to see if there any cancer cells, bacteria, or normal cells. Your veterinarian can do this for you and discuss the results and if any further treatment is needed.

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    Answered By Dr. Elizabeth

    Veterinarian

    Published on June 6th, 2019

    From the photo, it almost looks like that is a smaller mass on top of a larger mass growing between the paw pads (though that could just be the angle). Pets can get many types of lumps and bumps. Most of these tumors will be benign but some will be malignant and you can't tell by looks. Here is a helpful link discussing the various types of skin masses in general: https://www.petcoach.co/article/lumps-and-bumps-on-your-pet/ I do recommend to have it checked out to be safe. The doctor may recommend to aspirate the mass to examine the cells under a microscope. That is one of the best ways to know what it is and if further action is needed. Hopefully it's nothing serious.

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