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My dog has a big belly tumor. Is it benign or malignant? What's next?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Dachshund | Male | neutered | 7 years and 11 months old | 14 lbs

what are the chances a massive abdominal tumor is benign? Found out my dachshund has a tumor but the vet was unable to tell exactly where it was coming from because it is so big. My options are to treat w steroids or opt for surgical removal with the contingency if there is evidence of metastasis we euthanize. He is not completely himself but he is still eating, still barks and wags tail, still plays fetch on occasion. He is 8 years old.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Dr. Strydom, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on July 20th, 2017

There is no way to answer this question. It is completely dependent on what organ it's attached to and even if we did know that we still couldn't guess as to benign or malignant without a histopathology. An abdominal ultrasound can be done to help determine what the mass is attached to and if there is obvious metastasis. I would recommend this be done by a specialist. If you wanted to skip the ultrasound, I would agree with doing an abdominal exploratory. It is your best opportunity to find out what the tumor is attached to and to get a biopsy (or completely remove it if possible). I don't think steroids is a good idea without knowing what the tumor is or what it is attached to. Steroids are not curative and they have a lot of side effects. Not only that but many types of cancer do not respond to steroid therapy. I hope this helps. Sorry that Franklin is having this issue. Best wishes.

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