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My dog has a painful lump on her stomach near a nipple. What is it?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Small (up to 22lb) | Female | unspayed

Hello! My dog has a ball on her stomach where one of her nipple is. It hurts her if we touch it. I was wondering what the possibilities were.

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1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Sarah Derksen, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on October 30th, 2017

Hi. This is a very big mass. If it is firm and painful, this is concerning in an unspayed, older pet is cancer unfortunately. Besides a cancer, other possibilities include infection, cyst, lipoma, a benign mammary tumor, hernia, etc. She should be fully checked out and have the mass sampled to get an answer. The sooner the better in this case.

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