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My dog has a non-painful growth. Should I see the vet now or wait?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

My Boston terrier (age 7, male, neutered, in otherwise good health) has a growth on his back leg where his 5th "finger" would be if he had one. It is about the size of a cherry. It is not causing him pain. I intend to take him to the vet but want to know if this requires emergency care or if we are OK waiting til Monday.

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Destini R. Holloway, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on November 10th, 2017

Thanks for visiting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I can imagine what this looks like based on your description, although a picture attachment would have been even more helpful. It sounds like your pet has a skin mass, which typically is not an emergency type of situation, especially if it isn’t bleeding or causing immense pain or discomfort for your pet. Having the mass evaluated on Monday is perfectly logical. The vet will gather samples of the mass and send it off for anlalgsis through the lab to see if this is a mass that will require surgical removal or not. I hope things work out well for your pet. Best wishes and take care.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By C. Rathjens, DVM

    Veterinarian

    Published on

    Great question. Since it's not bothering him, and I'm going to assume he's not chewing on it or licking it excessively, it's ok to wait until Monday to have it sampled and determine if surgery is needed later in the week to remove it. The exception to this would be if you wake up tomorrow morning and it seems to be even bigger - then I would recommend taking him to the emergency clinic right away. Measure the mass and take a picture tonight just for future reference. I hope this helps! Good luck!

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