My dog has a bleeding purple-red lump on his stomach. What to do?

Related Answers from Veterinarians

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  Answered By Sabina Snyder, Specialty Surgery Technician

  Veterinary Technician

  Published on September 24th, 2019

  Hello Judy. Thanks for reaching out. Lumps and bumps can always be scary and you are right to be concerned and vigilant about keeping an eye on them! There are blood tests that your vet can do that can indicate the presence of cancer, but not a definitive one for that specific lump. Your vet could do a couple of other tests however that may be helpful. They could take a sample of the mass and look at it under a microscope to see what kind of cells are present. Usually this is called a Fine Needle Aspirate and can be done in the clinic. If they see cells they don't like, they can take a larger sample called a biopsy and send that off to a lab for further analysis. For the most part, with cases like this, a lot of vets do like to wait and watch to see if the mass grows, Growth can be another sign that we aren't looking at something benign (though not always the case). Some owners, however, don't always like the "wait and see" approach, which is completely understandable! If you are very concerned, the ultimate option would be to just have it completely removed now, while it is small and send it off for pathology. Your vet would go in surgically, remove the lump and as much tissue from around the lump as possible to get good margins. The lab would then test the cells from the mass and from the margins. If the mass is cancerous, they would want the margins to be "clean" - meaning they show no signs of cancerous cells. All of these are great options to discuss with your vet. Good luck and feel free to consult with me privately if you have any follow up questions or concerns!

  

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  Answered By Dr. Heidi DVM, CVA, CCRT, CVTP, CVSMT, CVCH

  Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist, Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner

  Published on January 21st, 2018

  It's a little difficult to tell from the pictures how large the mass is, but anytime a new mass is noticed, I always recommend having it evaluated to see what it is and if anything needs to be done about it. Unfortunately, we can't tell anything about a mass by just looking at it. If your vet has not already done a fine needle aspirate (FNA), I would recommend asking about that as the next step since that does not require anesthesia. Your vet can use a small needle to collect some cells from the mass, then look at them under the microscope. They may even need to send the cells to the lab for a pathologist to examine them, so we know what the mass is. If it is benign, you might not need to do anything about the mass at all, but if they see cells that worry them, they might recommend removing the mass at that point. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

  

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  Answered By Catherine Stecyk

  Veterinarian

  Published on June 9th, 2019

  Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I'm sorry to hear that Remington has this lump on her side. It looks like a papillomatous wart-like mass, which is benign and common in beagles and basset hounds. However, your veterinarian is correct in that the only way to know for sure would be to remove the mass and submit it for biopsy. Alternatively, you can monitor the mass closely each day for any changes in size or color. If the mass remains static or unchanged in size for over 1-2 months, it is most likely benign and nothing to worry about. If the mass increases in size or starts to bother Remington, you may want to investigate further by having at least a small sample of the mass submitted for biopsy. I hope this is helpful!

  

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