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My senior dog has a hard, painless lump on her head. Is it serious?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Labrador Retriever | Female | spayed | 11 years and 9 months old | 89 lbs

My 11 year old labrador retriever developed a large knot/growth on top of her head last Sep (abt 6 months ago). She has shown no symptoms, no change in appetite, exercise, energy, etc. It is not centered but more on the top left side. It is hard and she does not mind you touching it, rubbing on it, etc. She acts like it doesn't hurt and she is super-sensitive to pain. She currently takes the following meds: prozac 10mg/day, Dasuquin, Proin, and a bladder & thyroid natural supplement. Any ideas?

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2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Linda G, MS, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on March 13th, 2018

Hello. This is definitely a tumor, but it is impossible to say if it is a relatively harmless benign one, or a dangerous potentially aggressive malignant tumor. My guess is that this is very benign & will cause no great harm to Poochi. It can continue to grow, but may not ever affect her overall life. The best thing to do is to have your veterinarian perform a fine needle aspirate where a few cells are removed from the lump & examined under the microscope. Hopefully, all that will be seen are benign fat cells ( lipoma ), but if highly differentiated cells are seen, this would indicate that removal is advised. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

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    Answered By Debi Matlack

    Veterinary Technician

    Published on June 15th, 2019

    It looks like a small tumor which are not uncommon on older dogs. If it has come up suddenly I would get her in to see your vet right away since aggressive cancers will pop up suddenly and change rapidly. Even if it is benign, if she is in good health it might be a good idea to have it removed so it doesn't get caught and injured by her day to day routine. Your vet will do an exam, possible sample some cells from it to try to identify it and bloodwork if you opt to remove it to determine her suitability for anesthesia. It looks from the photo like it would not be a complicated process to remove it.

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