My Shih Tzu has a round bump on his lip. What is it and what to do?

Question

Hello! My shih tzu has developed a round bump on his lip over the past few weeks. I’m sure a good check over by a vet is needed but I wanted to see if it easily identifiable by a trained eye. It doesn’t appear painful and he doesn’t exhibit any symptoms of lethargy or avoiding food. Any help or recommendations is greatly appreciated.

Dr. B. DVM, DACVIM (Oncology) · Accepted Answer

This appears to be a mass. A mass is a collection of cells. These cells can be benign (inflammation, etc) or more concerning (a tumor). There are some common skin tumors in dogs (some benign, some malignant) but as they can look the same way on the pet the best way to diagnose this is for your vet to perform a needle aspiration with cytology. This will be sent to a pathologist for diagnosis. Given that this is tricky location it is important to know what it is prior to trying to remove it (and with one type of skin tumor we may not recommend removal as they often resolve on their own). I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

My Shih Tzu has a round bump on his lip. What is it and what to do?

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