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My dog has a red spot on her nose that's growing. Should I see a vet?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Medium (23 - 60lb) | Female | spayed | 4 years and 2 months old | 45 lbs

My dog got a red spot pop up on her nose and I thought it was just a scrape and going away but it is starting to get bigger. Do I need to take her in? What could it be?

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2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Jessica Desrosiers

Veterinary Technician

Published on January 29th, 2024

Ouch! Due to how inflamed that looks I would definitely schedule a vet visit ASAP. Sudden growths/irritations like that can be due to a number of things including bacterial infections, tumors, irritation from digging/rubbing at the spot too much, allergies, etc so it's good to see your vet. They'll likely want to take a sample of the area to determine what is going on and how best to treat it. In the meantime, it's a good idea to place an Elizabethan (cone) collar on Nova to keep her from rubbing at the spot, as well as keep the area clean and dry. If the area is rapidly growing in size, taking note of the size, color, shape changes, etc can help your vet better determine what is going on. If you are noticing any other symptoms (sneezing, fever, loss of appetite, etc) these are important to let your vet know as well.

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    Answered By Vanessa Yeager DVM MPH

    Veterinarian

    Published on October 30th, 2017

    Hi there and thanks for posting again! The area on his nose looks like there is some discharge coming from it and also looks red and perhaps ulcerated from the picture. If it is growing larger and not getting any better, then we may be dealing with something a little more concerning that a scrape. It is hard to say what the lesion is without taking a fine needle aspirate sample of it first or an impression smear of the area to determine the cause. This should be done by your local veterinarian. After your vet interprets the results, then it can be determined how best to treat it and if it needs to be removed or not. It may be due to a bacterial or fungal infection or it may be a tumor of some kind. It is hard to say without taking a sample of the area first. I hope you are able to take Max into see his veterinarian soon. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

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