My dog has a huge lump growing out of her ear. What should I do?

Related Answers from Veterinarians

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  Answered By Destini R. Holloway, DVM

  Veterinarian

  Published on June 4th, 2018

  Hi and thank you for visiting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This large black lesion appears to be a skin mass. Skin masses that look like this can be either cancerous or benign (non-cancerous). The best way to go about finding out which it is, is to get the mass tested through your vet with a procedure called a fine needle aspirate. This is where the vet will take a small needle and draw off cells that are inside the mass and then put these cells on a slide to be read by a histopathologist who specialized in identifying cells. I do hope that this is a non-cancerous mass after it has been tested. If it is then surgical removal will be the likely recommended course of treatment. Best of luck to you and Merlin moving forward on this. Take care.

  

  1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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  Answered By Dr. Massimo Orioles, DVM, Cert AVP, MRCVS

  Veterinarian

  Published on January 15th, 2020

  Hi, and thanks for your question. This lump/bump/growth should be ideally examined by your local vet to have a diagnosis established. Your vet may want to perform an FNA (fine needle aspiration) or a biopsy to sample the bump and determine its underlying nature. Differentials would include skin cysts, benign or more malignant type of tumors. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

  

  6Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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  Answered By Destini R. Holloway, DVM

  Veterinarian

  Published on June 21st, 2017

  It is hard to say for sure without looking at it or getting samples from this lump. However, in an older dog I would suspect this may be a mass. In order to identify any mass on a pet, it is often required to get samples taken from it and having them sent off to the lab for analysis. This will tell us if this is a mass to be concerned about (cancerous) or not (benign). Therefore, I would recommend scheduling an appt with your pets veterinarian to have this mass examined, especially if it has been there for more than a few weeks, and/or is getting bigger. I hope everything turns out well for your pet BoJo. Best wishes.

  

  1Pet Parents found this answer helpful