16 yr old dog with a lump on her ribcage

[Nemoandthefishes]

doesnt seem to be causing her any pain or discomfort and has appeared out of nowhere. Do we take her to vet or just leave her be?

Is it squishy-ish ro the (gentle) touch?

I would be inclined to leave it if squashy feeling, and get it checked if it feels harder.

I would take her and get it checked out
It could be nothing but it could be something. They can tell you

What breed is the dog.

We had a staffy who had a lump appear over night on his knee joint, we left it for a while then took him to vet. He was diagnosed with cancer and 4 months later had to be put down

it is very soft and seems to move slightly under the touch.

She is a x terrier who still behaves like she is a pup but we know she is very old.

Would you want her to go through surgery if the vet suggests it should be removed? If you think that is something you would consider then it is best to get her checked and find out if that is what the vet thinks is best. If however you would not put her through that no matter what the vet thinks the lump is, then there is probably little point in getting the vet to look at it, unless you want to know their thoughts really just to reassure/prepare you. FWIW though, most lumps that appear in older pets are not something to be worrying about that much. If she is well otherwise and you wouldn't go for surgery in such an elderly dog then there is probably no harm in leaving things as they are.

Good luck

It might be a lipoma, my cat has one but they're much more common in dogs. Usually harmless but best to have an aspirate test just in case it's hiding something nasty, especially if it suddenly gets bigger.

It does sound like a lipoma. My general rule is to keep an eye on it, and if it grows rapidly/ changes in any way go to your vet. But the only way to tell what it is for definite is with a biopsy (sometimes fine needle aspirates can be diagnostic too), so if you'd rather she didn't have that done, there is little point in going to your vet at this stage. Worth measuring it, so you can see if it is growing, otherwise you worry if its getting bigger..
HTH

Agree we will just watch her. She is still eating and drinking etc and as full of life as ever. At this age I would not put her through surgery/biopsy as it would be unfairabd possibly be a bit pointless to selfishly buy more time.