Lump on dog

[littlepea13]

Hi all,

Will keep it brief - our 11 year westie was behaving weird a couple of days ago biting at her right leg - we thought it was an insect/stepped on something so we gave her an antihistamine and she stopped so thought that was that.

Today I noticed a weird lump on her right leg - maybe half a centimetre in diameter and raised off the skin.

Can anyone tell me what this might be - my minds obviously going to worst case scenario.

TIA

Hmm, that does look odd doesn't it? It's hard to tell from the photos but could it have been some sort of cyst that's burst - hence the dark bit in the middle of it?

Hadn't thought about that - there was a little bit of what I assume was fallen off scab about a cm from the lump.

Sorry - very hard to get a pic as she's acting like it hurts to touch, it's more raised than it looks on photo as well so maybe a deflated cyst?

Are you sure it's not a tic? hard to tell

Could she have been bitten by another dog or a cat? (And if so, check for another little lump nearby!)

I think a cyst sounds quite likely though, but given that it's sore I'd get her booked in for a checkup just in case it's still infected.

I’d get her checked over just as a precaution! Even a good vet can’t tell from a photo- its why they kept open as much as possible during lockdown! Could be nothing but better to be safe than sorry

Oh yes will deffo be getting her checked out - just wanted to see what people were thinking as my brain went to worst case scenario immediately

Oh bless you @littlepea13 , I do that too, I'm such a worrier. Only about my pets though, I could have bits hanging off myself and think "oh it'll be fine", but anything even slightly off kilter with my pets and I'm a sobbing mess, thinking the worst!

Give her a little kiss from me, and if you get a chance at some point, I'd love to know what the vet says. It's always useful to know and it could set someone else's mind at rest too if they find a similar thing in the future.

Looks very similar to the low grade mast cell tumors that my dog had removed several years ago.
Also looks similar to the lump she had removed that turned out to be a wart.
My friend who is a vet said it's virtually impossible to tell without a needle biopsy.
My dog had her mast cell tumors when she was 8. She's now a very healthy 13 year old.

My old boy was full of lumps like that, all benign. Get checked out though.

Mine had a weird lump like that and it turned out to be a histiocytoma - but the vet wasn't sure (based on appearance alone) and booked him in to get it removed and biopsied just to be sure, as he kept knocking it and making it bleed.

Two days before his surgery, we woke up to find it had practically vanished, so I rang the vet to say "my dog was supposed to have a lump removed on Monday but it's, err, gone" lol. They had a look and cancelled the operation and it never made a reappearance! That was well over a year ago now.

Exactly the same happened to my dog a few years back. Glad I didn't have to put her through unnecessary op.

It looks very like the warts one of mine used to regularly get.

My dog had something that started off like this, it’s now about 3/4cm long and black and hard. Vet said it’s a wart of some sort. We just have to watch it incase it get so big it’s uncomfortable but as she’s a husky she doesn’t catch it on anything as her fur is so thick.

Vet can biopsy but half the time they come back inconclusive (we’ve had a few other old age lumps done on her). Try not to go to the worst case, very often older dogs get lumps and bumps x

@mjnewbie we call them "wisdom warts" on our elderly dogs!