My puppy has rare skin lumps. What kind of vet should I see?

Although a picture would help to define better the nature of it, generally speaking, this kind of lump/growth needs to be ideally assessed by your veterinarian to have a definitive and specific answer. Usually there are two ways your vet can do that a part from examining it directly during physical examination. A biopsy can be taken under local or general anesthetic, otherwise a smaller sample through a fine needle can be aspirated (this technique is called FNA= fine needle aspiration). Differentials include skin cysts, infections, benign or more sinister type of tumors. 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.

This is a mass (tumor), however, a wart is also a tumor. So the fact that something is a tumor does not necessarily mean that it is malignant. It could also be a benign mass. I would actually consult with her oncologist, as he will have seen many different tumors and will likely have an idea what it could be before doing a fine needle aspirate to determine the type, It will also be important to see this in connection with her melanoma and its prognosis, to determine whether this mass can be left alone due to the life expectancy of your dog, or to see whether this may be a metastasis or unrelated. Unfortunately this mass is in a tricky spot, so removal will be easy, but closing the skin defect will be hard as there is not so much skin available. This is why it is important to have it examined before it gets too big and the skin cannot be closed anymore due to having to remove too much skin with the mass. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please take the time to mark this question as helpful or not as it helps us to improve on the quality of our answers to other pet owners. Thank you kindly!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. I would not suspect this to be a cancerous mass. This could be a cyst from an impacted hair follicle from when she was rubbing her nose in daycare. I would monitor this for the next 2-3 weeks and if it does not resolve, I would have a veterinarian examine it so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. Certainly if it worsens during the next 2-3 weeks I would have this seen sooner. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further!

There are quite a few things this could be: * nasal hyperkeratosis * discoid lupus erythematosus, * bacterial dermatitis/mucocutaneous pyoderma * pemphigus complex * solar dermatitis * hereditary parakeratotic hyperkeratosis * uveodermatologic syndrome * cutaneous lymphoma (mycosis fungoides or epitheliotropic lymphoma) * squamous cell carcinoma Because a wide variety of diseases may present with similar clinical signs, the most helpful diagnostic test is a skin biopsy. So, I suggest you work with your vet to get the biopsy done. That is the only way you will know how to treat it.

This kind of lumps/growths need to be ideally assessed by your veterinarian to have a definitive and specific answer. Usually there are two ways your vet can do that a part from examining it directly during physical examination. A biopsy can be taken under local or general anesthetic, otherwise a smaller sample through a fine needle can be aspirated (this technique is called FNA= fine needle aspiration). Differentials include skin cysts, infections, benign or more sinister type of tumors. 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.

Hello. From the pictures it is very hard to see what is going on with Maxx. I would recommend having the mass surgically removed and sent for histopathology to determine exactly what it is. Your vet will take as large margins as possible in case it is cancerous. It could be just a wart, or could be a parasite, however since there are multiple and growing I would suggest having it removed to determine exactly what it is. Good luck with Maxx!

It seems to be a skin cyst of some sort. It's very difficult for me to know without seeing it. Based on your description, you are likely seeing sebaceous cysts, comedones or possibly a wart. Either way, the actual cyst is not a big problem, but it could indicate another issue. Some conditions can cause an increased incidence of these cysts, so it's best to have your vet check out Demon and see if there is any need for concern. Also, I do not recommend squeezing the cysts, because you can sometimes cause inflammation and in-turn infection to the area. I hope that helps and all is well with Demon.