Ask the Vet About Fatty Tumors (Lipomas) in Dogs

Hey! You might want to talk to your vet again about having the growth removed! If it interferes with her life that much, it might be worth the risk to go to surgery! -Dr. Lindsay Butzer

Hey! Omega 3s are great for the skin and coat! As far as the Natura Petz supplement, it can't hurt to try! -Dr. Lindsay Butzer

Hey! A growth could be a lot of different things! Something like that would need to be seen by your vet to be tested to know what it is! It sounds like it might be just a fatty growth but it would need some diagnostics to know for sure. -Dr. Lindsay Butzer

Hey! Simple glucosamine and fish oil supplements are great to give your lab. Keeping her weight normal and exercise daily is all she needs and alot of love! I would have a routine check up with your local vet yearly to do a physical exam and some bloodwork and that's it. I hope this helped! Dr. Lindsay Butzer My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBvlURdNKSJ2oRbzUB1_JQw

Hey, Lipomas are very rare to occur at 4 months old. I would advise you to go to your local veterinarian and have them do a hands on physical exam to let you know what is going on and what treatment approach to take. Might be nothing at all! I hope this helped. Dr. Lindsay Butzer

Hey! Do not use Peroxide or Witch Hazel on this wound. This is too strong and burns and slows healing. You need to go to your local veterinarian and have them look at it. It could be cyst but could also be a tumor, which would need surgery to remove it. Your dog most likely also needs antibiotics to help it heal. I hope this helped. Dr. Lindsay Butzer

Hey! If it feels like it and is characteristic of it then a clear greasy slide is safe to say this is just a fatty tumor "lipoma". If it was bloody and firm hard with lumps then I would want more aspirates and send to lab for pathology review. I hope this helps! Dr. Lindsay Butzer

Hey! If the lump is HARD then I would have your local veterinarian do an aspirate of this lump and send out for cytology. It could be cancer. I don't want to scare you, but I recommend getting it checked. If you search on my Doctor Lindsay Butzer YouTube channel I have a whole youtube video on "how to check your dog for lumps and masses" LINK HERE:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CygTHVGLmI I hope this helped! Dr. Lindsay Butzer

Okay. I dont see a question here. Your veterinarian can examine it and remove it if they think that is necessary. Dr. Lindsay Butzer

I get this question a lot and no, there doesn't seem to be anything as it is just a genetic predisposition as far as we can tell.

Lumps can be benign, malignant and everything in between. It is impossible to tell, just by looking at a mass, what kind of cells it contains. Have your veterinarian check it out - they will usually do a "fine needle aspirate" - a little mini-biopsy where they stick a small needle in it and suck some cells out and either look at it right there in their office or send it off to a pathologist. Then you can make a plan for it - if it is definitely benign, your veterinarian may recommend doing nothing.

There are no proven medical treatments for fatty tumors. Surgical removal is the only cure, BUT since they are benign (if diagnosed correctly with testing) and not bothering her at all, surgery may be unnecessary as they are only a cosmetic problem at that point. If she is overweight, losing weight is a good idea - that may help shrink them, but they won't go away entirely.

Yes, these are fairly common, but need to be checked. Masses can be benign, malignant and everything in between. It is impossible to tell, just by looking at a mass, what kind of cells it contains. Have your veterinarian check it out - they will usually do a "fine needle aspirate" - a little mini-biopsy where they stick a small needle in it and suck some cells out and either look at it right there in their office or send it off to a pathologist. Then you can make a plan for it - if it is definitely benign, your veterinarian may recommend doing nothing.

No, unfortunately the only way to get rid of them is surgical removal, BUT if it has been diagnosed definitely as benign at your veterinarians, it may not need removing.

Surgical removal is done under general anesthesia, BUT if it has been tested at your veterinarians and determined to be benign, that may be unnecessary. Less is known about prevention but preventing your dog from becoming overweight can help.