Does my dog have cancer? What NOT to rely on!
Dr. Demian Dressler is internationally recognized as “the dog cancer vet” because of his innovations in the field of dog cancer management, and the popularity of his blog here at Dog Cancer Blog. The owner of South Shore Veterinary Care, a full-service veterinary hospital in Maui, Hawaii, Dr. Dressler studied Animal Physiology and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Davis before earning his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University. After practicing at Killewald Animal Hospital in Amherst, New York, he returned to his home state, Hawaii, to practice at the East Honolulu Pet Hospital before heading home to Maui to open his own hospital. Dr. Dressler consults both dog lovers and veterinary professionals, and is sought after as a speaker on topics ranging from the links between lifestyle choices and disease, nutrition and cancer, and animal ethics. His television appearances include “Ask the Vet” segments on local news programs. He is the author of The Dog Cancer Survival Guide: Full Spectrum Treatments to Optimize Your Dog’s Life Quality and Longevity. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Avian Veterinarians, the National Animal Supplement Council and CORE (Comparative Orthopedic Research Evaluation). He is also an advisory board member for Pacific Primate Sanctuary.
Updated: December 11th, 2018
Hi!
Glad to see so many readers these days! Thanks everyone.
I have noticed that there are some misconceptions about dog cancer floating around that perhaps could be clarified a little bit. Specifically, there are things that people are looking at to deduce that their dog’s lump is NOT cancer…but the problem is that some of the reasons (to support a theory that their dog’s growth is “fine”) are not valid.
Here are some classics in the area of:
What Not To Rely On With Certainty
1. Your dog’s behavior. Dogs can have pretty serious health problems and still walk around, eat, be in no apparent pain, etc. Malignant tumors may not show any overall body signs whatsoever. Anyone heard the phrase….”the doctor found a lump in my breast?” Let’s think about this for a minute. The doctor found a lump. The woman was totally unaware there was a lump!! This tells us that you can have a life- threatening cancer going on that is utterly without any overall signs.
2. How the lump feels and looks on a physical examination at the vet’s. Okay, all of us vets have been guilty of feeling a mass and proclaiming the diagnosis (Fatty Tumor! Cyst! Adenoma! or whatever). Folks, the reality is this: a very high percentage of masses with that feel and appearance actually are what they feel like and look like. But, not all of them! If I see 20 dogs with a soft mass under the skin that feels like a fatty tumor, I would not be surprised if one or two were not. I have encountered growths that for all the world feel like fatty tumors (lipomas) and turned out to be mast cell tumors or hemangiopericytomas (nerve sheath tumors), or even sometimes hematomas (blood pockets from some kind of impact or trauma).
Both of these (exam findings and your dog’s behavior) are unreliable. Yes, sometimes we can get a high probability of a diagnosis and everyone is comfortable playing the odds. But consider this: how many of us wear our seat belts and how many of us wreck our cars?
Take home message: make sure you are aware that if you opt against a fine needle aspirate (see the last blog) or a biopsy (see the entry about Bjorn), you are playing an odds game that is not 100% versus 0%. Some of the dogs with masses that look like they are benign growths and will fool everyone. They come back to bite us later.
Best to everyone,
Dr Dressler
Dr. Demian Dressler is internationally recognized as “the dog cancer vet” because of his innovations in the field of dog cancer management, and the popularity of his blog here at Dog Cancer Blog. The owner of South Shore Veterinary Care, a full-service veterinary hospital in Maui, Hawaii, Dr. Dressler studied Animal Physiology and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Davis before earning his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University. After practicing at Killewald Animal Hospital in Amherst, New York, he returned to his home state, Hawaii, to practice at the East Honolulu Pet Hospital before heading home to Maui to open his own hospital. Dr. Dressler consults both dog lovers and veterinary professionals, and is sought after as a speaker on topics ranging from the links between lifestyle choices and disease, nutrition and cancer, and animal ethics. His television appearances include “Ask the Vet” segments on local news programs. He is the author of The Dog Cancer Survival Guide: Full Spectrum Treatments to Optimize Your Dog’s Life Quality and Longevity. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Avian Veterinarians, the National Animal Supplement Council and CORE (Comparative Orthopedic Research Evaluation). He is also an advisory board member for Pacific Primate Sanctuary.
Hi Carol,
Your dog’s lump might just be a fatty lump. Or not. And the old wisdom used to be “wait and watch”. But Dr. Dressler puts it this way… if you woke up one day and had a huge lump on your stomach, which didn’t seem to be attached to her body, and your felt fine and well, would you go to the doctor? If he said to just leave it and watch it, would you leave it and watch? Would you want to know what the lump was?
So, do you want to know what it is? Then the easiest option would be to get a fine needle aspirate. It’s an easy procedure that can usually be done without even sedating your dog. Dr. Ettinger wrote a wonderful blog about this subject, at https://www.dogcancerblog.com/blog/lumps-on-dogs-when-to-get-them-checked-by-a-veterinarian/ Please take a few minutes to read it. Good luck. We are all hoping that you get your girl checked and the results are good.
my dog has a hugh lump under her stomach it doesnt seem to be attached to her body ,she seems well in herself,she is a very hungry dog always looking for food the vet told me that its nothing to worry about if we want surgery aslong as she healthy they will remove im worried that she might get worst if shes messed with
My dog has a large mass on her right front elbow. It has burst through the skin, and is bright pink/red. It has smaller lumps growing off of that. I know if i take her to the vet, they will say to euthanize her. She is still very active, but the mass is prohibiting her movement.
Izzy, You are worrying yourself by anticipating something that hasn’t happened. First,only your vet can help determine what those lumps are, and until you know, you can’t know what to worry about, or what can be done. It might be very simple. Second, your dog, is YOUR dog. Your vet is merely paid to give you professional information, which you can then use to make decisions for your dog. You are in charge. If you do nothing, it will probably get worse. Then you’ll feel bad that you waited. Make an appointment Monday morning, and go find out what is going on. Help your girl by getting her help. Good luck!
Hey my dog is 9months old, he is a minture dashand. He has lump on his left paw, i poked it with a needle blood came out ,then i pulled a scab off it. I have bandaged it up. What could it be?
OK, quit poking your dog with a needle. But seriously, it could be a simple abscess, there’s no way to tell on a blog and even if there were, your best bet is vet care. Even simple irritations and abscesses can become infected. Get to your vet sooner rather than later, and the “fix” will be simpler. All the best!
Hi Jenny,
You’re right to make the vet appointment, and I understand your concern. But don’t waste energy on worry, the only thing that will happen is you’ll lose sleep. You’ve described the chain of events really well. Have these as notes: Date___ Tri Heart, Date___ Pet Armor, Date___ camp, etc. And today if you can, please take a photo of the bumps, and put something like a quarter next to them in the photo so the size and proportions can be seen. With all this information your vet will be in a good place to work on a diagnosis. Well done for feeding your boy good foods! and good luck with the appointment! Remember, no worrying, OK?
My 2 year old Italian Greyhound has recently developed several (~7) small lumps about the size of peas on one of his back hindquarters, on the outside, just above the leg. They don’t itch or cause him any pain. I have an appointment with the vet next week but I can’t stop thinking about what they might be? 2 weeks ago he had his monthly Tri Heart pill, then 1 week ago I put Pet Armor between his shoulder blades but didn’t use the whole bottle.. I usually use advantix instead but that is what I had in the house at the time. Last weekend I took him to camp and he ran around with the other family dogs. I didn’t notice the bumps until 2 days after camp, and I usually notice everything, so they appeared suddenly. I hope it isn’t anything too serious! He has always eaten Blue Buffalo for small breeds and his special treat of the month has been grass fed Buffalo Tails, but he doesn’t eat anything else – except a table scrap or two of chicken or what not 😮
Hi there,
You don’t say where the skin is…. on her belly, around her mouth, around the toes…? If there is a change in the skin coloring then yes, it may indicate that something’s going on. Westies as a breed do tend toward sensitive skin, and one of the signs may be the skin turning black. It could mean a sensitivity, an inflammation, etc. If the area is around the mouth and gums or the toes, it’s slightly different. You’ve done well to catch it early. The best thing to do is to make an appt with your vet. Hopefully it is something you can easily manage. If you have photos of her showing the area which has changed, grab them, take a current one as well for comparison, and have an idea how long it’s been between the two examples. If you get a diagnosis of skin sensitivity, they may relate it to diet, and in that case please really learn about and make decisions around ‘real food’ nutrition for her. But that’s step 2. Step 1 is, get to your vet. Good luck!
Has my dog got skin cancer my westie bitch her skin is pink but it is now going black
My 11 year old german shepherd has a tennis ball sized lump on her mammary gland second up from her rear. It grew very fast, a matter of months. First it was firm, then soft and squishy and is now very hard. We have chosen not to have it treated due to her advanced age. When we notice that life has no enjoy,emt left or she is in to much pain we will help her cross to the bridge.
Hi, we have a 10 year old beagle intact male. Back in November or there abouts we noticed he wasn’t using his tail anymore and if bumped, yelped in pain….then shortly after that, he started having accidents in the house and was having trouble deficating. We took him into see the vet, they diagnosed him with uti and arthritis. Gave him amoxi for uti and rimadyl for pain. Took him back in two weeks, no change, uti had not improved, he quit eating regular kibble, was having more accidents. They gave him another antibiotic which did no good, more pain meds and put him on glucosamine for joint issues……After another two weeks, we tried a third antibiotic which helped the uti finally!! He is still having accidents, legs/paw are swollen, one side worse than other, Vet has aspirated the one leg and couldn’t find any cancer cells…….He is in pain as he really cannot walk much at all. He eats some, refuses most meds and is just not himself. Vet says she cannot confirm he has cancer but has a “gut” feeling. We as his loving family are torn as to whether or not we put him down without knowing what is truly wrong with him. Any advice for me would be greatly appreciated.