My dog bit her nipple and has an open wound. Why did this happen?

It looks as if Fluffie has a pretty severe infection of her mammary glad. She will need antibiotics and possible a surgery to debride the dead tissue so it can heal. I’m sure this is painful and uncomfortable for her as well. I would recommend getting her to a vet as soon as possible.

I am not sure why your pet would be self-mutilating herself. Typically self mutilation cases occur with a recently docked tail, or cropped ear, or some body part that was recently operated on. Or they occur when a particular body part is painful to the pet. Unless there is some condition occurring under the skin that is irritating to your pet that has gone undetected, I see no reason for her to do this. Maybe this should be looked at by your vet to see if they can detect any abnormalities with the skin in this area. You can try placing a cone on her or a t-shirt to prevent her from mutilating herself until you can get her seen by your vet. If she is causing serious trauma to the nipple, then you may want to discuss surgical removal of the nipple entirely and/or oral medication for anxiety to see if you can curb this behavior. I will say this is quite a peculiar thing and is not seen commonly in pets. Hopefully you can get to the bottom of it before she does more damage to herself.

Poor girl. Because this mass is open and seems to be bothering her I would highly consider having this mass removed surgically. Sometimes if the mass is small (less than 2 cm's) we can do a sedative on the pet and quickly remove these. However if it is a larger mass then general anesthesia may be required. She also needs to be placed on oral antibiotics to keep this area from getting infected and daily cleaning of the mass as well. Sterile saline flushes can help keep this area relatively clean and then an e-collar placed on her can help prevent licking. If surgery isn't an option for you, then medical management with antibiotics, e-collar and regular cleanings may allow proper healing of the area, but in most cases surgical removal is the best option. Best of luck!

The tumor has become very ulcerated and necrotic. It needs to be removed, likely by a specialist. In the meantime, she should wear a cone to prevent licking and a t-shirt to prevent it from rubbing on the ground. She may need antibiotics to treat any underlying infection and pain medication. I would have her assessed by a veterinarian asap.

It is hard to know what is going on without seeing it. But I think it may be more likely that the lump has ruptured or ulcerated as opposed to being bitten off. There is a chance of infection, but if the hole is in the first few layers and isn't bleeding excessively it is unlikely that Nena would die from it overnight. You should get your gran to take off the alcohol swabs as they will sting and actually can damage cells. If you cant see a vet tonight I would cover it in a clean dressing and wrap it up. Go tonthe vet as soon as you can as it will need treated, and could be more expensive if you leave it.

Hi There! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It probably was due to mild trauma (such as from scratching). Given how it looks, it will likely heal on its own without much treatment if you leave it alone and prevent your pup from licking or chewing at it. Good luck!

Sorry to hear that Honey isn't right. I would want to know if that vet only analyzed the discharge or actually obtained a needle aspirate of the mass itself. While analyzing the discharge is fine, it is not going to be as accurate or meaningful as obtaining a sample of the mass. The most effective way to find out what is happening would be removing the affected area and sending it out for a biopsy. If it is an abscess or some sort of cyst, it would be curative hopefully. If it ended up being malignant in some way, they may have to go back and remove the entire mammary chain. Mammary cancer would be pretty unusual but certainly not impossible for a four year old dog. Hope this helps.