My dog has a lump and isn't eating or drinking. Should I see a vet?
It does sound like Pepper is sick. This large lump on her side could be an abscess, cyst, benign tumor, or a malignant tumor. An abscess or malignant tumor would cause her to not want to eat or drink. It is serious that she doesn't want to drink, and I would take her into a vet now. If you wait until morning, she could become seriously dehydrated, and it's best to prevent that. The vet can examine the lump and can perform a test called a fine needle aspirate on it to diagnose it. To do this, the vet sticks a small needle into the lump to get a sample of it's cells, and examines the cells on a slide under a microscope. It's usually painless to the animal, and relatively quick to perform. The vet will also likely do routine blood tests and a urinalysis to diagnose why she is feeling so poorly, and how best to treat her.
Updated on September 23rd, 2025