My German Shepherd has a soft lump on his back leg. What could it be?

Hi, It looks to me as though Shadow may have a hygroma. This is a false bursa that develops over bony prominences, commonly the elbow, due to repeated trauma from pressure points while lying down on or hitting the elbows on hard surfaces. This repeated trauma creates an inflammatory response, which results in a dense-walled, fluid-filled cavity. Overtime, severe inflammation may develop, and ulceration, infection, even abscesses can form on the hygroma. To prevent this from getting worse, provide plenty of soft padding and soft bedding for Shadow to have to prevent more trauma to the area. In minor cases even elbow pads can be bought for dogs. For severe cases, surgeries can be performed to try to cosmetically fix the area after flushing, draining and repairing the areas. Hope this helps! -Dr. Gordon

I am sorry to hear about Jake. He appears to have a tumor here on his ankle. We can have benign (meaning they don't spread elsewhere in the body and cause more cancer) tumors as well as malignant (meaning the tumor is aggressive and can spread) tumors in dogs. There is no way to tell for certain just by looking at a tumor what type it is. An aspirate with a needle can sometimes provide information on what type of tumor we are dealing with. The location of this tumor, however, in may opinion would warrant surgical removal because it is an area that could easily be traumatized/get injured, and it is also an area without alot of extra skin for closing a surgical site, so it is best to remove tumors in these locations before they get too big!

I'm sorry to hear this is happening. Unfortunately, bone cancer tends to be aggressive. I would recommend first having radiographs done to verify that a tumor is present. If there is in fact bone cancer, talk to her vet to see if surgery makes sense. Many times these tumors have already spread by the time clinical signs show up. The lump could have other origins as well so the first step is to find out what it is. I hope this helps!

That looks like it may be a growth or an abscess. At his age, it is best to have your vet check the area and aspirate some cells to see if it is pus for an abscess or cells for a growth. From there, you can tell if medication or surgery is indicated. If it does not bother him and every thing else is normal, then it does not need to be seen as an emergency basis.

Do not panic yet. Calcinosis circumscripta is usually diagnosed via blood tests that can help indicate some underlying primary conditions, however, for confirmation, it would be better to obtain a sample of the calcified area, which will then be examined in a pathology lab. It is quite possible that your dog does not have calcinosis circumscripta, but possibly a bone lesion or a foreign body, either of which could cause purulent discharge. I suggest you take your dog back to the vet for another exam of the lesion and have the vet take some tissue samples if the result of the clinical exam suggests this to be useful. This may be a large abscess or a benign or malignant tumor or bone overgrowth. So schedule an appointment for an exam with your veterinarian.

This lump could be a cyst, abscess, lipoma, benign tumor, or a malignant tumor. Any suspicious lumps should be examined by the vet. The vet can perform a test called a fine needle aspirate on it. To do this, the vet sticks a small needle into the lump to get a sample of its cells, and examines the cells on a slide under a microscope. It's usually painless to the animal, and relatively quick to perform. Once the cause of the lump is diagnosed, the vet can discuss treatment options if needed. Give her vet a call in the morning to make her an appointment. Best of luck.

Looking at the photo and considering your description of the progression of this, I would suspect that it is a growing mass. It could simply be a fatty lump such as a lipoma. Other possibilities would be a soft tissue swelling due to trauma, but this seems less likely considering the progression. I would head to the vet and get them to test the lump to see exactly what it is. If it is just a lipoma and not causing bother it should not need to be removed.