My dog has a lump after vaccine. Is it a false positive for sarcoma?

I hate to hear that Tigresa is giving you a scare! In general, vaccines don't go in the area by your thumb. I would recommend to take her to the vet to have the mass aspirated. This should give you an idea if this is a sarcoma or another type of a skin mass. If could be any of the things you listed above. Typically aspirates do not require sedation or stitches. Best of luck with your sweet girl.

I wouldn't worry about the lump just yet, but I would have it checked out by the vet on Monday. This lump could be a cyst, an abscess, a lipoma, or a benign 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 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. Once the vet diagnoses the cause of the lump, they can discuss treatment with you.

Hi there! I'm sorry to hear about Bruce's lump. Vaccinations can definitely leave behind a small bump at times. If this happens after I vaccinate a dog, I will have the client bring their pet in so I can examine the spot, make sure that it coincides with where I gave the vaccine for sure. If it is something new rather than a lump from the vaccine, it can be addressed accordingly. As long as it is just from the vaccine, then we monitor the spot over the course of a few weeks. If it is a localized inflammatory response to the vaccine, it usually will go away over time. If it persists, some clients will opt to have me remove the tiny lump and test it to make sure it just comes back as an inflammatory response and not something serious. I would definitely call your veterinarian and have Bruce get a quick examination to make sure all is well, and you will likely just monitor the lump going forward. I hope you find this answer helpful. Best of luck!

This is a mass (tumor), however, a wart is also a tumor. So the fact that something is a tumor does not necessarily mean that it is malignant. It could also be a benign mass. I would actually consult with her oncologist, as he will have seen many different tumors and will likely have an idea what it could be before doing a fine needle aspirate to determine the type, It will also be important to see this in connection with her melanoma and its prognosis, to determine whether this mass can be left alone due to the life expectancy of your dog, or to see whether this may be a metastasis or unrelated. Unfortunately this mass is in a tricky spot, so removal will be easy, but closing the skin defect will be hard as there is not so much skin available. This is why it is important to have it examined before it gets too big and the skin cannot be closed anymore due to having to remove too much skin with the mass. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please take the time to mark this question as helpful or not as it helps us to improve on the quality of our answers to other pet owners. Thank you kindly!

Hello, sorry to hear about Sophia. It looks like it could be a hemangioma (benign), however given her age and the appearance of the tumor, there is also a chance it could be more aggressive such as hemangiosarcoma (malignant). It would likely need to be removed and sent for biopsy to confirm/rule-out the presence of cancer. If you feel like your primary care veterinarian did not answer all of your questions, then you may indeed seek a second opinion. The appearance of this mass does warrant further diagnostics of it, especially if this mass has developed suddenly. These masses as they continue to grow, may occasionally bleed intermittently or have discharge. Hope this helps and best of luck.

This kind of lump/growth needs to be ideally assessed by your veterinarian to have a definitive and specific answer. Usually there are two ways your vet can do that a part from examining it directly during physical examination. A biopsy can be taken under local or general anesthetic, otherwise a smaller sample through a fine needle can be aspirated (this technique is called FNA= fine needle aspiration). Differentials include skin cysts, infections, benign or more sinister type of tumors. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

They will feel what the mass is attached to and see about aspirating some cells for a cytology. This can give them an idea of what the cause is. If the cells are inflammatory or infection, then they may try antibiotics to shrink it. If they see tumor cells, they may recommend surgery to remove it