My dog has a lump on his leg. Is it serious? When should I see a vet?

Without a physical exam or diagnostics, it is difficult to determine if this is something to worry over. Ideally, a fine needle aspirate or biopsy should be done to collect samples for pathology. This may provide a diagnosis. X-rays of the limb may be recommended to rule out bony involvement. Since you state it is growing, it should be removed before it becomes too large. As it is, that is a difficult area to close after a mass removal.

This lump needs to be checked and analysed as there are many conditions and types of tumors that could look like that. take him to the vet, they will perform a fine needle aspiration on the growth and send it to the lab for analysis. when the result comes, the vet will advise what needs to be done according to the diagnosis.

This could be a seroma from an injury, a cyst, abscess or a tumor. Cysts and abscesses need to be drained by a vet. If your vet suspects a tumor, he will do a fine needle aspirate to determine whether it is a harmless lipoma, which does not need to be removed unless it is ulcerating or bothers the dog due to its location or size, or another tumor that needs to be removed. Please make an appointment with your veterinarian for an exam of the mass.

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.

Thank you for providing a picture of Diesel's lump! It looks like it could be a histocytoma, which is a benign tumor, but without seeing him in person, I can't say for certain. Histocytomas typically resolve on their own in a few months, but given that it seems to be getting bigger, I would recommend having him seen by a vet on Monday for it. The vet can do a fine needle aspirate to confirm if it is a histiocytoma or not. 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. If it is a histiocytoma, the vet may want to wait to see if it resolves, or can discuss removing it surgically. I hope this helps!

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

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.