My dog has a mass. How long for biopsy results & what could it be?

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It depends on the Vet's experience with reading cytology. Most Vets send out their cytology samples to a specialist who is trained to read them. Mast cell tumors have a classic look and tend to be one of the easier tumors to diagnose. You could ask your Vet to send the slides out since that only takes 1-2 days to get them back but sometimes aspirates do not get you an answer. I know you have surgery set up and a biopsy planned. That is the best thing for Precious, to get the mass off and know what it is. It has a high chance of being benign. It is a good thing it hasn't grown much. I wish you the best!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! 2 weeks is generally not too long to wait. I recommend you keep a close eye on the mass. If it appears to be getting significantly larger before your surgery appointment, have Lucky evaluated sooner. Otherwise, this should be ok. Good luck and have a great day!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. It is difficult to say for sure what these tumors are just by looking at photos. However, that being said, the light pink mass I would suspect to be benign / non-cancerous and it looks like what we call a sebaceous adenoma. The dark purple mass looks a little more suspicious for a malignant / cancerous mass. I would recommend having a veterinarian examine both to be on the safe side. The vet can insert a small needle into both masses and look at their cells under the microscope, a test called a Fine Needle Aspiration (FNA). I hope this helps guide you in the right direction! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further. Please remember to rate this answer as helpful or not. Thank you!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This could be a benign or malignant growth. There is no way of knowing what it is just based on its appearance. This is often differentiated by a test called a fine needle aspirate (FNA) which is a pain free, inexpensive and easy procedure which in most cases will help reach a diagnosis. Sometimes a biopsy is needed for a definitive diagnosis. I recommend that you have him evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. I am really hoping for something benign. Good luck and have a good day!

Hi and thanks for posting! If it is a small mass, taking a biopsy may be hard to do. They do need a fairly good and complete piece of tissue to properly evaluate it. Sometimes if small masses are concerning from appearance to your veterinarian, they may recommend just removing it completely and sending off the tissue to a pathologist for evaluation. I hope this helps!

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! The cost of surgery depends on how large the mass is and how long it will take. The price of surgery and submitting the masses for biopsy are hospital and regional dependent. I recommend finding a vet for an exam and to obtain an estimate. Where I work (notoriously inexpensive) it would cost about $500-600 to just remove it (guess with out seeing a picture) and the biopsy would be an additional $165 for one mass. I wish you the best.

This looks like a benign skin growth from your photo. If it’s in the skin only this should be easily removed and the incision closed in about 10 minutes of surgery time. If it’s deeper it could take a little longer. That is a good question to ask the veterinarian who is doing the surgery also since they can feel it and know how big an area they will need to remove to get the growth. They may recommend a biopsy also after removal to know what type of mass it is and if further treatment is recommended. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Precious.