My Chihuahua has a painful, growing lump on his side. What is it?

This looks like a small sebaceous cyst and the black part is the content. They are usually benign and no treatment is commonly required. A clinical examination at your local veterinarian is essential to confirm this clinical suspicion.

This could just be a cyst from the looks of it. Monitor it for the next week or so to see if it spontaneously regresses. IF it does not resolve on its own, or seems to bother Tia at any point, then its best to have your vet take a look at it. If it gets bigger it can then be sampled to determine what kind of growth it is, so that we know whether to worry about it or not. I do hope that Tia's growth resolves soon! Best wishes and take care.

A lump in this location could be a mammary tumor. These are growths in the breast tissue. They can be benign or malignant. I always recommend surgical removal because they continue to grow, even if they are not cancerous. Another possibility would be a hernia. If this is a hernia, surgery would be recommended to repair it because organs such as intestines, bladder or uterus can become entrapped. I would recommend an evaluation by a veterinarian to determine what it is and make recommendations on how to treat it.

This bump could be a wart, a cyst, a 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 bump 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. I would take Pedro into the vet tomorrow to have the bump examined and diagnosed. Once it is diagnosed, the vet can recommend a treatment.

This could be an infected or impacted anal sac. I suggest you take Chile to your veterinarian for an exam and evacuation of the anal sacs if indicated. Anal sac problems are very painful so please take Chile to your vet before the weekend.

This could be a local site of inflammation from an insect bite or sting. This would especially make sense if it popped up within a day and was irritating/itchy to Pasta. It could also be a small skin tumor, which would be more concerning. I would recommend monitoring it for the about a week to see if it goes away. It the lump persists or becomes larger you should take Pasta to your vet to have it checked out. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding your Shih Tzu. Based on your description, he may have an anal gland abscess. I recommend that he sees a veterinarian today. If an infection is present, he may need surgery to treat the wound. He would also be sent home with medications such as antibiotics and pain medications. In the meantime, place an E-collar on him to prevent any licking of the area. I hope this information helps!