Red bump on dog's paw with hair sticking out. What should I do?

The bump you are seeing could be a mass, or it could be a skin lesion caused by bacterial, parasitic or fungal infection, dietary or environmental allergies or sensitivities, or could be a combination of the above. I recommend making an appointment to have your dog seen by your veterinarian to help determine the cause of the bump you’ve noticed and to make sure it is treated appropriately. The vet will likely want to look at a sample from the area under the microscope to determine what is causing the bump and to provide treatment. . In the meantime, if he is licking the area, I recommend putting an e-collar/cone on him to help prevent licking and reduce the risk of infection.

Hi there. This is most likely a histiocytoma. They will often regress on their own within a few weeks to a month. My suggestion would be to take Hazel to your vet for an exam so you can get a more definitive diagnosis. Here is a link to an article about this type of mass. http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1676 Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Ouch! With any new growth like this, it's best to have your vet take a look in person, as it isn't really possible to determine what is causing the growth just from a photo. Your vet can take a sample of the growth as needed with a fine-needle aspirate, or biopsy, to check what cell type is present and if the spot needs further attention. Other causes can be calluses from rubbing, scabbing from a wound or infection under the skin, or other issues. Until you can get to the vet, it's best to keep the area clean and dry and prevent Ginger from licking or chewing at it with an Elizabethan (cone) collar or sock over the spot. Monitoring it for any additional changes such as size, oozing debris, pain, etc, is also a good idea as these observations can help your vet narrow down the cause and best treatment plan.

Hi there. This looks like a histiocytoma. If it is, it should regress (go away on it's own) within a month or two. I would not be overly worried about this right now. Here is a link to an article about this issue: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&S=0&C=0&A=1676 If it does not go away within a month or so then you should take her to your vet for an exam. There is nothing you can do about it right now. If you want to put a boot on her to protect it when she is outside playing you can do that. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

Poor Bruno! Bumps under the skin can be caused by a variety of conditions, including abscesses, inflammation from soft tissue injuries, fractures, or bone tumors (unlikely given his young age), among others. It would be best to take Bruno to his vet for an exam and possible diagnostic testing. The vet will be able to feel the lump, assess his gait, and may need to take x-rays or perform cytology under the microscope with fluid/tissue from the lump. That said, if Bruno is walking completely normally, not licking the affected area, and is otherwise eating, drinking, and acting like himself, this type of lesion does not warrant a trip to an emergency vet and can wait a day or two, if needed. I hope this helps and that Bruno is on the mend soon!

As this mass or spot is in an area of the body where we do see melanomas and other masses and where there is not a lot of extra skin, I suggest you have this examined ASAP by your veterinarian. This may be just a little skin infection easily treated with antibiotics, however in case it is a tumor, the smaller the mass the easier it is removed and the better and quicker it heals.

I would recommend taking Franklin to the vet to have this bump checked out. It could be a benign mass, a histiocytoma, that will self resolve but if it is something more serious, like a mast cell tumor, it should be removed as quickly as possible. You veterinarain can do a cytology of the mass and determine the cell type/origin and this will help determine what next steps need to be taken. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.