My dog has a red lump on his chest. When should I see a vet?

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. It does look like a large bruise. Dark, red colour of the skin is a normal feature of bruising. Please, monitor Chloe for a few days at home. Typically, a large bruise like this should decrease slowly in size and disappear in the next 5-7 days. However, if the area is painful to touch or Chloe is lethargic and not herself, you should take her to your local vets for an appointment.

This is most likely just an abrasion that your dog got from going up the tree. If the area is hot and/or swollen it may be infected and you would need to take your dog to the vet to get some antibiotics to help it clear up. If you do not think it is swollen you can try cleaning it daily with some dilute hydrogen peroxide and applying some antibiotic ointment on it. If you do this for several days and the area is still abnormal you may want to consider a trip to the vet. I hope this helps. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Best of luck.

I am sorry to hear about Tonka! It is hard to evaluate the bump based on this photo, as it is a little blurry and there is no way for us to know the size of what we are looking at. If the red area is large/very raised, like the size of a nickel or raised more than 1/4 cm then I would be more suspicious that we have a small tumor of the skin (we can have both benign and malignant skin tumors). If the area is smaller and not bothering him, you can try washing with a mild soap and applying a topical antibiotic like neosporin 2-3 times a day. If the lesions isn't resolving by the end of the week or if it is more mass-like as I described earlier, then a vet exam would be recommended.

The region shown in the picture is consistent with a hotspot. Hot spots occur when an animal scratches or choose at an until damage is done to the skin. They can often progressbvery quickly and become quite severe if not treated. If the area is continuing to enlarge or if Garret seems uncomfortable I would recommend that you have him seen by your veterinarian. Your veterinarian may clip and clean the area and prescribe medications to help it heal. In the meantime I would recommend that you try to prevent Garret from scratching at the area. You can put a t-shirt on him to protect that area.

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. The lump there could be from many different causes: 1. infected ball of pus under the skin from a previous wound. 2. A foreign object stuck under the skin from the wound 3. A lump there unrelated to the wound (lipoma, tumor, etc.) 4. Scar tissue and non-infected inflammation secondary to the wound. 5. Other causes. From the image the little red bit is suggestive that there might be a component of infection/inflammation ongoing, but overall it doesn't appear very angry or inflamed. Ideally I would recommend having it seen, and your vet will likely put a needle into it to see if it is a ball of infection or something else. Otherwise, if it isn't bothering Chase you can monitor it for now, and if it is getting smaller/going away don't worry, but if it is growing or hasn't started to shrink in 5-7 days I would get it checked. Best of luck with Chase!

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. The area looks bruised and angry. You should clean the skin with antiseptic solution twice daily for 3-4 days (for example 4% chlorhexidine). If the bump / blister ( it almost look like inflamed nipple on the picture you posted) does not get better or if it starts to bother Apollo, you should take him to your local vets for an appointment

Hi there! Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Looking at the picture you attached, it could be a couple of things. It could be a benign mass, like a skin tag, that has become irritated. There is unfortunately also a type of skin cancer called hemangiosarcoma that can look like this though. I would recommend taking her into your vet. They will likely ask you how long it has been there, about any changes in size/shape, and recommend a small skin biopsy. I hope this answers your question.