My dog's soft lump got bigger. Should I take him to the vet again?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I think you should have this checked. The fact that it was previously known to be benign, does not mean that now it cannot be malignant. If it has gotten bigger, it would be great to sample it again. I recommend you have Lily evaluated by your veterinarian for a test called fine needle aspirate which is an easy, quick and pain-free procedure which in the majority of cases will help reach a diagnosis to identify what the best course of action is based on the findings. In some cases, a biopsy is needed for a diagnosis. If it truly is benign then removal is not necessarily recommended. However, if it is malignant and it has not spread to other locations, then surgical removal is recommended. Good luck! Keeping my fingers crossed that it is something benign.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! The fact that it has been growing slowly is good though it can still be a malignant tumor and removal would be recommended if there is no evidence of cancer spread to other organs. It probably changed in size and shape as a reaction to the aspiration. Given that it is so close to her mammary glands this may be a mammary tumor. Further recommendations would be made after it is removed and the biopsy read out. Good luck and have a great day!

That lump is quite big, and given that it's gotten bigger quickly in a short period of time, it is a worry. I would take Mixie back into the vet to have this checked out. It may need to be removed. Best of luck.

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Typically, if a mass is not changing in size, and is soft and freely movable, most of these masses are benign and nothing to worry about. The only way to know for sure is for your veterinarian to sample some cells from the mass, either via a fine-needle aspirate, or with a larger biopsy and evaluate the cells under a microscope. Since it is small, soft, freely movable, and unchanged over the course of a year, your vet likely believes this mass is benign and feels comfortable having you monitor it at home. I hope this is helpful - best of luck with Oscar!

This could be a benign tumor, but it is concerning that it's gotten bigger. 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 lump to get a sample of its cells, and examines the cells on a slide under a microscope. It's usually painless to the animal, and relatively quick to perform. Once the cause of the lump is diagnosed, the vet can discuss treatment options if needed. I would give Tavia's vet a call in the morning to make her an appointment. Best of luck.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach and for looking out for Buddy. I'm not sure from your picture if you're talking about the blackish mass at the front of Buddy's chest, or if he has masses under his skin on his sides. Either way the answer is the same. If the masses are coming back in the same place, then he's either very unlikely or there is local recurrence of the mass. Local recurrence and have been with cancerous growths and also with some more benign types of growths. The appropriate treatment depends on the type of mass that it is. I would recommend asking your veterinarian if he had cytology or histopathology done on the mass for testing (because those would give very different information) and exactly what the growth was. Then you can talk to your veterinarian about the significance of regrowth, or repost a question here if you would like. Another possibility is that he's getting new masses, in similar but not identical places, and it's unrelated to his old masses. For this I would recommend cytology (using a needle to poke the mass while Buddy is awake) at your veterinary office and talking to them about whether removal is needed or not.

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.