What's this draining mass near my dog's tail? Is it serious?

Based on the location I would guess that this might be the draining tract from an anal gland abscess. Anal glands can become impacted or infected and an abscess can form that ruptures to the skin. You should see a veterinarian who can confirm the diagnosis and prescribe antibiotics and pain or anti-inflammatory medication as needed. Sedation to flush the glands might be required.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! These could be benign or malignant growths. These could also be abscesses based on your description. There is no way of knowing for sure without an examination though this represents a reason to seek veterinary care. This is usually determined with an examination and a fine needle aspirate (FNA) or a biopsy. Treatment depends on the findings up to that point. I recommend you have Saffie evaluated by a veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. Good luck and have a good night!

Hi there. From what I can see in the photo, it looks like your girl has a small draining hole just below and to one side of her rectum. Based on the location and overall appearance, I would be suspicious that this may be an abscessed anal sac - these are scent glands that dogs have on either side of their anus, that can sometimes become impacted or infected, and may abscess out through a hole in the skin that looks very similar to this. I would recommend taking your dog to the vet for an exam, to get a better idea of exactly what's going on. Your veterinarian can do a rectal exam to check her anal glands, and if this is the issue, she will likely need prescription medication (antibiotics +/- an anti-inflammatory such as an NSAID or steroid) to effectively treat the infection. If this continues to be a recurring problem, the gland may even need to be surgically removed.

If this is the tail gland (Viol's gland) of your dog in the photo, then it is severely infected and needs to be cleaned and treated by a veterinarian. You should not normally even see the gland. Sometimes a tumor can develop there. Please schedule a vet appointment for Tucker.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! If these are Benign cysts, the best course of action if they are causing him discomfort is to have them removed. They may be able in this case to remove the tissue around it so that it stops bothering him. Another alternative is to treat it medically with antibiotics. I recommend that you have him evaluated by a veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. Good luck and have a good night!

This looks like an infected cyst. Dogs have a scent area on their tails that can enlarge and get infected such as this. You can apply a hot compress to the area several times daily to see if it will drain. That will increase the blood supply to help it heal faster. Bringing Ben in for an exam would confirm a diagnosis and they would probably prescribe antibiotics which would lessen the healing time. This doesn't look like a mass to me, so it should resolve quickly with treatment. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Ben.

This is likely her anal gland that is inflamed and infected and likely to rupture. There are anal glands found on every dog that are just inside the rectum roughly at the 4 and 10 o'clock position that should empty on their own when your pet poops. However, some pets have a hard time doing this, and these will fill up and become infected. You will need to take Copper to your vet soon to have these flushed out, lanced, and then he will need to be placed on antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication. I hope that your pet Copper gets this resolved soon. Talk with your vet about getting his anal glands expressed regularly at the vet to hopefully prevent this from happening in the future. Best of luck to you both. Take care.