My dog's tail lump grew after grooming. When should I see a vet?

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!

Hello. From the photo that you provided, this looks like a growth that may be benign or malignant. It may also be a cyst. Your veterinarian can try to do a fine needle aspirate on the lump in order to determine if it is urgent to surgically remove it. As to whether the hot spot caused it…. that is not likely. Your pet may be licking or chewing at it and it may have had some part in causing the hotspot, but I cannot say for sure. Your next step should be trying to determine if surgery is needed to remove it. Your veterinarian can help you with that. Thank you.

Aww poor Beau! The good news is that this tail looks pretty good to me. I can’t say for certain without looking at it but this could be normal healthy granulation tissue filling in his wound/surgery site. It could possibly be a small suture reaction or incision infection. If you can keep Beau from licking it (E collar), you can apply a triple antibiotic cream (Neosporin, etc) once or twice daily. Do not bandage the tail. Best of luck and hope this helps!

That growth may be a tumor or a cyst that ruptured. It is infected and has a very large open spot. the only thing you can do at home is keep the area clean and get an e collar from a pet store to prevent him from licking it and making it worse. It will need to be seen by a vet for antibiotics and possibly surgery to have it removed or this may be a repetitive cycle

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!

I'm suspicious that this is due to trauma given the appearance and the fact that it just showed-up. This can happen when they get their tail caught under something (like a car tire). It doesn't look like something that needs to go to the vet right away, so it's OK to treat it and monitor it at home for now. If it doesn't get better in 2 weeks, or it starts to look worse, then I'd recommend taking her to the vet for an evaluation. Here are my recommendations for treatment: 1) Ice the area for 15 minutes twice a day. 2) Wash/spray the area with just cool, clean water (no soap or other antiseptics) for at least 2 minutes at a time. Do this at least twice a day. 3) Bandage the wound with gauze and apply an over-the-counter antibacterial cream (i.e Neosporin) to the wound. Keeping it covered and keeping Oakley from licking it will be the most difficult part of the treatment. You can help keep the bandage on by placing a good (really sticky) tape above and below the bandage. You can find sprays in the pet store, like bitter apple, that are meant to deter licking. This can be sprayed on the bandage (not the wound) to help keep Oakley from chewing it off. NOTE: Be careful not to bandage too tight or it can cut-off the circulation. If you notice that the end of the tail start to swell, then remove the bandage and leave it off until the swelling goes down. I hope that helps and Oakley gets better soon.

This lump on Alfie could be a cyst, an abscess, 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 lump 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 have Alfie seen by a vet tomorrow to have this lump examined and diagnosed so it can be treated as needed.