My dog has a growing, painless lump. Is it an umbilical hernia or just muscle/fat?

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. She may have developed a umbilical cyst and not necessarily a hernia. These are typically benign and cause no harm. If you want to be sure of what this is, I would recommend having your veterinarian examine Roxy and this area to help better determine what this could be. Additional testing such as a fine needle aspirate, where the vet inserts a small needle into the lump and looks at the cells under the microscope, can easily be done. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further!

This looks like an umbilical hernia, quite common and usually not serious in dogs. It is usually recommended to repair it when general anesthetic is performed for castration. Anyway, generally speaking, this kind of lump/growth needs to be ideally assessed by your veterinarian to have a definitive and specific answer. Usually there are two ways your vet can do that a part from examining it directly during physical examination (if it is an hernia physical examination will be enough). A biopsy can be taken under local or general anesthetic, otherwise a smaller sample through a fine needle can be aspirated (this technique is called FNA= fine needle aspiration). Other differentials include skin cysts, infections, benign or more sinister type of tumors (unlikely if Ichirou is under 5 years of age). Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

Hello. The problem with a possible hernia is if it is large enough, intestines can become trapped in the sac. The itching concerns me as, but I can not say how it may be related to a hernia. What does concern me is having a large lump of any kind in an older pet. I think this is something that should be investigated further. If your current vet does not seem to be overly concerned about this, then a second opinion at another practice would be a good idea. See what their diagnosis is & then go from there, but I do not think I would just ignore this. Thanks for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

What you describe that your vet said is an abdominal hernia. It is a small hole in the muscles that hole the guts inside the body and allows loops of small intestine or other organs to fall through. That is quite possible. Another possibility would be a large, fatty tumor (lipoma) or other tumor. The only way to know for sure is to do diagnostics and an exam with a vet. In any case, I would recommend getting it fixed. If there are intestines in there, they are at risk of reduced blood supply, which would require emergency surgery. If it is a tumor, even a benign one, it can continue to get larger and outgrow its blood supply, again requiring extensive surgery. The wounds on the mass right now are likely caused from normal movement and Karat simply laying down on it. It is a reason I recommend having it dealt with now before things get worse.

Luma could have an umbilical hernia. This is an opening in muscles wall located where the umbilical cord was previously attached. Typically these need to be corrected surgically and it can be done at the same time as when you get him neutered. It's never recommended to breed a dog who has had an umbilical hernia because there they are inherited. I would have Luma seen by a vet either tomorrow given this bump is large. The vet can diagnose if it is an umbilical hernia and can discuss when surgery should be done to fix it. I hope this helps!

Its difficult to tell without being able to directly palpate (feel/touch/examine) the area, but I suspect its probably just how fat has deposited there. Its common to have a fat "pooch" in that area, usually it will be about the same size on both sides of the abdomen. If he's not painful, he's acting normally, and it looks the same on both sides, you don't need to be concerned about this. Thanks for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Hello and thank you for contacting Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. It does look like umbilical hernia. As long as it is not getting bigger, there is no danger for Gracie. Umbilical hernia rarely causes any problems to dogs, unless it is very large (it does not look large in Gracie). This hernia can be surgically repaired, it is usually done at the same time as neutering (during one surgery).