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What is this skin growth on my old dog? Is it cancer or a wart?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Mixed Breed Large (61lb +) | Male | neutered | 14 years and 2 months old | 65 lbs

Is this skin cancer? I was a vet tech and to me it looks like an obvious skin cancer. My dog is 15 years old, large breed plott hound pit mix. Good health otherwise. No prior surgeries or diseases. Is it worth treating or no due to age? Should it at least be surgically removed? It doesn't seem to bother him and it doesn't bleed.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Linda G,  MS, DVM

Answered By Linda G, MS, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on February 3rd, 2018

Hello. This does not look like an aggressive cancer, it actually looks more wart-like. But the only to know definitively is with a fine needle aspirate. The biggest criteria to remove a growth is malignancy, but even benign growths can become large enough to cause significant issues. If this is very slow growing & remains a nonproblem for Tiny, then I would not be inclined to remove it surgically. It may be a good candidate to remove with liquid nitrogen without needing anesthesia. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.
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