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My senior dog has hard lumps, feels hot, and is tired. What's wrong?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Miniature Schnauzer | Female | spayed | 11 years and 9 months old | 25 lbs

My miniature schnauzer/ brusselngriffin mix is 11 yrs old. Recently she had a small marble sized lump on her abdomen. After she was groomed i have now counted roughly 17 hard nodules all over her body. 2 very large ones on her trunk. Her temp axillary is 102.8. She always feels hot. No anorexia but she is very tired. Concerned these could be cancerous nodules as they are not soft like a lipoma.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Andrea M. Brodie, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on February 27th, 2018

i am afraid these could be benign or malignant tumors. Since Nealy is an older dog, this is not uncommon. Lipomas (fatty tumors, usually benign, they can actually be hard) or mast cell tumors come to mind when looking at your photos. It could also be a very extreme allergic reaction to possibly a shampoo at the groomers.
1) do not panic 2) make an appointment with your veterinarian for an exam. He will likely want to take a so-called FNA (Fine Needle Biopsy) where he takes a small amount of tissue through an injection needle, puts this on a glass plate and looks at it under the microscope. This will give your vet an idea what he is dealing with. He may also send this material to a lab to be examined.
Once you and dyour veterinarian know what type of mass you are dealing with , you can discuss treatment plans.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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