My senior Shih Tzu has a large head cyst. How can I remove it?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! That will depend on the veterinarian seeing the patient and also the tolerability of the patient with the procedure. Generally, that is not the case and at least a mild sedative is required. Most patients do fine with anesthesia. In reality even if under anesthesia or sedation, that would be a very quick removal. Good luck!

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Tia. If the mass continues to bleed or becomes infected again, then I would have it removed. Continue to clean it. If it heals, then it should be fine to leave it. I hope this information helps!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. If it is possible, I would recommend having the x-rays done without sedation and depending on how the x-rays look and how her blood work looks, consider removal of the mass under anesthesia. She is not too old for anesthesia but the risk of anesthetic complications rises with age. As long as her heart, lungs and blood work are normal, she should be fine under anesthesia. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I can see that Jake has a very large, round, well demarcated growth on his side. While it is impossible to tell exactly what type of tumor it is and give a prognosis following removal, it is likely that removing the tumor will make him more comfortable. Depending on the approach, the surgical site may be rather large and require some care and pain management at home. As long as Jake is otherwise healthy, surgery and anesthesia are relatively safe as well. I hope this helps and am happy to answer any other questions you have!

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!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Without seeing the mass myself, it is difficult to say for sure what it could be. If you have not had a veterinarian take a look at this, I would recommend doing so and having some testing done to help identify what this could potentially be. The veterinarian can start by inserting a small needle into the mass and try and get a good sample of cells to look at under the microscope. The most definitive way of telling what this mass could be is to send out a tissue sample of the mass. If it is causing discomfort, I would have it removed and send it out to find out what it could be. If it is an abscess, it likely needs to be drained and then Diamond will likely need to be on a course of antibiotic therapy. Again, I would have a veterinarian take a look at this so that the most appropriate diagnostic and treatment recommendations can be made. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction!

If it is a cyst and it keeps growing I would recommend removing it with surgery. Cysts can get bigger and rupture and get infected after they rupture. The only way to get rid of a cyst is to actually surgically remove it. It may rupture and get smaller but it will not actually go away. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!