Is my senior dog with a large, inoperable cancer lump in pain?

Poor Lily! These lumps look quite irritated and ulcerated. She may already be experiencing some degree of pain and discomfort from these lumps, as indicated by her chewing on them. Other signs of pain in dogs include a decreased appetite, lethargy, and abnormal vocalization. When it comes to surgery, age is not a disease, so if Lily's physical exam and pre-operative blood testing is normal, she is likely to do well with surgical removal of these lumps. It may be worth discussing surgical options, as well as pain medication options, with Lily's vet. I hope this helps and that all goes well!

Please have her checked by your vet as soon as possible. This is not normal and although any lumps are concerning, any that are painful or rapidly growing are very suspicious for underlying issues such as cancer. Early diagnosis and treatment is vital to improve outcomes and reduce undue pain and discomfort.

Hello, If the mass was aspirated by your veterinarian and found not to contain cancerous cells, I agree surgery is optional but ideally removal of any mass is recommended. However, you described additional symptoms such as abnormal behavior that suggest congnitive dysfunction or possibly a brain tumor. I would advise you to have her evaluated by your veterinarian or a veterinary neurologist prior to removing her mass in the event she has a condition of the brain which could change her overall prognosis.

Without an exam or diagnostics, it is near impossible to say. It could be anything from local inflammation/infection to a benign or malignant mass. Given Ruckess' history, an exam with your veterinarian or veterinary oncologist would be recommended. A fine needle aspirate can be done to collect a sample for pathology.

Unfortunately, cancer is always a possibility in a senior dog like Mufasa. 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 Mufasa seen by a vet tomorrow to have the lump examined and diagnosed so it can be treated.

A lump near the shoulder could be an enlarged lymph node, an abscess, a cyst, a tumor, etc. I would recommend that you have Roscoe examined by a vet, especially since you have noticed a behavior change. The vet will do a thorough physical exam, and may want to collect a sample of cells from the lump to examine under the microscope. They may also recommend blood work or other diagnostics to see what could be going on.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! I would agree that the mediastinal mass is very evident and I would also be very suspicious that it is in fact cancer even if the biopsy did not show that. Sometimes dogs appear to be comfortable even when they are in pain. These new lumps you describe could be somewhat related to this or may be unrelated. I think it would be ideal to have Yogi reevaluated to see if the mass has progressed and if the nodules in the lungs (which likely represent spread of the tumor) have also progressed. I would maintain him on pain control medications even if he does not appear to be obviously in pain. Good luck and have a great day!