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My senior dog has a large, growing, smelly lump. What could it be?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Poodle | Female | spayed | 11 years and 11 months old | 22 lbs

My poor poodle has a very big lump down near her hind legs and it has a few open wounds on it which turn black then burst but are still there,last week another lump came under the 1st one the new one has grown at a very fast pace and now has big black sores on it also,she has had the 1st one over 3 months and it smells terrible.I went to a vet and he said come back when i have $300 for xrays as he cant tell me what it is without them.I am on a pension and just cant afford it but love my dog.Tyvm

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Dr Stafford, BVetMed, MRCVS

Veterinarian

Published on July 26th, 2017

Poor Meesha has a very large tumour on her mammary gland. It is essentially a breast tumour, they can be benign or cancerous but in this case I think this one looks like a very nasty tumour. The wounds on it are because it has become ulcerated. I would suggest visiting another vet as this needs to be dealt with promptly as it will be very painful. To fix this Meesha would need the lump along with associated nipples removex. But firstly i would recommend having her lungs and lymph nodes checked for any spread of tumour. It will be a very big operation to put her through so you will need to weigh this up. If you dont decide to have this removed you will need to consider having Meesha put to sleep unfortunately. It would not be fair to her to not do something in this case.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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