My senior dog has a lipoma. Can it be treated without surgery?

Poor Bailey! There is always a risk with anesthesia but it sounds like the benefits of removing the lipoma outweighs the risks since he is experiencing so much discomfort with the lipoma. Your vet can run blood-work prior to the procedure to make sure all his organs are functioning correctly. If his blood-work looks normal and he doesn't have any major medical issues then the risk of anesthesia is very low.

This could be a seroma from an injury, a cyst, abscess or a tumor. Cysts and abscesses need to be drained by a vet. If your vet suspects a tumor, he will do a fine needle aspirate to determine whether it is a harmless lipoma, which does not need to be removed unless it is ulcerating or bothers the dog due to its location or size, or another tumor that needs to be removed. Please make an appointment with your veterinarian for an exam of the mass.

There's no need to remove lipomas unless they are bothering the dog in some way. Dogs who have lipomas are prone to developing others, and it will be very important to have any new lump checked out to make sure it is a lipoma and not cancerous. As long as it's not hurting her and it's not overly large, I personally see no need to remove it.

While surgical closure may be difficult, surgical excision of a mass, though expectedly benign, is the best recommendations. Prior to surgery, please make sure that your pet has been screened for other tumors or neoplasia with chest x-rays and an abdominal ultrasound. Consultation with a board certified surgeon may be considered.

The only way to treat lipomas (fatty lumps) is to have them surgically removed. There is no treatment that will make them go away. The best time to have them removed is when your dog is under anesthesia for something like a dental cleaning, unless they are growing rapidly and/or interfering with movement.

Hi there. Lipomas do not typically have hair loss or redness associated with them, so based on its appearance here, I would be concerned that it may be some other type of tumor. If it is becoming necrotic and leaking fluid, it's likely that surgical removal is indicated regardless of what the specific tumor type is. I would recommend having this mass evaluated by a veterinarian in person to discuss next steps, but my guess is that it likely needs to be removed.

If the needle aspirate showed fatty cells only, I would monitor it for now. Lipomas (fatty tumors) are typically benign, although in rare instances they can become malignant. If the mass gets larger or it starts causing her problems, then I would have the biopsy done and discuss with the vet possibly removing it.