Why does my senior Doberman have painless skin lumps or growths?

There are numerous causes of lumps on a dog Sheba's age, and not all are worrisome. Dogs can develop non-cancerous lumps like cysts, seromas (pockets of fluid), abscesses, and bruises. Some of these can go away after being drained by a veterinarian. Dogs can also develop lipomas, which are benign fatty tumors, that generally do not cause problems. Some owners elect to remove them and some monitor them at home. The best way to figure out what is going on is to take Sheba in to have your vet examine her and possibly do a fine needle aspirate of this lump, which involves sticking a small needle into the lump and trying to remove cells/fluid. These cells/fluid can then be examined under the microscope to help determine what the lump is made of and how it needs to be treated.

They could be lipomas which are common benign fatty lumps in dogs. The only way to know for sure is to have your vet do a fine needle aspirate and cytology. This is a very simple procedure that is commonly performed. If your vet is not able to get a diagnosis on cytology then removal and biopsy may be recommended.

This growths on Teddy could be benign, but in a senior dog, there is always a chance that they would be malignant. 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'd give your vet a call to make an appointment to have these growths examined and diagnosed so they can be treated if needed. Best of luck, I hope this helps.

Typically these fatty lumps (lipomas) require no treatment unless they are very big, affect the way a dog moves, and/or bothers the dog. If these scenarios do not apply to Oso, you don't need to do anything.

As long as he is behaving normally otherwise, you can monitor the lumps at home. Older dogs are more prone to these growths. Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine which ones you should worry about without a physical exam and diagnostics. Monitor them for rapid change or growth, discharge, pain associated with a mass or a mass that restricts motion. If necessary, your veterinarian can perform a fine needle aspirate in the clinic to collect samples for pathology. This could identify which lumps are of concern. Discuss treatment options after results are returned.

It sounds like this is some kind of skin growth. Dogs can develop melanomas of the skin along with many other benign growths. I would recommend having your vet take a look - they might recommend taking a sample with a small needle to determine what this might be, or they might recommend going ahead and removing it.

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!