My senior dog has swollen gums and a mouth mass. Is it cancer?

It is possible that it is associated with some type of cancer, especially if you can see a mass. It could also be caused by a tooth infection. Your vet could do a dental cleaning with x-rays to evaluate his teeth and see if any are infected teeth that need to be extracted. He may need to stay on an antibiotic for an extended period of time to clear the infection. Your vet could also culture the drainage to make sure he is on the correct antibiotic.

She could have an infection in her mouth, a tooth or gum disease that is causing this. I recommend getting her in to see your vet right away as she sounds very uncomfortable. Your vet will do an exam, possibly labwork and/or x-rays and, based on these results, should be able to tell you what the problem is and how best to treat it.

I'm sorry to hear about Stephanie's problem. To know for sure what the type of growth is and what to expect from it, a pathologist should look at a sample of the tissue from a surgical biopsy. Without this info, we are just guessing by its appearance, rate of growth and our experience. I am very concerned by the appearance of this mass and the rapid growth after it was initially removed. It is suggestive of a malignant mouth cancer. These are typically very aggressive and very difficult to treat. Your best bet is to ask your veterinarian to refer you to a veterinary oncologist. This is a specialized doctor that can give you the best treatment options. My guess is that they could combine radical surgical resection of the growth and the portion of the jaw that it is growing from. This may be preceded by or followed by radiation treatment. They can go over the prognosis and what exactly to expect, but your regular veterinarian is probably limited to the surgery that was already done. It can be repeated, but the outcome will be the same....rapid tumor re growth. Ask your veterinarian if there is a good specialist that you can see to find out all of your options and decide if treatment is feasible.

Poor girl. This is unfortunately an oral mass and should be tested by your vet soon to determine if this is cancerous or benign (non-cancerous). Due to Sugar's age and breed there is unfortunately a higher risk of cancer, but we should know for sure after it is tested. It is good that it is the same color as the rest of her skin/gums, so that is promising. I hope that Sugar's test results come back favorable after your vet visit. Best wishes and take care!

Her gums are likely inflamed because she has tartar underneath her gumline. She needs a dental cleaning to scale off all that tartar, then this will resolve the inflammation. I would suggest getting Chia an echocardiogram to see if she can still have surgery despite her heart condition. Many heart disease pets can go under general anesthesia. I would consider getting another vet for a second opinion here and see if you can get Chia's echocardiogram scheduled asap. I hope that your can get Chia's echo and dental scheduled soon. I would suggest using a water additive from your local pet store until then to help flush out her gums and keep the bacteria load down. Best wishes and take care!

Hi, While I can’t say with certainty without an exam, I would strongly recommend having this gingival mass evaluated by a veterinarian. In many cases these are benign gingival hyperplasia (just meaning excessive tissue), but other times these masses can be malignant cancer. Therefore, catching it early will make a difference in the potential success of treatment. I hope Kosmo just has some hyper plastic gum tissue! Best of luck.

He’s a handsome boy! I recommend a vet visit for Oliver. The swelling could be due to a dental abscess or infection, cancer, infected salivary gland or even a foreign body in his mouth. Though that last maybe less likely if he doesn’t appear bothered by it. But the vet can do a thorough physical and oral exam to try to characterize the lump a little better. Depending on what they see they may Recommend a fine needle aspirate, a dental cleaning and assessment, or biopsy if it appears to be a mass. But given Olive’s age I would recommend you get it checked out sooner rather than later I hope it all works out well. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.