Are non-painful toe growths on my senior dog just harmless warts?

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This could be a benign or malignant growth. There is no way of knowing what it is just based on its appearance. Common tumors in this region include melanomas, squamous cell carcinomas, mast cell tumors and soft tissue sarcomas, among others. This is often differentiated by a test called a fine needle aspirate (FNA) which is a pain free, inexpensive and easy procedure which in most cases will help reach a diagnosis. Sometimes a biopsy is needed for a definitive diagnosis. I recommend that you have him evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. I am really hoping for something benign. Good luck and have a good night!

From the picture this looks to be a mass. I would recommend having it evaluated by your family vet for needle sampling with cytology. That way they can determine if this is a mass and if so if it needs to be surgically removed (benign vs malignant). The toe is a tricky location so having it evaluated while it is small would be best. I hope this helps and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. Judging from the mass and the fact that Gunner is a young dog, I would suspect that this is what we call a histiocytoma. These typically resolve on their own but can be surgically removed to help speed up the resolution of the mass. If it is continuing to grow and if it bothers him, I would recommend having this removed surgically and then send it out for further testing to make sure this is not a cancerous mass. I hope this helps guide you in the right direction. Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Dogs do get malignant nail bed tumors. This area does look angry and it certainly could be a malignant tumor. If you wish to be cautious you can get a second opinion from a veterinary oncologist or another veterinarian. It's difficult to get a good sample from this area so your veterinarian is correct to recommend a toe amputation. Since Hailey is young there is a chance that this is an infection also. You could try a course of antibiotics for a couple of weeks to see if it heals. If the mass continues to enlarge then I would definitely remove the toe as if it's a malignant melanoma they do spread and it could go into her lungs which is a life threatening condition. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Hailey.

Unfortunately without seeing Ray in person, there is no way I can diagnose what this growth is on his foot. In a senior dog, however, I would be concerned that it would be cancerous. It could also be a benign growth. The best thing to do is having him seen by a vet on Monday. The vet can perform a test called a fine needle aspirate on it. To do this, the vet sticks a small needle into the growth 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. The vet most likely will want to remove it, and that will be a surgical procedure to do this, but only your vet can make the best treatment decision for Ray. I'd make an appointment for him for tomorrow. Good luck, I hope this helps!

Hi there! By the looks of the picture Olive may have a cyst in between her toes or even something like a foxtail or grass awn migrating around in there. There is also a small chance it could be a growth of some kind, like a tumor. It may or may not be infected. It's hard to tell by a picture. Depending in what it is, it may or may or need surgery. Sometimes to get a closer look your veterinarian may want to give Olive some sedation and probe and explore the area. The sedation is recommended because it can be sore or painful, or even scary for her to try to do this awake. Before jumping to any conclusions, I think it would be a good idea for Olive to have an evaluation by her veterinarian. They can see if she needs any medications or foot soaks, or even some medications for pain and discomfort and an infection. They can then determine if Olive needs some sedation to get a better look at the area. Foxtails can sometimes be fished out of their entry points using special forceps, and cysts can be drained or flushed if needed all under sedation. I hope you find this answer helpful! Best of luck!

I'm sorry to say this but this is a very serious issue. This looks like a squamous cell carcinoma. You need to get him to a vet as soon as possible. He will most likely need to have the toe amputated. ( https://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/cancer/c_dg_squamous_cell_carcinoma_digit )