My unspayed dog has a soft, painless stomach lump. Is it an emergency?

Hi. This is a very big mass. If it is firm and painful, this is concerning in an unspayed, older pet is cancer unfortunately. Besides a cancer, other possibilities include infection, cyst, lipoma, a benign mammary tumor, hernia, etc. She should be fully checked out and have the mass sampled to get an answer. The sooner the better in this case.

Hi and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. It is hard to see exactly what Pomi's abdomen looks like in those photos. To be safe, I would recommend you take her into your vet to make sure that her abdomen palpated (feels) normal, she does not have a temperature and that she is otherwise normal. Sometimes non-spayed females can get something called a pyometra (pus in the uterus) that can cause a tense stomach, vaginal swelling and discharge, lethargy, vomiting, diarrhea etc. This can become a surgical emergency therefore, if Pomi is showing any of these signs, I would take her in sooner rather than later.

It looks like the bump is inline with her mammary chain. Intact females are prone to developing mammary tumors. Is is about a 50% chance of it being malignant. I would recommend surgical removal with biopsy. I usually recommend that the patient also be spayed at the same time to decrease the likelihood of further mammary tumor development. Best of luck and thank you for using Pet Coach.

I am very sorry to hear about your dog. What you are describing sounds like most likely a tumor. There are many different types of tumors. Two of the more common we see in this area are lipomas, which are fatty tumors and feel soft/squishy, and sarcomas which are firmer feeling. Unfortunately it sounds like this is large and causing her problems. She needs a visit to the vet's office to examine the tumor and see if it can be surgically removed. They may want to take an x-ray and may want to do what is called a "fine needle aspirate" to collect cells to try to identify the type of tumor before surgery.

Hi Sinead! The answer to your question depends on a few things. If the lump has come up suddenly, it has been getting bigger by the day, it bothers her, and/or she has had changes in behavior such as eating less, vomiting, and lethargy, then yes I would take her into an ER vet. If this lump on Roxt isn't bothering her, it doesn't get any bigger, and she's acting normally, then it's fine to wait until next week. Good luck, I hope this helps!

It is difficult to tell what is going on with Panthera based on the picture alone. The lump in the picture almost looks wet, so I would be concerned about a potential cyst or infected gland. Since she is unspayed, I also worry about potential mammary cancer, which we see more commonly in intact females. It can present as firm masses under the mammary glands. Dogs can also get benign masses of the mammary tissue as well. The best course of action would be to take her to your regular vet to have them evaluate her. She may need a fine needle aspirate of the lump. This is when we take a sample of cells from the area and look at it under the microscope to try to determine what the underlying cause is. It is no more painful than a vaccine and can give a lot of information as to if anything further needs to be done for Panthera or not.

First off, I'm very sorry your lost your grandmother! Please accept my condolences for your loss. I see that she isn't spayed, and I would be concerned Bailey could have a pyometra. This is an infection of the uterus that is fatal without treatment. It would cause her to not eat and have a swollen stomach. She needs to see a vet immediately, this is not something you can treat at home. Please take her into a vet now. Best of luck.