Oh No! My dog or cat has a lump or bump on his/her skin!!
If you find a lump or bump on your pet’s skin, try not to panic. The lump may be from infection (like a cat bite abscess) or a tumor. Tumors are then determined to be either cancer or not cancer.
The first thing you should do is to call Chateau Veterinary Hospital and set up an appointment. You may be tempted to send us a picture, and while you are welcome to do that, we will probably still need to examine your pet.
After examining your pet, we might need to clip the hair off of the suspected lump or bump to get a better idea of what we are dealing with. We then will likely do what is called cytology, which means we will stick a small needle into the lump and aspirate or suck back with a syringe. Although it may look to you like we are not getting anything, even a tiny amount can be enough to help determine if we need to go to surgery. We will use special stains on the slide and examine the cells under a microscope. We may recommend sending the samples to a board certified Clinical Pathologist for a second opinion. After all of these steps, we will then give you a medical plan for your pet. We will also keep a “skin map” in your pet’s record so we can monitor lumps and bumps and make sure all new ones are examined.
Don’t despair, and remember that most lumps and bumps you find will not be cancer.
