Readers Respond: Monitoring Lumps and Bumps in Pets - watch without worry

After seeing your vet, if your vet says to "watch the lump" for growth, what is the best way without worrying daily?

I have shared a lump-monitoring tip here. Do you have any tips for monitoring lumps?

Please share your tips and experiences with pet lumps - did you monitor or go to surgery? Share your lump info

8 yr old Glen of Imaal Terrier

Our 8 year old Glen Terrier had a plasmacytoma removed from his paw in February. We were told it was localized. It is now 3 months later and he has 8 new lumps all over his body. I had 2 biopsied and they said it is plasmacytoma again. What could be causing this if plasmacytomas don 't spread according to my research?

—Guest MacMurphy

Lumpy

My eleven year old staffy has about 8 lumps all over we got them all checked and the vet said they are just fatty tissue. Now his lump on his shoulder got larger and lost his fur on the lump, now it bleeds all the time. I'm scared for my boy and hope it's nothing.

—Guest Gemma

Bump on top of head, swelling in the fac

My 1 year old full blood golden retriever has had a little bump in the same spot before but went away. This time it's gotten way bigger than last time and caused swelling in her face, her face didn't even look the same. Her face was swollen for about 2 days. My parents gave her some allergy medication (human medicine) and swelling went down. The bump looks huge and I'm worried it's something serious. Please help

—Guest Jessica

Bumps

our little chiuhiuha 16 months old has a lump on her left thigh calling vet tomorrow to schedule an appointment we love her so much !! I hope it's nothing serious :(

—Guest terra

swelling on back

My mums staffy x sharpie is 19 months old and has swelling on his back which suddenly appeared, hes still responsive, still eating and only flinches when its touched, its so much lumps but more like when a human has hives, what can it be?

—Guest janine

Lumps and bumps

What are they? My beautiful 2yr old English mastiff X had a large, ulcerated mass on her muzzle which, after a month, turned into about 12 lumps all over her body. She had these biopsied, expecting a mast cell tumour, but no cancerous cells were detected. That was a week ago and she now has in excess of 50 lumps all over her body. Vets have put her on steroids, but there is now talk of leukemia. We can't believe it! She's only a baby. What do we do if the steroids don't work? I can't bear to be without her, but I would never want her left in pain.

—Guest Corrinne

Question

my little chihuahua has a large mass about the size of my palm, she still eats, responds to me but she is 11 y/o and i am broke, when do you think about putting them down???? Her breath is foul, she's my best friend.....what do I do? how do i know if she is hurting"???

—Guest Minnie

jaw lump

My 6 yr.old Parson Russell Molly woke the other morning with a loonie sized soft lump under her jaw bone on the side of her neck,she also has a bit of a runny nose and a weepy eye on the side that the lump is on.Im so scared to take heer to the vets bcuz she is the reason i get out of bed every day & if its cancer I'll b totally devastated.Could she maybe just have a cold & her glands r swollen like what sometimes happens 2 humans with a cold?

—Guest Christine

Fatty Lump on springer spaniel

Our wonderful, loved springer on 7years old has a fatty lump on his left hind leg and his left cheek. we are very worried because we love him so much and couldnt bare life without him. The vet says theres nothing to worry about. It doesnt bother him or stop him in his daily life but we would like it to be removed... anybody know what else can be done for our beautiful busta?

—Guest Trev

lump either side of spine

One of my two 12 year old Border Collies has a lump either side of her spine about the position of her kidneys just above her pelvic, they have appeared slowly in the last week or so, they are firm not painful and don't distress her if I squeeze them, she is a bit over weight so I guess they may be fat lumps as winter approaches, next move is to visit the Vet if they get bigger or painful. Four months back both dogs caught Sarcoptic Mange thought rolling in fox poo, came up as inflamed ulcers on their nose and were treated with Anti-biotic and Sentinel (applied like Frontline flea treatment).

—Guest Mike

Remove lymph node?

My Golden Retriever had a lump removed on side of mouth. It tested positive for Apocrine Melanoma. She seems fine but worry that it has already spread the vet checks her often for swelling in lymph node closest to removed lump. He suggests I have it removed even if no swelling. Says he can remove it to slow down the spread if it swells but says remove it now anyway. She has not seen an oncologist. I know even with chemo it only gives them weeks or a few months extra. If she shows signs of discomfort I plan to have her out to sleep. Just had my 14 year old Golden put to sleep July due to not able to get up anymore. This one is 11 years old. Chemo would be unpleasant. I worry I would make wrong decisions. See I am divorced since 97. Don't date & my kids are all grown & gone. I rarely see them so my dogs are all I have. Still if I lose the female I still have a 9 year old but even with just 1 gone now it is so lonesome.

—sosoftail

My Bichon

I ahve rescued a 5 year old Bichon one year ago. After two months I noticed a tiny bump the size of a pea on his belly by his lower rib. I had a biopsy done and the result was it is a fatty tumor and to watch it. My vet did not think it was necessary to remove. One month later it blew up the size of a golf ball. I just feel that after the biopsy it blew up. My vet is on vacation and took my dog to his assistant for a normal heartworm test. She has scared me that she thinks its cancer and to have a second test. im so upset and cant wait for my vet to come back

—Guest Susie

tumor on right paw.

My white German Shepherd had a small lump on.her right paw so I had it removed only it grew back bigger. Biopsy said it is cancer. It is now starting to abscess. Don't want to face the inevitable.

—Guest tanya

Vet said its cancer

We have a 8 year old male dog that is a golden retriever and chow mix. We noticed that he had lumps forming around his neck about 4 weeks ago and his activity level has diminished to him not wanting to go outside and he wont eat his dogfood. We also noticed that his breath has gotten really bad in the last few months too. He went to vet today and other lumps were found. Vet said it was cancer. Vet said he would live 3 weeks and if we gave him steroids (prednisone) twice a day he would live maybe 6-12 weeks. My wife and are devastated to say the least. He will be missed very much.

—Guest Tom Kohlman

Strange lumpy swelling on side of neck.

About a week ago we have noticed a swollen area on the side of my dog's neck alongside the throat. He has loose skin so it is hard to see anything aside from the swelling, but upon close examination it seems more soft and moves around the neck/throat area along with his skin. We are very concerned about this because his behavior seems to be a lot like it was back when he was hit by a car. He also make strange sounds when breathing sometimes.

—TXdogowner