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Lumps and Bumps in Your Dog or Cat
If you find a lump or a bump either on or underneath the skin of your dog or cat, you may want to rush to the internet to find out what it is. The problem is that many of the possible reasons look identical, which may result in undue panic. So, images are unreliable. In fact, look at the photos of diagnosed conditions that our readers provided and even you can be confused. I discuss common lumps and bumps and what to do when you find them.
12th Jun 2016 | 211 notes
Lumps and Bumps on Your Dog or Cat
If you find a lump or a bump either on or underneath the skin of your dog or cat, you may want to rush to the internet to find out what it is. The problem is that many of the possible reasons look identical, which may result in undue panic. So, images are unreliable. In fact, look at the photos of diagnosed conditions that our readers provided and even you can be confused.
At the end of this article, I have included a reference list of common lumps and bumps. First, I would like to discuss initial steps to take and three common conditions: 1). Subcutaneous (under the skin); 2). Cutaneous (on the skin); and 3). Omnipresent.
First Step
If you find a lump or a bump under the skin or on the skin, I strongly encourage you to make an appointment with your veterinarian. Your veterinarian usually will advise a fine needle aspiration, which is just a very thin needle that draws some substance from the mass. It is the initial diagnostic tool to finding out if the formation is benign (non-cancerous), pre-cancerous, cancerous or something just a little suspicious that needs further investigation. While some veterinarians may adopt a “wait and see” policy, I believe we need to pursue suspicious masses early.
Here is an excellent example. Dr. Susan Ettinger, a veterinary oncologist, wrote a heartfelt article about complacency. She fully admitted she also fell into the trap. She was seeing a dog, Smokey, for several years that had noncancerous fatty tumors or just regular lumps. Smokey developed a new lump but the practice became overwhelmed the day he came in, so she did not make time to perform an aspirate. She assumed it was fine but had him return the next week. Turns out, this new lump was cancerous but was fortunately of low-grade and caught early enough. She still felt horrible.
Fatty Tumors (Lipomas)
Lipomas are benign non-cancerous fatty soft tissue globs that lie just underneath the skin or can grow down into the muscle. Typically, we think of certain breeds that are older, overweight and larger as the most prone to lipomas but any dog, of any age, any size, and any breed can develop a lipoma.
Western medicine generally likes to remove fatty tumors. I disagree with this treatment protocol unless the tumor is impeding mobility, pressing on an internal organ, pinching a vein, or affecting quality of life. It is unnecessary to put a dog under anesthesia since lipomas do not become cancerous. (But, Liposarcoma is a malignant fatty tumor.) Other treatment options include steroid injections (not advisable), and liposuction. Holistic veterinarians may use therapies such as chiropractic care, acupressure, liposuction, supplements or probiotics to reduce the size of the lipoma.
My esteemed colleague, Dr. Marty Goldberg, asserts that lipomas are caused by an excessive amount of grain found in dogs’ diets these days that leads to improper fat digestion and an imbalance of the immune system. Indeed, other holistic practitioners maintain that the body is attempting to rid itself of toxins by pushing them away from the vital organs instead of through normal processes.
While some conventional veterinarians will maintain the standard line that all dogs can get lipomas no matter what you do, holistic practitioners seek ways to prevent them as much as possible.
- Feed a fresh, organic whole foods diet.
- Give milk thistle, curcumin and other detoxifiers to improve liver function.
- Minimize vaccines and use Thuja and Lyssin to help prevent vaccinosis.
- Detoxify your companion pet’s environment.
Colloquially, epidermal inclusion cysts are called sebaceous cysts. They are benign, very common in dogs, but rare in cats. What happens is that when a hair follicle is damaged, the epidermal cells (outer layer of skin cells) wall it off and secrete keratin into it. Keratin is a fibrous protein that is found in hair, fingernails, claws, hooves, etc. Most of the time, the body isolates and resolves the problem on its own.
Caution: these cysts can come to a head. I ask you to suppress your urge to pop it. Squeezing it can release the granular and cheesy feeling, brown or yellowish colored keratin into the surrounding tissues causing a severe inflammatory response and leading to cellulitis. Your pet may then need a round of antibiotics. If your veterinarian has chosen to wait after a fine needle aspiration confirmed that it is not cancerous, that is perfectly fine. However, if it erupts or appears that it might erupt, please take your companion pet to the veterinarian and have him take care of it.
I agree with Dr. Karen Becker that preventative measures such as regular grooming, adding fish or coconut oil to your pet’s diet should be employed.
Mast Cell Tumors (Mastocytoma)
Mast cell tumors (MCT) are annoying and aggravating; they are one of the most common types of canine cancer. Felines, too, are prone to this cancer. Often called “the great pretender”, MCT can take any shape and any form; can be located under the skin, in the skin, on the skin or embedded deep in the body. Essentially, they are camouflaging themselves as another condition. They can be non-cancerous (benign), but are usually cancerous (malignant). They can be localized or can spread throughout the body (metastasize). They generally spread by the lymphatic system but not always. They can get bigger or smaller. On top of that, we do not know the underlying cause that provokes mastocytoma to develop but do know about some relevant genetic mutations.
Most importantly, I want to emphasize that MCT can present upon examination exactly like a lipoma, epidermal inclusion cyst, or any of the other conditions listed below. So, again, we need to aspirate the lump to make sure it is not malignant.
If the tumor is diagnosed as malignant, treatment protocols are best discussed with a veterinary oncologist. Cancer is a big topic, but I want to point out the benefits of anti-angiogenesis treatments. These FDA-approved drugs have been proven effective for several MCT sufferers, particularly those that have the c-Kit mutation. As well, continued therapy with these drugs has been shown to stave off recurrence of the disease.
What is angiogenesis? Angiogenesis is the growth of new capillary blood vessels in the body. We definitely need them for healing and reproducing. However, if the regulation of these blood vessels is disturbed, the body can have a deficiency or excess of them. If an excess exists, cancer feeds off them. Antiangiogenic therapy interferes with the process of blood vessel growth to starve the tumor of its blood supply.
As the eminent Dr. William Li, President and Medical Director of The Angiogenesis Foundation, adroitly points out: once cancer diagnosis is made, we are playing catch up with the disease. Why not seek out preventative techniques?
In humans, he realized that diet accounts for 30-35% of environmentally-based cancers. Instead of wondering what we could remove, he wondered if foods had antiangiogenic properties that literally starve cancer. His team proved that countless foods contain these properties. Here is an abbreviated list that works for dogs so long as they do not have a food sensitivity:
- Apples
- Avocado
- Blackberries
- Blueberries
- Coconut
- Cranberries
- Pears
- Bok choy
- Cherries
- Curcumin (turmeric)
- Ginseng
- Kale
- Lavender
- Maitake mushrooms
- Olive oil
- Parsley
- Pumpkin
- Sea cucumber
- Asparagus
- Broccoli
- Spinach
- Honey
- Anchovies
- Sardines
- Dark Turkey
- Salmon
- Dark Goose
- Peanuts
- Lentils
- Mast Cell Tumors
- Fatty Tumors (lipomas)
- Liposarcoma
- Sialocele
- Squamous cell carcinoma
- Adenocarcinomas
- Fibromas
- Fibrosarcoma
- Melanomas
- Melanosarcoma
- Histiocytoma
- Transmissible venereal tumor (TYT)
- Plasmacytoma
- Hemangiopericytoma
- Sebaceous Cysts (actually, the true condition is epidermal inclusion cysts) – noncancerous
- Sebaceous Adenomas – noncancerous
- Warts
- Soft Tissue Sarcoma
- Meibomian Gland Adenoma
- …and more
W. Jean Dodds, DVM
Hemopet / NutriScan
11561 Salinaz Avenue
Garden Grove, CA 92843
References
Becker, Karen, DVM. “Why Removing Most Lipomas Is Not Recommended.” Healthy Pets. Mercola.com, 1 Oct. 2014. Web. 12 June 2016. http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2014/10/01/dog-lipoma.aspx.
Becker, Karen, DVM. “Why You Should Never Squeeze Your Dog’s Sebaceous Cyst." Healthy Pets. Mercola.com, 16 Apr. 2011. Web. 12 June 2016. http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/08/16/sebaceous-cysts.aspx.
Chambreau, Christina, DVM. "Treating Canine Lipomas.” IVC Journal, 08 June 2015. Web. 12 June 2016. http://ivcjournal.com/treating-canine-lipomas/.
Chambreau, Christina, DVM. “The Healthy Path for Every Animal.” Shirley’s Wellness Cafe, n.d. Web. 12 June 2016. http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/AnimalWellness/Achambreau.
Dodds, Jean, DVM, and Diana Laverdure, MS. Canine Nutrigenomics: The New Science of Feeding Your Dog for Optimum Health. Wenatchee: Dogwise, 2015. Print.
“Eat to Beat Cancer.” Eat to Beat, n.d. Web. 12 June 2016. http://www.eattobeat.org/.
Ettinger, Susan, DVM. “Diagnosing Mast Cell Tumors.” Dog Cancer Blog, 01 Aug. 2012. Web. 12 June 2016. http://www.dogcancerblog.com/blog/diagnosing-mast-cell-tumors/.
Ettinger, Susan, DVM. “Mast Cell Tumor Treatment: Chemotherapy.” Dog Cancer Blog, 29 Oct. 2012. Web. 12 June 2016. http://www.dogcancerblog.com/blog/mact-cell-tumor-treatment-chemotherapy/.
Ettinger, Susan, DVM. “See Something, Do Something: Why Wait? Aspirate!”Veterinary Medicine. Dvm360.com, 8 Jan. 2015. Web. 12 June 2016. http://veterinarymedicine.dvm360.com/see-something-do-something-why-wait-aspirate.
“FDA Approves the First Antiangiogenic Therapy for Pet Dogs with Cancer.” The Angiogenesis Foundation, n.d. Web. 12 June 2016. https://www.angio.org/fda-approves-the-first-antiangiogenic-therapy-for-pet-dogs-with-cancer/.
Li, William. “Can We Eat to Starve Cancer?” Ted.com, Feb. 2010. Web. 12 June 2016. https://www.ted.com/talks/william_li?language=en.
Moriello, Karen, DVM. “Tumors of the Skin in Dogs.” Merck Veterinary Manual, July 2011. Web. 12 June 2016. http://www.merckvetmanual.com/pethealth/dog_disorders_and_diseases/skin_disorders_of_dogs/tumors_of_the_skin_in_dogs.html#v3207573.
Rebar, Alan, DVM. “Cytology of Lumps and Bumps (Proceedings).”Veterinary Calendar. Dvm360.com, 1 Aug. 2009. Web. 12 June 2016. http://veterinarycalendar.dvm360.com/cytology-lumps-and-bumps-proceedings-0.
“The Angiogenesis Foundation.” The Angiogenesis Foundation, n.d. Web. 12 June 2016. https://www.angio.org/learn/angiogenesis/.
Villalobos, Alice E., DVM. “Epidermal and Hair Follicle Tumors.” Merck Veterinary Manual, Mar. 2014. Web. 12 June 2016. http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/integumentary_system/tumors_of_the_skin_and_soft_tissues/epidermal_and_hair_follicle_tumors.html.
Wilson, Heather, DVM. “Diagnostic Cytology–the Basics (Proceedings)." Veterinary Calendar. Dvm360.com, 1 Oct. 2011. Web. 12 June 2016. http://veterinarycalendar.dvm360.com/diagnostic-cytology-basics-proceedings
