Any Ideas What This Is?

[Guest taylorsmom]

Hello everyone---

This morning I found this skin lesion on Taylor's side. It is raised, black, and bled a little bit when I scratched it by accident. At first I thought it was one of her nipples, but realized it is on her side not on her belly.

 

 

 

Not the best pictures, I am not able to get close enough without it going out of focus and I am too anxious to try to figure out my dumb camera right now!!

 

ETA: it is definitely not a tick, I just double checked it to make sure!!

 

Thanks for any and all help. As soon as it is 9AM (it's 8:10 right now) I am calling my vet dermatologist at U. of PA to make an appointment.

Edited March 29, 2008 by taylorsmom

[Guest Sassy]

It looks like little benign grows that I've seen on numerous dogs, including a few of mine. They mysteriously appear looking like small ticks or nipples and if rubbed or scraped off will bleed a little. However, they always go away. My vets have never been concerned. "Just one of those things..."

[Guest loubieblue]

Blue has one on his bum, I think it's the same.

 

He had one on his back last year and the vet just lanced it, a white waxy substance came out and the vet said it was harmless. It only bled a tiny bit and I just had to bathe the wound twice a day and keep it clean. He's having the one on his bum done in a couple of weeks when he goes for his booster. I would still get it checked if you're worried just to be on the safe side.

[Guest jettcricket]

Not to worry....my boy, Jett, has gotten a couple of these. I did take him to my vet and they took it off and sent it out. I forgot what they called it, but it was benign.

 

Here's what his looked like.

 

[Guest taylorsmom]

Thank you so much, everyone who has responded thusfar!! This is very helpful. Keep 'em coming!! Taylor's lesion kind of looks like the ones posted but it has a roughened surface, almost like a scab but not quite. The pictures others have posted look like they might have a smoother surface, am I correct about that?

[Jiffer]

Yup, Atlas has a fair sized one (about the size of Blue's above) on his leg. Our vet has looked at it and asked that we monitor it for size and shape. He said that most of the time they dry up and fall off.

[kikibean]

Molly gets those every once in awhile. They always just fall off.

[sweetdogs]

Both my dogs have had them & they've come & gone without incident (other than me trying to remove a tick that wasn't there).

[Guest jettcricket]

Thank you so much, everyone who has responded thusfar!! This is very helpful. Keep 'em coming!! Taylor's lesion kind of looks like the ones posted but it has a roughened surface, almost like a scab but not quite. The pictures others have posted look like they might have a smoother surface, am I correct about that?

No....Jett's was rough too and looked like a scab. It would bleed and sometimes regrow. But eventually they do go away. In the picture it looks more red than black...the color was almost like a black cherry.

Edited March 26, 2008 by jettcricket

[Bevd]

I think there are two different 'things' being shown in this thread.

 

The OP has posted something which is rough and looks like what angel Flo used to get (nothing needed doing with them) and then the smooth things look like they could be histiocytomas (which Wallace gets).

 

Always worth checking ANY lump with the vet though, to be on the safe side.

[patricia]

My Flashy gets these all the time. I wonder if they itch because this last one he would bite at it and the skin surrounding had blood underneath and it became very large. Within a week it was gone. He gets them very often. The first 4-5 times he got one we took him in as we were always worried with Angel LaceyLaine's history of melanoma...each time Dr. Beth said they were nothing...so now we just watch carefully.

[Hawthorn]

Sophie has something very similar.

 

 

It first appeared 2 weeks ago; within a few days the redness went, a bigger scab developed, then fell off, leaving a tiny mark which we thought would disappear altogether. It didn't though and a week later it came back exactly the same.

 

She has an appointment with the vet tomorrow so it will be interesting to compare notes.

 

 

 

 

[Guest mandm]

My greyhound had something similar on the tip of his ear. It was rough, looked like a wart, and bled easily. The vet eyeballed & poked it and thought it was a harmless histiocytoma. It went away on it's own in about 3 months.

[Guest taylorsmom]

Sophie has something very similar.

 

 

It first appeared 2 weeks ago; within a few days the redness went, a bigger scab developed, then fell off, leaving a tiny mark which we thought would disappear altogether. It didn't though and a week later it came back exactly the same.

 

She has an appointment with the vet tomorrow so it will be interesting to compare notes.

Yes--that looks a lot like what Taylor has! The only thing is that I cannot see if it has the redness around it like Sophie does, mostly because it is in a region where she has a thicker coat. It will be interesting to compare notes--my vet appointment is not until next Monday the 31st so I would be very interested in hearing what your vet says!

BTW, Hawthorn--from your siggy, my Taylor looks just like your Sunny, and my Rita looks just like your Sophie!! One of these days I will get a siggy photo done so you all can see them!!

Edited March 26, 2008 by taylorsmom

[Hawthorn]

Sophie has something very similar.

 

 

It first appeared 2 weeks ago; within a few days the redness went, a bigger scab developed, then fell off, leaving a tiny mark which we thought would disappear altogether. It didn't though and a week later it came back exactly the same.

 

She has an appointment with the vet tomorrow so it will be interesting to compare notes.

Yes--that looks a lot like what Taylor has! The only thing is that I cannot see if it has the redness around it like Sophie does, mostly because it is in a region where she has a thicker coat. It will be interesting to compare notes--my vet appointment is not until next Monday the 31st so I would be very interested in hearing what your vet says!

BTW, Hawthorn--from your siggy, my Taylor looks just like your Sunny, and my Rita looks just like your Sophie!! One of these days I will get a siggy photo done so you all can see them!!

 

Hi Taylorsmom, I'll be sure to let you know what my vet says but I'm not too hopeful he'll know what it is because Sunny (Sophie's litter brother) has had something similar on his thigh for 5 weeks now and when we took him to the vet he pretty much scratched his head and sent us away with some antibacterial cream. He's not a dermatologist, though, just an ordinary vet. I think I might ask for a referral to a dermatologist, though, if my vet still doesn't know what it is as I'm starting to get worried now.

 

Would love to see pics of Taylor and Rita!

 

[Guest nerak254]

I found one on Aruba this morning.

[Guest lotsagreys4me]

My white boy gets these every now and then. The vet said it was nothing to worry about but I can't remember what he said it was.............they fall off and bleed a little bit. I usually 'take' them off myself and they heal right up.

[Guest taylorsmom]

My white boy gets these every now and then. The vet said it was nothing to worry about but I can't remember what he said it was.............they fall off and bleed a little bit. I usually 'take' them off myself and they heal right up.

How would you "take" one off yourself? That would be good to know! Do you think they happen more often in white dogs, or do we just notice them more because they stick right out in all that white fur?

[tbhounds]

Looks like a blood blister?? Most likely a hemangioma---benign skin tumor--they usually just scab and eventually fall off, however, when in doubt let your veterinarian determine which should be the best course of action

[Guest sheila]

I think it would be fine to take a 'wait and see' approach for now and have the vet take a look at your appointment. If the vet says it's nothing but later the lump appears to grow or change shape then you might want to have it removed and biopsied.

[Guest greytmonty]

Susan, Monty has one that Dr. Palmeiro looked at, it was scabby and he could scrape it off with his fingernail. It bled and we put on antibiotic creme. It is now back. he told us if it comes back we might want to have it removed as opposed to just "scraped". I am there so often I am going to wait to show him next visit. It is definitely benign if it is what Monty has.

[Guest BooMooandDoo]

Tuck had one of those. . . and it ended up being hemangiosarcoma. I would have a vet look at it, and if it's a bleeder, then I would have them take it off and biopsy.

 

Just my 2 cents.

 

[JerseyGirlInOz]

Not to worry....my boy, Jett, has gotten a couple of these. I did take him to my vet and they took it off and sent it out. I forgot what they called it, but it was benign.

My vet called it a histoma---I've heard others on GT call it a hemangioma---and it is benign.

 

Hailey had one on the middle of her back once. the vet put her on antibiotics, and it eventually dried up and fell off.

 

ETA: Not to be confused with a hemangiosarcoma, which IS malignant. As Lori said, it's always worth getting it checked, just to be sure.

Edited March 27, 2008 by JerseyGirlInOz

[Hawthorn]

Well, we are just back from the vet re Sophie's little growth which is similar to Taylor's.

 

As I thought, the vet didn't really know what it was. I asked if it could be Cutaneous Hemangioma but he said he had never seen it - fortunately I had printed off some information about it off the internet and showed this to him. He went out the back to look it up on his computer then came back and said he couldn't find any reference to it and is wondering if it might be called something else.

 

Anyway, he is going to email a dermatologist and an oncologist to see what they think.

 

Will let you know what they say.

 

Will be very interesting to see what Taylor's dermatologist has to say on Monday!

[Guest taylorsmom]

Well, the black scab-like thingy has fallen off, so I am not sure what to do now!! I have a dermatologist appointment on Monday, which I am thinking I should cancel (what do you say--uh, there WAS something there, don't know what, what do you think doctor???).

What remains is a reddish-black smaller spot, not raised and not bleeding--I assume it is either healing, whatever it was, or it is regrouping to grow back as others have said.

Would you guys cancel the derm appt?? My DH is supposed to take her, which is even worse--he didn't even want to make the appt in the first place, he thought it was just an ordinary scab and wanted to wait and see. So now he feels like he was right, and would probably protest (which I can understand) if I insisted he go anyway. If it were just me taking her, I would probably go anyway and talk to the derm about it, what to do if it comes back, etc. But I can't expect DH to do what I would do.

Hawthorn--could you let me know (PM or post here) what your vet finds out from the dermatologist and oncologist? Thanks!!!!