Non-bulldog health problem: Two ping pong ball size growths on 9 year old German Shepherd

[sheshistory]

As most of you know, my friend owns a 9 year old German Shepherd named Rocky, that Linus and Truman hang spent Christmas with and I go hiking with on a regular basis.

Rocky's dad recently found two ping pong ball sized growths on Rocky. One by her anus and another on her chest. The one by her anus is red and firm with some hair loss. The other is black on top and seems fluid filled with minimal hair loss.

She is allowing him to touch both of the growths and they do not appear to be irritating her. She is not licking them and does not seem to be in pain.

We recently went out hiking and she did sit on a prickly pear cactus, so I'm thinking it could be caused by undetected cactus needles that have become embedded in her skin but this is just a guess.

Rocky does not have allergies and has not had a recent change in diet.

As you can imagine, it is unsettling when someone finds growths on their 9 year old dog and thoughts of cancer set in.

I am hoping someone has experience or advice for Rocky and her dad or any clues as to what these might be from? I have attached a photo of the growth near her anus so you can see what it looks like and the scale.

Thank you!

 

[Telly03]

It could be cysts or as you mentioned, the cactus needles festering. My sister has a Shih Tzu that is prone to getting cysts that are very much like what you see there.

 

[TessaAndSamson]

Awww poor Rocky I really don't have a good answer for this. All I can say is in my life my family has owned many dogs, my extended family, friends, dogs of all breeds and sizes. They all seem to get a bit lumpy and bumpy with age. Molly, my in-laws daschund had some tumors/cysts for years but was perfectly healthy. Died a few months ago at the age of like 16 of what was assumed is just old age because she had just been to the vet before that and was just fine. They never wanted to take those tumors out before because they thought surgery to remove a harmless tumor would be more risky on an elderly dog than leaving them in. So that's just my experience and 2 cents. If she sat on a cactus then the theory of the lump on her booty being from that would make sense. The one on her chest could very well just be benign tumor. I hope it is something minor! Keep us updated! Hope someone else can give you better insight.

 

[Lacey28]

Hmmm! That is interesting. Are they going to the vet to have it looked at? I think it looks like a cyst, I have seen many cancerous tumors (on humans) and they dont look like that. It is something about the colour that looks more like a skin issue. Anyways keep us updated, I am very curious to see what it is. I will keep Rocky in my thoughts.

 

[bullmama]

To date I have never experienced anything that looks like that on any of my dogs, so unfortunately I am no help at all. Wish I had something to say that could help. Please keep us posted if you find out anything tho!

 

[lexterwayne]

ive never experienced this at all but on the safe side i would take him to the vet to get it checked out. a few days a ago my friend posted on fb that she noticed that there was a fluid like hump on her 3 or 4 yr old boxers belly and she went to the vet and the vet is only giving him a few months to live

 

[Gertie's Mom]

I have never experienced anything like that. I would take her to the vet to be checked out.

 

[bulldog family]

China has several bumps on her with hair loss. The vet just thinks there are benign cysts. I wouldn't put her through chemo or anything anyway. My husbands mom past away from cancer and the chemo on her was horrible. I couldn't possibly do it to China. We estimate her age to about 9 or 10.

 

[mom2bullies]

I had a Dalmatian and as she got older I discovered three cysts on her and took her to the vet. (they were a fluid type) They drained and tested each of them and they were non cancerious. The vet said it was a common thing in older dogs. They soon filled back up and the vet said not to worry about removing them unless they bothered her, which they did not.

 

[Angelgirl]

They should probably have aspirates taken. When Cassie had her first lump the vet thought it was nothing but a fatty tumor. It was getting worse so I made an appointment with another vet..one was a fatty tumor the other was a mast cell tumor. It's always better to be safe than sorry. I hope rocky is ok! It doesn't look like the large lump Cass had...but best to get it checked out.

 

[Momma2Bullet]

my doberman had a large cyst on her side (ribcage) area (and a few other smaller ones) for her last five years of life. she was put to sleep this past spring due to severe arthritis at the age of 14. our vet was confident it was a typical cyst that older pets often get.

as i look at your photo...my only concern is that there is hair loss in that area. my girl didn't have any hairloss where her cysts where. i often massaged my girl's 'bumps' to see if they bothered her and they never seemed to. i hope they are just fatty cysts for your friends pet as well. i couldn't imagine putting an older pet through extensive testing but i've heard they do if they are healthy enough to go though it. keeping their sheperd in my thoughts.

 

[TessaAndSamson]

[MENTION=860]sheshistory[/MENTION] I just thought about Rocky the other day and was wondering what happened with the growths, keep forgetting to find this thread and ask! I just saw on the thread about Bertie that the growths turned out to be benign cysts/tumors?? What happened? How is Rocky doing?

 

[Alice Kable]

Our vet told us that hair usually doesn't grow if the tumor is cancerous; also cancerous tumors usually attatch to something like bone or an organ so when massaging the tumor if you can feel that it isn't attatched to anything it most likely is not cancer. I'd get it checked out.