protuding mass on dogs stomach

Question
I have a 12 year old half Chihuahua half dachshund female dog. A few months back, she had a few small mass' appear on her stomach. They have continued to grow, one in particular. The largest one which is nearly quarter size and protrudes about an 1/2 inch above the skin ruptured three days ago. Prior to the one rupturing, these mass never seemed to bother her. Since this one ruptured, she won't stop licking it. Any advice you can give as to what the mass' may be would be greatly appreciated. I am worried they may be cancer.

Answer
Tiffany,

Masses on dogs are either cysts (fluid filled sacs), granulomas (inflamed tissue), abscesses (infected tissue), or neoplasia (cancer).  Given that your pet is elderly, the most likely diagnosis is cancer.  But.... don't panic.... keep reading ;-)  

Here's where the panic stuff gets laid to rest...  There are many, many, many cancerous masses on dogs that can be cured by surgical removal.  So, having cancer is not necessarily a death sentence for your pet. Yes, there are some cancers that are bad....  But there are many good curable cancers out there.  

The key here is taking your pet to a veterinarian to get a diagnosis. What a vet can do is get a fine needle aspirate of the mass.  This is where we put a small needle into the mass, get the cells from the needle on a slide, stain the slide and look at it under a microscope.  Most of the time we can tell what the mass is by doing this.  Once the diagnosis is made, then you can make informed choices about your pet's future.


Good Luck to you and your pet.