K9 Lipoma

Question
hi patty, saw that you had fielded some questions on lipoma.  my 9 year old
black lab/rott mix has a decent sized lipoma on his stomach.  has been there
for over a full year.  vets have said on 3 occasions that its fine, but recently-
it has started to discolor a tad in blotches.  sort of light green and whitish
(was normally black skin colored.  doesnt look like an infection- but i havent
ruled it out.  am going to have it checked out again- but was wondering if
you had any experience with the coloration change on just parts of the
lipoma.  thanks.

Answer
Hi Ivan,

If your dog has had a fine-needle aspiration of the growth and it's been confirmed that the growth is indeed a lipoma that's a good first step. Many vets will also preform at least a partial biopsy rather than an rely on the results of aspiration biopsy to confirm the diagnosis, so that's an option for you.

If the growth was infected, it would look red, and be tender. Discoloration (or rapid growth) is a reason to have the growth examined again, so it's good you're already planning on doing that.

Best of luck,

Patti