Dog some sort of mass?

[mamabear]

I hate when I am the one asking the questions. I found today that my dog who is almost 7 years old has two lesions on him. I found one and thought well it looks sort of like a big sebaceous cyst and it seems to have gotten big, broke and get infected. I cleaned it up,the top is raw, you can feel growth under the skin as well and when I touched it you can see little hair follicles have pus in it but nothing was coming out. There was a spot where it was raw that seemed to pop but it was red blood coming out. I DID NOT Squeeze hard at all. I finished cleaning it with bedadine and soap and then rinsed with regular water.

I then checked his sebaceous cyst that he has had since puppyhood that every once in a while gets full and 4 weeks ago it was fine but today it was headed again. I left it alone because I didn't want to add insult to injury. It will do it on it's own or when I see vet he'll do it.

THEN I found ANOTHER mass? of sorts on the opposite side of his body. about the same location give or take an inch but other side. Its about a 1/2 dollar in size, it is something that I can put my fingers under to squeeze (although I didn't) but it's sub-q as well as open on top raw and has red fleshy stuff coming out of a little part of it. I did not squeeze this at all I didn't even clean it up yet as max was not thrilled with what I had already done.

He is going to vet tomorrow either way so my questions are moot but I have to ask and well he's my baby and i'm worried.

what the heck is this crap?

I know he gets cysts and they have pus and then go away but wow do sebeceous cysts also look like i described too?

very upset about this. I will call vet in the morning, he will surely have me come in asap. Be asured that it what we will do.
Thank you

[davet]

Obviously a vet-check is in order...post when you get the results please

[Traci]

It's possible they are only lipomas, and infected, but anytime there are lumps, no matter their size, activity, etc, they always demand a vet exam right away. It's also possible that he is licking or chewing at them excessively which could have introduced bacteria and have caused them to open. DO NOT attempt to manipulate them because you can spread the bacteria this way. It is also possible one or more are NOT lipomas, but only a vet can determine this with an exam, draining the fluid and looking at it under a scope. (or removing for biopsy). While most lipomas are benign and generally not bothersome, they can and do get infected, reoccur, can get larger and bothersome and even painful to the dog, so in these cases, they should be removed.

On another note, and a long shot at best, but also ensure it's not a cuterebra, especially if your dogs were laying out in the yard, hot sun, around rancid stuff, etc.

Since he's 7 years of age, and if you haven't yet this year, I'd suggest getting full bloodwork and an xray when he's seen.

[mamabear]

Max is fine. Dr. said they are all sebaceous cysts. There is one that is not headed yet but dr. didn't do anything to that except touch it and said leave it alone. He checked the two that looked infected, he said it was not infected it's just looks bad because they are popped. He took a large gauge needle and basically lanced it with that and Max stood still while I help him then he layed down. (guess letting him play with other dog before left helped ). Max did great with everything Imust say. Dr. did the other one and again the same thing came out, he showed me and gave me some so i can look at it as well. (i'm not squeamish as all, in fact I'm very curious about that stuff).

Dr. checked the one that always heads and pops then heals and over and over again it does it but it's a small one never gets bigger than what it is, he said it's opened a little but not all the way, he said to leave it for now and check it after I bath him.

He is on antibiotics, vet said due to the manipulation he did with the needle and squeezing it a bit he wants to make sure he has antibiotics in him.

I again said that his weight seemed down. This is a dog who is a german shepherd and thin. You can feel ribs and most of his spine, but he has always been that way. Dr. weighed him and said well he's fine stop worrying about him, he isn't skinny and he's surely not fat so dont worry, he's even gained 3 lbs OMG i was like get out of here!!!. But i saw it and he has gained 3 lbs since march. I felt stupid but am always concerned with him since he is such a finicky eater. dr. said that its better to not be overweight for his hips anyway. I think i question myself because the other dog is a glutton and although he isn't fat he's a few lbs thicker than max is. lol

He is happy,healthy otherwise and so ready to take a bath. Dr. said check himover again after I bath him. So he'll be getting the works today and a nail clipping.

Thank you all!!!

[davet]

you may have a tendancy to "squeeze them" once in a while but restrain the urge...but if one or two do pop open then you can carefully sqush the gook out....how do you like that terminaology ??

[mamabear]

Love the terminology!!!!! I washed both dogs and dressed the open ones on max.

Sgt. was washed as well and I found a cyst on him as well..G'head ask me how I found out...Go ahead!! Yep I was brushing him and saw a scab on my hand, i grabbed some hair ...well what I thought was hair and it was a mess of pus OH how grand I felt covered in dog hair in my scrubs(yes I still wear scrubs) and now hand covered in pus, it at least popped clean and I was able to get it all out. I washed it with a bit of betadine solution but didn't put anything else on it.

I will also be keeping the boys out of the kennel for now since I have found that one or both dogs have pooped in there(they are not supposed to) and with open soars I don't want then to get any staph infections.

Well at least they are washed, conditioned well and the clean hair will start coming off faster now that the dirt has been removed. Nails are trimmed too. I check ears for infections which are never there but I dont put anything in their ears so as not to disrupt anything or put an abrasion in their ear. Very clean ears I must say!

Ok time to breathe a sigh of relief that all is well. Max is only 7 and well I'm not ready for bad things to start to happen to him.

I know he should be getting blood work done on him, we unfortunately have to start looking for another vet. The vet we adore and we have been going to since 1995 is 82 years old, has lost his son(he was a vet as well who worked with him) and his wife several years ago and the office just isn't the same, he isn't bringing in money due to not able to do big surgeries, so he refers out. I am sure he will retire soon, so when we board the dogs again at the end of year we'll have to use someone else. That will be quite a search since I am an old tech I do not just sit on the sidelines which Dr. understands.
I can see that he should retire, he is still such a great man though. You truly do not find Vet's like that anymore.

Ok must go clean up.

[Traci]

I'm going to reiterate too, do not manipulate those cysts, and instead of squeezing pus, the best course of action would be simply warm compresses and gentle cleansing of the affected areas. Anytme manipulation occurs, is an added risk for spreading bacteria and contaminating other areas.

What type of kennel do you have? Be sure to inspect it thoroughly for any jarred or protruding edges (particularly in any chain-link type walls, etc), and make sure there are no rusty edges or anything that the dogs could be hurtig themselves on. I'm saying this because sebaceous cysts truly shouldn't be that problematic or reoccuring, or getting infected on a frequent basis. Just want you to rule out the possibility that they might be getting sores from something else, or even lick granulomas, do you see them licking often?

[davet]

Traci can say things with much more dignity and understandability than I: ie squshing verses manipulattion

[mamabear]

I'm going to reiterate too, do not manipulate those cysts, and instead of squeezing pus, the best course of action would be simply warm compresses and gentle cleansing of the affected areas. Anytme manipulation occurs, is an added risk for spreading bacteria and contaminating other areas.

What type of kennel do you have? Be sure to inspect it thoroughly for any jarred or protruding edges (particularly in any chain-link type walls, etc), and make sure there are no rusty edges or anything that the dogs could be hurtig themselves on. I'm saying this because sebaceous cysts truly shouldn't be that problematic or reoccuring, or getting infected on a frequent basis. Just want you to rule out the possibility that they might be getting sores from something else, or even lick granulomas, do you see them licking often?

Max(older one) has always had cycts, breeder said when we bought him that German sheps had a tendency for them. Didn't believe her then, not sure I still do BUT I do see that it happens a lot with them.

Kennel hasn't been up that long just a few years and is not used as often as we would like to use it. We have started to use it more often. But max was getting that same one even before the kennel.

I know we will have to finally get that one surgically removed because it is such a pain but it wont be with this Vet(we will be searching for a new one unfortunately).

The kennel does get checked on a regular basis asI am out there a lot and it's right in front of the house. The dog houses that are there are checked as well for animals and or damage. There isn't anything that would hurt them in there or out on the land either. THey only stay in the kennel if we are home. AGain we are trying to keep them in there more often as they play so well together in and out of the kennel.

I have racked my brain trying to think of what it could be that has caused this. It has always been just that one persistent one, it's only just now that the others have formed. I wish it was something simple like the fence or something...dangit

Any others suggestions? I did the kennels and even the trees that are inside the parameter of the kennels to see if maybe it could be that.
They don't like a lot, once in a while I hear Sgt. doing it but it is very very rare and usually involves cleaning something off himself( Ick)

Max started to lick the spots after they broke open, a simple command helps with him not licking so i"m not worried about that.

They don't roam free in the house so it's not that either.

I asked vet if is was due to them being dirty? Vet said NO, but well in a human isn't a sebaceous cyst a hair follicle that is infected? Would keeping the dogs bathed more often help this?
Could this be due to them playing together?

Ok i think i'm done with questions.

[davet]

one other thing to really gross you guys out....but certain types of flys and insectc will deposit eggs in these holes or make holwesof tther own and after egg deposition tht maggot develops and really grosses people out when they are removed....so if you do see a wiggler in one of the holes do not sqush it...take to a vet and have him remove it or kill it cause squshing san release xcertaion tozins that can acactually kill the animal vie qanaphalactic shock....Screw worms are eradicatedbut these other largfe bot fly one=s are still around.....not checked for corretness or style...ha,,,style, thats a good one