Lumps and Bumps

Most pets get “lumps and bumps” on or under the skin in many sizes and textures. These can be benign skin tags or cebaceous adenomas, cysts and lipomas (benign fatty tumors), but can also be malignant skin or subcutaneous tumors arising from deeper tissues. These growths can appear and grow relatively rapidly or seem to be present and not change much over months/ years.
The most important recommendation is to have these growths checked by your veterinarian and biopsied to know precisely what type of tissue they are, and therefore, have treatment options in case of malignancies – many times the appearance may not give even the trained eye a diagnosis. The same is true for subcutaneous or deep tissue masses which, even if they haven’t changed over time, could still be a malignancy.
If a malignancy is identified a referral can be made to one of several specialty clinics nearby so that the appropriate treatment can be started; and, as in people, early detection is the key to a good outcome.
Besides the biopsy, additional tests are recommended to fully evaluate the health and prognosis of the pet. These include, but are not limited to, full blood work, radiographs, urinalysis, ultrasound, etc. Other diagnostics such as MRI’s and CT scans would be done at the referral clinics.
VIP Veterinary Services is located at 26111 Bouquet Canyon Road, Suite D-5 in the Santa Clarita Plaza. For more information, please call 661-222-7387.