Lumps and Bumps

We are open during this time of COVID-19 as we are considered essential workers and we limit to essential appointments meaning if your pet has a critical or urgent medical matter please call us. We are practicing curbside care. We will come outside and pick up your pet from your vehicle, while you remain and stay inside your car. We are asking that any routine visits be put off till later and we get a better go ahead of back to normal.
Most pets get “lumps and bumps” on or under the skin in many sizes and textures. These can be benign skin tags or sebaceous 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 stands for “Very Important Pets”, and ALL pets are important! Whether a person owns a dog a dog, cat, bird, reptile, rabbit, hamster or horses and other large animals, their pet is an integral part of their daily life and are considered part of the family. For this reason, VIP considers it a privilege to have people trust us with their pets. We are dedicated in providing the latest in veterinary medical and surgical techniques and care with the purpose of keepings pets healthy.
VIP Veterinary Services is located at 26111 Bouquet Canyon Road, Suite D-5 in the Santa Clarita Plaza. For more information, please call us at 661-222-7387.