# sebaceous cyst



## csquare (Oct 20, 2009)

Hi there,
I was wondering if any of you have had problems with sebaceous cysts on your German Shepherd. From all of the research that I have done, it is a pretty common problem for this breed. My Bella is a black German Shepherd and has a big one near where her tail meets her bum. I took her to the vet and he said it wouldn't hurt her but to put rubbing alcohol on it to shrink it. This hasn't worked and she licks at it a lot. I tried changing her dog food to a all natural brand, because I read that diet can be a big part of these and other health problems. Also, I read about using the herb tumerick on her food on an "all natural" website...but nothing seems to help.


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## shilohsmom (Jul 14, 2003)

I think thats what my boy Shiloh has on his head. I'm sure thats the name of it (I have a lot of my mind right now) but I wasn't told about rubbing alcohol. I was told it could be removed but it would likely grow back. In our case it doesn't bother him at all. If it bothered him I would have it removed and just take my chances.


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## Alto (Nov 18, 2008)

Can you get another opinion? If she's licking at it, it's bothering her (whether itchy or painful) & she could end up with a lick granuloma (which can vary from mild to nasty) ...

Did the vet say, why the rubbing alcohol? also what's the chemical name of the alcohol in the bottle?

How long have you been treating this ie food change (& what food previously vs currently), alcohol, turmeric ???


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## WiscTiger (Sep 25, 2002)

Cheyenne had one on her back. I had it removed. If it is open and draining you have to work all the gunk out and hopefully when it heals up it was cleaned out. If you don't get all the gunk cleaned out and it heals up it will just produce more gunk and open up again. With Cheyenne they Vet figure just a small incision, when I went to get her it was 7" long. The Vet quickly explained that it was a lot longer than she thought and wanted to make sure she got it all out intact. So what appeared to be a small cycst was hiding a lot under her skin.

I never use Alcohol on my dogs, I burns like heck so I don't use it on me or my dogs.

Val


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## csquare (Oct 20, 2009)

The vet explained to me that it has something to do with the glands clogging up. I just didn't want to put her through surgery if there was a chance of it going away on its own. It hasn't changed in size at all. I guess the alcohol was used to dry it up.


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## csquare (Oct 20, 2009)

She has only been on the food change for about a month now. I read something about avoiding certain things in dog food which before we fed her Purina Dog Chow. She has always been real health and shiny looking and the perfect weight, so it didn't occur to me. Now we have her on something we buy at Petsmart...natural something or other...that doesn't have those ingredients in them and has real deer meet in it.

We have been including the tumeric in her food for only a few weeks now.


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## Anja1Blue (Feb 27, 2008)

It seems to be fairly common in GSD's.Our old guy had them - we pretty much left them alone. The one exception was the one he developed near one of his anal glands which had to be surgically removed. This made going to the bathroom extremely painful, because of the incision and stitches...... poor guy toughed it out though.

Holistic veterinarians suggest that they may well be triggered by vaccinations.....

_________________________________________
Susan

Anja GSD
Conor GSD - adopted from this Board
Blue GSD - waiting at the Bridge


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## Samba (Apr 23, 2001)

They are common. Sometimes they break open and get quite messy. I have had them removed when they were problematic. Once I had one break open on my girl and it was a mess. I decided to see if we could by with healing it. I stood her in the bath tub and irrigated it with betadine and saline twice a day. That one did heal and didn't cause a problem again.

My other female had one on her head in front of her ear. It kept seeping and seemed to bother her. We had that one removed and no more problem. She has others that have not acted up and remain.


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## csquare (Oct 20, 2009)

With all of the holistic things out there, I thought maybe there was a cream that I could put on her to help dry it up. I found this "Only Natural" Pet Store that sells creams, but they seem mostly for allergies or hot spots.


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## M&J (Nov 16, 2002)

http://www.vetskin.com. Turns them black/scabs up and they go away within days.


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## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

Warm compresses may bring it to the surface - maybe a drawing salve??? Alcohol won't do it at all. 

My Max has a couple. I had the vet stick a needle in it to be sure that cysty stuff came out. It varies in size. Right now he's on abx and it has become very small. 

Geez Val, 7"??? I think Max's are a weird shape under the skin. He has one near the spind - I had it cleaned out once when he was under for something else, it was full of gunk. He had one on the other side of the spind - that one opened up and resolved on it's own. He may have helped it a bit.


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## WiscTiger (Sep 25, 2002)

Yep Lisa that would be my CheyChey. She likes to do things on a BIG scale. Where she was spayed the Vet told me that she had to make the incision about twice as long as she normally does, because of course Cheyenne had a HUGE uterus. 

The cycst instead of being roundish, was elongated and she wanted to make sure she got it all.

Val


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## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

LOL, well, guess she just wants you to know how unique she is


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## Samba (Apr 23, 2001)

They are common. Sometimes they break open and get quite messy. I have had them removed when they were problematic. Once I had one break open on my girl and it was a mess. I decided to see if we could by with healing it. I stood her in the bath tub and irrigated it with betadine and saline twice a day. That one did heal and didn't cause a problem again.

My other female had one on her head in front of her ear. It kept seeping and seemed to bother her. We had that one removed and no more problem. She has others that have not acted up and remain.


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## Sulamer22 (May 14, 2010)

Nigel has a cyst under his skin on his ribcage. Vet didn't seemed to concerned and it bothers me more that him. What should I do guys?


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## Sulamer22 (May 14, 2010)

*cyst*

Question: Do you guys think that he Nigel has too much fat in his diet, thus causing the cyst?


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## tamyl4 (Feb 16, 2015)

Use distilled water and human diet, quality vitamins and good exercise, when they get older and the cysts grow remove them before they rupture inward. A cyst is a blocked gland similar to pimples, outdoor dogs/northern breeds will be more prone to them, but also bad diet, illness, medicines. If you would not eat your dogs food then the dog should not either, do the research and you will find that you just leaving that bag open or handling it is not fit for humans. You dog would do better with road-kill thank pet food from the store, unless human grade. Can't afford a diet well then left overs is fine even cooked but not bones, onions, macadamia nuts or chocolate. Check out Dr Pitcairn and Dr Dobias for more on helping your dog holistically and naturally, in the end it is cheaper, easier and what nature intended. A nasty cyst broke inward on our dog, we did first aid and could not see a vet for 48 hours, we prayed lots, it went well and she did not have the infection spread, she now has full use of her hip. Ask-would you want a cyst that size just waiting to explode hanging on you? If you could deal with it because it is tiny and never grows then that should be ok, always check with a vet to be sure.


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