# blood blister? on paw - pic



## Ucdcrush (Mar 22, 2004)

Riku has had this blood blister for at least a couple weeks now. Most of the time it is hard or impossible to see, but occasionally it does this  It seems to do it on days we are more active, and we have been very active today and yesterday. He is not limping, and seems to be acting his normal self.

I have an appt. with the vet tomorrow, but I was wondering if anyone has seen anything like this before and what it was and what the vet might suggest we do about it?












Thank you.


----------



## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

It can be something completely benign, or not. Good to have the vet check it.


----------



## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

Riley has gotten something similar to that before but it happened while we were hiking and he stepped on a stick that stabbed him. Definitely have the vet check it out.


----------



## Ucdcrush (Mar 22, 2004)

The vet looked at some cells pulled from it under a microscope and said it looks like just skin cells, nothing cancerous. She prescribed some topical called Tresaderm, 2x a day for 10 days, we'll see how it goes! Thanks for the replies.


----------



## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

Glad to hear. Things on the paws, when cancerous, can be very aggressive and qctually impossible to diagnose without looking at the cells. Definitely good news!


----------



## KZoppa (Aug 14, 2010)

very good news!


----------



## sable123 (Jul 11, 2010)

Ucdcrush said:


> Riku has had this blood blister for at least a couple weeks now. Most of the time it is hard or impossible to see, but occasionally it does this  It seems to do it on days we are more active, and we have been very active today and yesterday. He is not limping, and seems to be acting his normal self.
> 
> I have an appt. with the vet tomorrow, but I was wondering if anyone has seen anything like this before and what it was and what the vet might suggest we do about it?
> 
> ...


Sorry I missed this. That is a Histiocytoma, very common, looks likes its a later stage one, meaning it has blown itself up and is healing.

Vet was not needed.


----------



## LisaT (Feb 7, 2005)

sable123 said:


> Sorry I missed this. That is a Histiocytoma, very common, looks likes its a later stage one, meaning it has blown itself up and is healing.
> 
> Vet was not needed.


NOT TRUE, mast cell tumors can also look like that, and on the paws can be very aggressive.

Irresponsible to make such a diagnosis over the web.


----------



## Good_Karma (Jun 28, 2009)

Thanks for posting so the rest of us know what it is if our dogs ever get one of these!


----------



## Kris10 (Aug 26, 2010)

LisaT said:


> NOT TRUE, mast cell tumors can also look like that, and on the paws can be very aggressive.
> 
> Irresponsible to make such a diagnosis over the web.


:thumbup:


----------



## Ucdcrush (Mar 22, 2004)

I haven't visited this thread in a while but thanks for pointing out about histiocytoma, I had not heard that before. The pics and information I've seen on the web makes it seem like histiocytoma too, it looks just like the pictures in this
Canine Cutaneous Histiocytoma

That also mentions that they are more common in young dogs, but says "More rarely, neoplasms may occur on the trunk and extremities, and frequently involve the feet and toes of older individuals (KSL, personal observation)." Riku is around 7.

Based on that and the vet saying the cells did not look cancerous, I'm going to watch it for a few more weeks and hope it goes away on its own.

Thanks for everyone's input.


----------



## Ucdcrush (Mar 22, 2004)

Good_Karma said:


> Thanks for posting so the rest of us know what it is if our dogs ever get one of these!


In that spirit, here is an update. This is how it looks as of today, which I estimate is about 1.5 months after I first noticed it. Now it is almost flush with the rest of the paw and looks like any little sore spot. I felt it when it was larger, about 2 weeks ago, and it felt somewhat firm, not squishy.










Funny story.. early last week I had called the vet and scheduled surgery to get it removed, the surgery to be done Thursday of last week (this is when I was very unclear what it was compared to now). That Tuesday, while I was at work, the dogs opened up a kitchen cabinet and ate lots of raw rice, millet, and a bit of protein powder. So the stools were really weird/liquid/ricey for a couple days, causing me to postpone the surgery since I didn't want him in there in a weakened state because of stomach upset.

After postponing with the vet, I googled more and ended up seeing about histiocytomas, and actually had a search result that led back to this very thread which I hadn't looked at for a while.

I guess everything, even kitchen cabinet breaches which have only happened 2 other times in 7 years, happen for a reason, as I saved an estimated $500 in vet bills and this growth is going away.


----------

