# GSD with lumps under the skin



## Traveler's Mom (Sep 24, 2012)

Hi all,

My 6 year old GSD has a couple of lumps under the skin on his flanks. One is about the size of a quarter with the other much smaller. They don't seem to bother him but they sure bother me. They seem somewhat soft and I can feel around the whole circumference so they aren't attached to any thing. There's no drainage and no head and the skin itself looks normal.

My vet says it's nothing to worry about but I worry particularly since I just noticed another. He said he'd drain them if I wanted but I don't want to put my dog thru that if it really is nothing.

Do your dogs have these? If so, do you do anything about it?
Thanks in advance for any input.


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## Mary Beth (Apr 17, 2010)

My Aussie had them. My vet also said them were harmless and to leave them alone since they were not bothering the dog which I did.


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## lostangl (Jul 15, 2002)

My girl Sabrina has these all over her body. My vet also said he could remove them, but they would just come back. They will sometimes break open. Nothing you can do for them.


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## NancyJ (Jun 15, 2003)

Typically soft and unattached means benign lipoma, common in older dogs, but he could do a needle aspirate to be sure. Hard/attached is more typical of cancerous growths.


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## Neko (Dec 13, 2012)

Lipoma =) just fat! just be gentle, keep an eye on them, but they should not change much in size. Trust me i inspect and go crazy over any bump on my puppy. I am glad I wanted when i discovered a bean size lump and his armpit, thanks to google I assumed it is lymph node reacting to the shots, and it was, it went away =) Lipomas, will probably never go away, but should not get massive.


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## Traveler's Mom (Sep 24, 2012)

Thank you all for taking the time to respond! I am obviously feeling very relieved as you can imagine.
Mary Beth and lostangl, that is exactly what my vet said-basically, get over it.
Jocoyn, thank you for giving me the word and thank you Neko for the definition of lipoma. Now I know what it is and now I know that hard & attached is the scary kind.

You guys are great! Thanks again. Oh, one last thing..... is it true that GSD's are more prone to these? It's not food related or something else?


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## Mary Beth (Apr 17, 2010)

I don't know if GSDs are more prone to these - now that I think of it, when my Husky got old she also had a couple. They stayed small. Both the Aussie and Husky were on different kibble. Then a neighbor's golden retriever developed one - scared my neighbor real bad because he was afraid of cancer. Thanks be they are harmless.


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## Mooch (May 23, 2012)

If they are smaller they could also be sebaceous gland cysts, they are like a big doggy zit. Often they just stay as they are, sometimes they "burst" and a whole bunch of cheesy looking crud comes out. 
Mojo was at the vet because of one of her's yesterday, it had ruptured and gotten infected - so she's getting antibiotics for a few days to help clear it up.


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## Traveler's Mom (Sep 24, 2012)

Mooch said:


> If they are smaller they could also be sebaceous gland cysts, they are like a big doggy zit. Often they just stay as they are, sometimes they "burst" and a whole bunch of cheesy looking crud comes out.
> Mojo was at the vet because of one of her's yesterday, it had ruptured and gotten infected - so she's getting antibiotics for a few days to help clear it up.


Thank you guys for the additional information. About these sebaceous cysts, generally, how small is smaller? I gather there's not a way to distinguish between them without aspiration or some other medical procedure?

Does anyone have a holistic or otherwise salve or something to bring these to the surface? 

I'm happy to hear it's not food related. He's doing so well on Orijen but OTOH, that would have been a solution. How frustrating.


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## Mooch (May 23, 2012)

Honestly just leave them alone  Keep an eye on them that they aren't changing wether its a fatty lump or a cyst.

Mojo's are all around the size of a big pea or a little bigger but they can get quite big. To start with hers were just lumps under the skin, over a few month they worked"upwards" and now have an opening like a little volcano on her back. 
From what my vet say they usually encapsulate themselves and never cause a problem unless people squeeze them etc and they get infected. She said she would removes Mojos but only if she had to have an anaesthetic for something else she said she would not put her under just for those.

I have heard of people feeding turmeric powder, i'm sure there was a thread on here and they had good results with that.
My vet did say frequent brushing (every day) and regular baths (every couple of month or so) help keep the seabacus glands draining and not blocking up


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## Traveler's Mom (Sep 24, 2012)

> Honestly just leave them alone


Ok ok http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/images/smilies/blush.gif Thank you Mooch. You are right. I don't want to mess with them and end up with a bigger problem. I love my boy lumps and all http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif


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