Question:
The past couple weeks I've been keeping an eye on a spot
on Mac's chest. Mac is a 5 yr old Golden. I thought
originally that it was just a sore caused by too much
wrestling with my other dog. Since its still there its
time to consider other possibilities. It looks like a
mole, is very dark in color, asymmetrical and somewhat
raised. It is smaller than a pencil eraser. Could it
be skin cancer? Do dogs get moles?
I will take him to the vet for this. I was hoping to
wait a little bit longer to see how his broken teeth
do. So far there is no sign of inflammation or
infection around the teeth. I have gotten much better
and usually only run to the vet if there is blood.
With 2 dogs there is always some cut or bump so its
good that I've gotten over the "new dog owner paranoia".
Answer:
Dogs get several types of skin cancer, according to the 1992 edition
of Dog Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook. They say it is difficult
to distinguish benign tumors from cancerous ones on appearance alone,
and that surgical removal of a lump or bump is often required to
establish a diagnosis. Not all tumors, of course, are malignant,
but all have a malignant potential.
