Lump on lab mix

[Mama Soltera]

He is middle-aged and has always been healthy. He is the perfect weight, his coat is shiny, he's very active and well-behaved. He's eating normally. It's about the size of a grape, I'd say. It's squishy. Is this a fatty tumor? And if so, what would a vet do about it? I know what cancer tumors feel like unfortunately and it is absolutely not cancer. It doesn't seem to be growing and he's having no issues, doesn't even seem to notice it. Has anyone had this happen to their pet? I've heard tumors are common in labs.

[starrlamia]

go to the vet, they will probably want to aspirate it to determine exactly what it is, they may say to leave it or may suggest removing it.

[purplerose]

i have had 2 labs get hematomas. the way the vet explained it, it's like getting bruised except the blood pools up under the skin. happens from things like scratching themselves or playing with each other and getting nipped. not usually life-threatening but if it bursts it is messy. the vet can use a syringe to drain it. that is what i'd think it is.

[womenswisdom]

I would have it biopsied. There is really no way to tell for sure whether a lump is cancerous or not by looking at/feeling it. There just isn't. You or your vet could make an educated guess, but there are several different kinds of tumors and they can feel different depending on their stage and location.

[rnra]

As the prior poster said, there is absolutely no way to tell if a tumor/lump is cancerous just by feeling it.  There are many different types of cancer and they can all present differently.

I went through a similar thing with my own dog recently, but he is very old (nearly 13).  We had the lump removed but not biopsied.  My reasoning for this is that he is an old dog who has had a wonderful, happy life.  Cancer treatment is not something he would want to endure.  If it is cancerous or is not cancerous, my reaction would be the same--treat the symptoms, manage pain, etc.  

[dakipode]

Our lab mix had a couple of fatty tumors and the vet was never concerned about them but she was the one to diagnose them as such. She said they are common on labs and nothing to worry about. It seemed that as he got older he developed more of them so maybe just keep an eye on it and monitor the situation regularly, check if they're not growing in size etc.