Ask Dr Claire

My 4 year old Cattle dog has a sore lump at bottom of her ribcage. Worried it could be a tumour?

A lump in a 4 year old dog, in general is either:

1. non cancerous i.e. it’s inflammatory

2. cancerous – within this group, it’s either :

(a) benign (tend to be slow growing and not spread readily to the rest of the body) or

(b) malignant (fast growing and can spread to other areas of the body).

We can not know what these lumps truly are (looks can be deceiving) unless we take a sample of the lump and look at those cells under the microscope. Sometimes the sample needs to be sent to a veterinary pathologist to interpret what it’s likely to be, and then recommendations are made from there as to whether a biopsy, drainage or removal would be needed.

A hands-on examination from your local vet as soon as possible would be a great place to start.

If you’d like to chat in person, you can book a live video call or start a chat to discuss in more detail, as soon as possible.

We’re here to help!

Chat soon,

Dr Claire