Large lump

My 4.5 year old lab mix was out in the yard with me today and I noticed a large lump on the backside of her. It is slightly smaller than a plum, very hard, and seems to cause her pain when I touch it. My dog is with me nearly every minute of the day so I am extremely frustrated that I didn't notice this! She has been having some stiffness over the past 6 months or so to the point where I asked my vet about hip dysplasia. I wasnt allowed to go inside with her for the appointment per their covid rules so I'm wondering if they skimmed over her quickly and gave her her shots without really checking her over. Anyway, with my vet being closed until monday, I'm wondering if anyone can give a reasonable guess about how serious this could be? I understand that testing is necessary, but until that can be done I'm just looking for reasonable possibilities

Hello!  So we have a fast appearing hard, painful lump.  Often, owners worry about cancer but interestingly, cancer is usually non painful so although it is on the possibilities list, it may not be at the top.   Abscesses eg of the anal glands should be considered but also perineal herniae, where contents from the abdomen push through a hole and end up sticking into the wrong part of the body eg the perineal area.   Such body parts can then become strangulated so this is best ruled out if possible.  As the lump sounds to be hard and painful we would advise calling your emergency vet for triage, in order that they can determine whether to inspect his bottom immediately.

Thank you for your response! I will absolutely be reaching out for help for her ASAP. I was wondering if anal glands could be an issue, but it is pretty far off to the side from the anal glands. I included a second picture from a different angle to show location in regard to the butt. What sort of testing should I expect for something like this? I would like to go in prepared with questions and I'll be honest and say that I have never had such a thing on a dog so young. Our vet has gone through a change in management with new vets that I am not very familiar with so I just want to make sure that I am asking the right questions and getting the right help for her.

Hiya!  Of course.  With any problem, the list of questions for this is generally the same: 1. IS it urgent?   This should be established before an appointment is made if possible, in order that urgent cases are identified and seen urgently.   This may include this case 2.  What could it be?  - it is rare to establish a diagnoses on the first visit, although anal glands blockage or herniae may be obvious.   However, the vet should have a list of possibilities and a plan of what they would like to rule out / what the next step is in figuring it out. What tests are required next - and what information they can expect that to give.   What are the limitations? 3.  Or else, what was found;  how significant is it and what this changes.   Something useful that might be found, includes that 'it isn't this disease' or 'we need to send you to expert Y.'  This is still incredibly useful as it moves the case on. I hope that this helps!

My 10 year old labrador has a lump at the side of her mouth it doesn’t bother her I can move it about it’s hard like stone, she suffers from fits when she gets hyper so I’m scared it could be cancer or a cyst I have photos to show if you need to see it please help

Hi Pinky, You should definitely take your dog in asap. My dog has since died. Her punch biopsy wounds never healed and cutting into the mass angered the tumor. It grew very quickly and ulcerated two days after easter. I learned that labs are very prone to cancer. Go to your vet sooner rather than later. Good luck

Hello!  I agree with Sweetie pie that this definitely needs to see a vet.  Non painful lumps are in my experience more likely to be cancerous than painful lumps.  Your vet may not be able to identify it immediately;. Tests could well be needed, so if that's the case, you might want to get them rolling sooner rather than later.