Weekdays: 8am - 7pm | Saturdays: 9am - 6pm | Sundays: Closed
Looking Out for Lumps and Bumps
In addition to the regular health checks your pet receives when visiting us, it’s a great idea to perform some form of routine check yourself. Get your pet used to you looking at their eyes, ears, teeth and giving them a general check-over. This way, you will hopefully pick up early signs of problems including any abnormal lumps.
If your pet does develop a lump, there are several possible underlying causes – these include abscesses, hernias and tumours. The most serious of these are tumours, which are either benign – which tend to be slow growing and remain in one place – or malignant which invade the surrounding tissues and may also spread to other parts of the body.
Lumps may vary considerably in appearance. Some are fairly obvious whilst others are harder to detect. Some lumps move with the skin while others feel ‘stuck’ to underlying tissues. Some are associated with reddening or bleeding, others are surrounded by swollen or inflamed tissue. Early detection of lumps is always the golden rule.
If you do discover a lump on your pet, it is important that we examine them as soon as possible so that we may establish the underlying cause and start any treatment without delay. Timing is everything and delay in appropriate treatment can be the difference between a small mass that is easily treatable by surgical removal and one that is far more difficult to treat. So if you are concerned about a lump on your pet – or any other health problem, please contact us today for an appointment.
