A lipoma is usually harmless and painless, and most lipomas are not cancerous.
However, in rare cases, a lipoma can become a liposarcoma, a fat-cell cancer.
Your doctor may perform one or all of the following exams of your lump to determine if it's a lipoma or something else:
Physical exam
Removal of a sample of tissue (a biopsy) for microscopic examination
Imaging tests, such as ultrasound, MRI, or CT scan
A lipoma doesn't usually need to be treated unless it bothers you. Nevertheless, your doctor will recommend scheduling periodic checkups to note if the tumor is growing or changing in any other way.
For example, a lipoma can become painful if it becomes large enough to press on nearby nerves. Or, it may contain many blood vessels.
In either case, your doctor may suggest having the lipoma removed in one of the following ways:
Surgery to cut out the lipoma, permanently removing it (Minimal excision extraction is a surgical technique that minimizes bruising and scarring.)
Steroid injections to shrink the lipoma but not eliminate it
Liposuction to withdraw the contents of the lump through a needle and into a large syringe
Lipomas are the most common benign tumors in dogs. Old dogs and overweight ones are likely to have at least one lipoma.
The growths are most prevalent in females, mixed breeds, and the following breeds:
Doberman pinschers
Miniature schnauzers
Labrador retrievers
If you find a lump while petting or grooming your dog, make an appointment with your veterinarian to examine it.
In addition to a physical exam, your vet may use a small needle to remove cells from the growth to view microscopically (fine needle aspiration) or remove a larger sample of tissue from the lump for a biopsy.
If a lipoma bothers your dog, the vet can remove it. In most cases, though, a painless lipoma that the dog ignores is left alone.
Your vet may simply schedule periodic checks to monitor the growth and the dog's comfort.
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