# Large lump on puppy's head



## GoldenBigBlue (Mar 9, 2016)

Hi everyone! I really need help with an issue we are having. We have two Golden's, one that is a year and a half male (Blue) and then we recently got another golden girl that is a little over 16 weeks (Piper). 
When we took Piper to her final vet appointment the vet noticed a little bump on her head, right above her left eye. We figured it was just a little lump from her hitting her head while playing with Blue because let's face it, she's a puppy and puppies are clumsy. The next morning the vet called to check on her and I let her know the bump was still there but everything was fine and she didn't seemed bothered by it. She said to just monitor and if it got bigger or felt hot to touch to call her back. By 9 pm that night, the bump had almost tripled in size and was HUGE (golf ball size.) I called the vet Friday to let her know and she prescribed anti-inflammatory meds to see if it was swelling from her hitting her head and said if it wasn't gone by the weekend then I needed to come in. Well, it didn't go down at all. In fact, it got a little bigger. 
Yesterday I took her in and they wanted to take cells from it to send to a pathologist so they took her to the back, and when they stuck the needle in she said blood and fluids started gushing out and the bump was essentially disappearing. She took all the fluids out and brought my puppy back basically lumpless. She said she wasn't going to send he cells in because it would most likely just come back as red blood cells. 
They sent us home and said it was probably a sarcoma from bumping her head. This morning I woke up and Piper's lump had come back completely, which was really surprising. I called the vet and they want to do surgery because they said they can keep draining it but if it's coming back that fast they think it will just keep coming back. 

I really need help here. Has anyone had something like this happen to their puppy? 

#1- Do you recommend the surgery?
#2- She hasn't been spayed yet and the doctor said they would ideally want to spay her when they remove the lump because they don't want to put her under twice before she's 1, but isn't 4 months too soon? We waited until Blue was over a year to fix him 

I'm so confused and not even sure what this lump is, let alone able to make a decision for her to have surgery. Help! Pictures attached.


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## maggie83 (Dec 12, 2016)

I'm not a medical expert by any means but i have done some research on spaying and everything i'm reading is to spay after the first heat. So if it was my puppy, i'd let them do the surgery if necessary but wouldn't spay. I'd bring her back after age 1 - after she has had one or two heat cycles. Hope you find the best answers you need and that your sweet Piper gets better fast!


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## myluckypenny (Nov 29, 2016)

I would also recommend waiting to spay. Four months is really young and she needs those hormones when growing. I don't know anything about surgery for the bump, but I would go with what your vet recommends there. Hope she gets better soon!


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## Siandvm (Jun 22, 2016)

It sounds like a cyst. If so, it will keep coming back as your vet said, unless they remove it in total, because it is the lining of the cyst which produces the fluid. Personally, however, I would want some fluid analysis before removing it, just in case the results modified my surgical plan. However, I don't think it is wrong to just remove it as long as they then submit it for pathology to confirm that it is a cyst (or hematoma or whatever it is). 

I, too, think that 4 months is too early to spay, so would ask about doing the cyst removal now and spay later, or leaving the cyst until she is spayed at a later date.


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## Altairss (Sep 7, 2012)

I would want the results on the cyst first then decide on the surgery but I do not spay before they are at least one. I want them to have the benefit of the growth hormones. But you must be very responsible in dealing with the heat cycle but its just a few weeks. Some vets will tell you it increases the chance of mammary cancer but early spay does not prevent it. I had two females spayed young before the first heat and both got mammary cancer. Also before deciding on spaying have her checked for inverted vulva that can cause ongoing UTI's and waiting thru a full heat usually will cause the inversion to be fixed.


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## G-bear (Oct 6, 2015)

I am not a vet but have had a dog which experienced similar bumps. In her case they were called sebaceous cysts. A sebaceous cyst forms when a pore or hair follicle becomes blocked. The cyst then developes. The cyst will either rupture, become walled off (and will remain as a bump under the skin) or go away on it's own. My girl, Maggie, had several of them over the course of her life. None were surgically removed. The vet would do a FNA, which would then cause them to rupture and drain. They sent the cells obtained for analysis. Maggie was then put on antibiotics, and I would would watch the area and clean it several times a day to make sure it did not become infected. I also made sure that she did not lick the area. After she had experienced 2 of these cysts I added Omega 3 fatty acids and coconut oil to her diet. She did not have another cyst again.
I would encourage you to have your vet do a FNA to have the contents of the cyst checked and go from there. 
When Maggie experienced these cysts I spoke at length about them with my vet. Occasionally when they occur they will reoccur in the same area. surgical removal was not recommended by my vet unless they were in an area which was problematic for Maggie. None were. 
As for spaying early...I, personally, would not do it unless there was a serious medical reason for it.


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## B and G Mom (Oct 29, 2014)

I agree with the consensus here - have what comes out analyzed and then base the surgery decision on that. My GSD mix would get the occasional hematoma - sometimes we would have them drained - often they would re-absorb on their own. But after the first one - we had it drained and tested just to be sure.

I would also wait on the spay surgery. 

Good luck - let us know how things work out. She's such a cutie - hope she is feeling better soon!


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## Audog (Mar 17, 2017)

What a cute pup, don't spay too early, if Vet insists, get a new Vet.


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