# Sebaceous cysts



## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

Hi all,

I've got a question and am looking for personal stories as well as possibly a vet to chime in.

Flora's got several bumps on her body. The first time I found one I brought her in to the vet, the vet checked it out, took a little piece of it and inspected it, and determined it was a harmless sebaceous cyst. Since then, when I'm petting her I can feel several of these guys on her body. They never burst or anything. They're just round, flat, hard little lumps.

Is it common sometimes for a dog to just have lots of sebaceous cysts? Right now she probably has 4-5 of them. Do you think I should have all of them examined? Of course my biggest concern is one of them isn't a sebaceous cyst and it's something else, but they all feel remarkably similar to the previous sebaceous cyst that I had checked out. She gets bathed regularly and doesn't seem to have dry skin or anything, which I think can contribute to the development of these cysts.

Thanks!


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## OutWest (Oct 6, 2011)

I think you should ask your vet. They are probably all the same, but your vet might want want to give her a once over as the bumps develop. It's possible your dog is just going to develop these bumps although I haven't heard of that before. If it becomes persistent, you might want to check in with a specialist (dermatologist).


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## Jennifer1 (Mar 31, 2012)

I personally like to get all lumps and bumps checked. I won't necessarily make a special trip for it (unless something warrants it), but mention it at the regular vet visits.

My Bear used to get sebaceous cysts. She had 2 or 3 of them. 1 in particular used to rupture and I would have to clip the hair in the area to keep it clean and once she needed antibiotics for it. Because that one kept rupturing, I was planning on having it removed if she ever needed to be put under sedation for anything.


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

I have the vet look at any new bumps and lumps. Penny has one about half the size of a pencil eraser between her eyes that I had him look at a week or so ago. He also thought a sebaceous cyst, so I'll keep an eye on it.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

Yeah, that's kind of what I'm thinking too. I'm so desperately poor right now that I hate to "waste" money, but yeah, I'd also hate to let something go like that.


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## SheetsSM (Jan 17, 2008)

My vet charts the lumps in each of their records so when they come in for appointments, he makes a point of checking them out to see if size/consistency have changed. My senior boy has numerous types of benign bumps on his body.


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## Finn's Fan (Dec 22, 2007)

Kim, sebaceous cysts and lipomas (mature fat cells and some connective tissue) are fairly common in retrievers. Some dogs as they age get loads of them. When you next have some $$ and Flora needs to see your vet for another reason, I'd have them "map" any and all of her bumps. I choose to have a needle aspirate done every time I find a new one. My vet pulls some cells, adds a drop of water to the slide and immediately can tell if it's a lipoma because fat and water don't mix! While there is always the possiblity that a lump that feels like a cyst or a lipoma can be malignant, it's not likely, so there's no need to panic over every bump or lump. It seems that Finn at age ten develops a new one every month. None have been anything but cysts or lipomas. My angel Cody had a fair number by age fourteen, all mapped and checked by my vet when we were there for other reasons. It's more than likely what Flora has going on is the production of benign "tumors", which probably don't need anything done to them unless they interfere with her mobility.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

My 10.5 year old siblings have numerous sebaceous cysts... Georgie has a huge one under his eye, his sisters are less obvious... They are no big deal...


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Oh and both have lipomas on their prosternums.... Mantha always impresses conformation judges with her fabulous fore chest, it is nice, but the lipoma enhances it...


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Yes... it's normal for her to get cysts. I just had one on Jacks' ear removed and now he has one by his eye which the vet won't touch unless it changes shape or gets frazzed. 










But if I found more than one at a time? I would mention it to my vet the next time I'm in. With my older dogs I kept a log (no don't call me neurotic even though its true) of where their new lumps and warts and cysts and growths were. The vet would check the spots out and would only biopsy or remove those that they felt were suspicious. 

Your dog is almost a year younger than Jacks, so that's why I would be concerned about why she's getting warts all over already. Did you talk to her breeder to see if this is somewhat common for the dogs behind her?


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## IowaGold (Nov 3, 2009)

It's pretty common for dogs that make cysts to make more than one. I probably wouldn't rush her in to have them checked unless they are growing/changing/bothering her. I'd just have them checked next time she is in for something else.


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

Brady had one for 2 1/2 years, it had a definite "eye" to it. The vet charted it and said he would probably get more.

In the past few months it got smaller, but the "eye" got bigger. This weekend, I had him at the vets, and she looked at it, and squeezed it like a big black head. Everything came out, black waxy material. Now I can't even tell where it was, but she told me since there is a preexisting cavity, it will probably come back.

I also had her look at two other bumps without eyes, on his back, and I need to keep an eye on them. They are right where he would have gotten each vaccine, but they are too small for her to aspirate.


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## Wendy427 (Apr 4, 2009)

I looked on earthclinic, and found this link re using turmeric to get rid of cysts in dogs/cats. 

CYST REMEDIES FOR PETS

When I had Lacey, she had a pea-sized sebaceous cyst on the inside of her left rear leg (had always had it; but it was never a problem). When she got sick with IMHA, and since her immune system was compromized, the cyst grew to the size of a 50-cent piece and was red & inflamed. Per the vet I cleaned it with Witch Hazel and put Neosporin on it. _Neither of these 2 treatments worked!_

I then start adding a teaspoon of turmeric to her food once/day, and I swear, within 2 weeks the entire cyst was gone!! I could not believe it! It was actually gone! Well, to say the least, I was convinced!


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## GoldenCamper (Dec 21, 2009)

Wendy427 said:


> I then start adding a teaspoon of turmeric to her food once/day, and I swear, within 2 weeks the entire cyst was gone!! I could not believe it! It was actually gone! Well, to say the least, I was convinced!


Didn't work here for Tucker, wish it did. Might be because it had already broke open at that point, what a mess. 

Tucker started getting them at about 6yrs of age. During the last year of his life 2 broke open on his back. One healed but turned into a small adenoma as I recall. The other leaked which I kept cleaned up for a year. It got ugly a few times so put him on Cephalexin.

No one would touch him for removal, not even with a local. His lungs had collapsed months before.

Fiona had one on her back/tail are so I had it removed. Knowing how Goldens love to roll on their backs I did not want to go through that again somewhere down the road.


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## Florabora22 (Nov 30, 2008)

Thank you everyone for your responses, I really appreciate them all! 

Flora being so young was one of the reasons I was mildly confused as to why she's got all these bumps already. Carmella definitely developed several lipomas, but this wasn't until she was older.

I think what I'll do sometime this next week when I've got the time is print out some sort of... dog map, hah, and map out where Flora's lumps are. Then I can monitor them until I get her into the vet next. If any of them begin to alarm me I'll take her in pronto. But right now all they are are pea-sized, hard flat lumps under the skin. As of now I don't think she's ever had a ruptured cyst, so I'll cross my fingers and hope that doesn't happen in the future. She doesn't seem bothered by them in the least, so that's good.

Unfortunately I think Flora may be destined to grow lots of lumps and bumps, as she also has two small growths on her lower eyelids which, as of right now, the vet says are nothing to worry about, but one is definitely getting slightly bigger and will probably need to be removed in the next year or so.


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