Lipoma and Liposarcoma in the Dog: Fatty Tumors
Dr. Demian Dressler is internationally recognized as “the dog cancer vet” because of his innovations in the field of dog cancer management, and the popularity of his blog here at Dog Cancer Blog. The owner of South Shore Veterinary Care, a full-service veterinary hospital in Maui, Hawaii, Dr. Dressler studied Animal Physiology and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Davis before earning his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University. After practicing at Killewald Animal Hospital in Amherst, New York, he returned to his home state, Hawaii, to practice at the East Honolulu Pet Hospital before heading home to Maui to open his own hospital. Dr. Dressler consults both dog lovers and veterinary professionals, and is sought after as a speaker on topics ranging from the links between lifestyle choices and disease, nutrition and cancer, and animal ethics. His television appearances include “Ask the Vet” segments on local news programs. He is the author of The Dog Cancer Survival Guide: Full Spectrum Treatments to Optimize Your Dog’s Life Quality and Longevity. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Avian Veterinarians, the National Animal Supplement Council and CORE (Comparative Orthopedic Research Evaluation). He is also an advisory board member for Pacific Primate Sanctuary.
Updated: May 15th, 2024
Summary
Is that soft squishy lump on your dog something to worry about? It depends.
Many times dog lovers will arrive in my hospital and point out that their canine companion has a bump. They are soft, kind of like very firm jello. “Doesn’t seem to be causing any pain,” they say.
Hmmm. Well, it could be a “fatty” tumor. This is simply a tumor made out of fat. Yes, a big glob of fat, the same stuff that makes us chubby.
Some clients have used natural means to help their dogs with these tumors. I have had my clients say they have had luck with curcumin given by mouth. Curcumin is a part of the spice turmeric. In The Dog Cancer Survival Guide, I wrote about this bioflavonoid. It can be purchased as an ingredient in Apocaps, and also by itself as a sole agent.
Many dog lovers have heard of fatty tumors, and have been told by their vets that there is nothing to worry about. And many times, they are right.
Not every time, though.
Some Fatty Tumors Are Cancers
Here’s why: first of all, not every soft tumor is a “fatty” tumor. Remember mast cell tumors, the Great Imitators? Some mast cell tumors are aggressive, life-threatening cancers. And they can feel just like a benign fatty tumor.
Your vet can differentiate between a fatty tumor and a mast cell tumor with a simple fine needle aspirate. This is an easy outpatient procedure where the vet takes a sample with a needle and sends it to a pathologist. Many of us will review the slide right in house.
Another soft gushy tumor, especially on the limbs, in called a hemangiopericytoma. This is an unfriendly tumor, folks.
Because two dangerous tumors can look like fatty tumors (lipomas) I recommend that all such tumors get aspirated.
Some Fatty Tumors Are Dangerous In Other Ways
Secondly, not every tumor made out of fat is truly benign. Most are, and they are called lipomas. However, a small portion of them grow aggressively. They invade surrounding tissue. They often grow fairly quickly, over months, and expand. These fast growing lipomas have crossed the line and become what are called liposarcomas.
Get the Dog Cancer Survival Guide to learn more on how veterinarians diagnose and stage cancer in Chapter 9
The reason it matters is that they can become quite large. And you remove them and they will often regrow, since they are difficult to remove. You think you got ’em, and they come back.
Liposarcomas are not good news. So again, if you have a rapidly growing, fatty tumor, get it out. You might be dealing with a liposarcoma, and they can be tough. Have the vet biopsy the edge, and make sure they include adjacent muscle, or the path folks may complain they don’t have enough data to make a call.
Best to all,
Dr Dressler
Dr. Demian Dressler is internationally recognized as “the dog cancer vet” because of his innovations in the field of dog cancer management, and the popularity of his blog here at Dog Cancer Blog. The owner of South Shore Veterinary Care, a full-service veterinary hospital in Maui, Hawaii, Dr. Dressler studied Animal Physiology and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Davis before earning his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University. After practicing at Killewald Animal Hospital in Amherst, New York, he returned to his home state, Hawaii, to practice at the East Honolulu Pet Hospital before heading home to Maui to open his own hospital. Dr. Dressler consults both dog lovers and veterinary professionals, and is sought after as a speaker on topics ranging from the links between lifestyle choices and disease, nutrition and cancer, and animal ethics. His television appearances include “Ask the Vet” segments on local news programs. He is the author of The Dog Cancer Survival Guide: Full Spectrum Treatments to Optimize Your Dog’s Life Quality and Longevity. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Avian Veterinarians, the National Animal Supplement Council and CORE (Comparative Orthopedic Research Evaluation). He is also an advisory board member for Pacific Primate Sanctuary.
I have a small dog she has to lumps on her chest. They have never bothered her until she fell off the steps and ruptured one of them. This has been on going now for five weeks and I cant afford a vet right now cuz im not working. Is there anything I can do to help this. I keep it clean cuz it leaks puss out if it slowly. She is still eating ok and going to the bathroom ok. But sleeps all day and all night and that is not her. Her heartrate and breathing seem to be normal but keeps running a temp off and on. Can you help me out at all on this? Thank you
My 15 1/2 year Weimaraner has a large fatty tumor under her belly. Because of her age, would you recommend surgery?
Laurie,
good question. There are a lot of factors to consider, too many to list here. I am answering this one on the webinar this week which will be recorded:
http://www.mydogvet.com
Hope you can tune in!
Dr D
Our 12 yr. old dog has had a fatty tumor on her upper back for years. Tonight it had a huge dried blood scab hanging off to the side and when I trimmed back the hang around that area the tumor was an open sore. It has never happened before. What could have made it happen? It isn’t oozing or anything but I am worried.
Lisa,
it could be the pressure of the growth between the body weight and the floor has caused the blood supply of the skin to be cut off and the skin to die overlying the tumor.
I will address more on lipomas in this weeks recorded webinar:
http://www.mydogvet.com
Thanks!
Dr D
My 5-1/2 month Doberman female had a “lump” come up on the back of her neck/shoulder area. It got golf ball size in about a day. The vet did a needle aspiration, but said she thought she should remove it since it grew so fast. During the surgery she had to remove more tissue than she expected because it was nacrotic and had fingers running out of it everywhere. She said she had never seen anything like it before. We are still waiting on the biopsy results.
Over the New Years holidays, Durga had a bad case of hives. Our Vet was closed so I took her elsewhere and that Vet gave her a steroid shot, but initially missed and went out the other side of the skin. She developed a bad swelling at that sight and our Vet after lancing it said she had a bad staph infection. It went down quickly with antibiotics. But at that time our Vet still wasn’t sure about the cause.
Could the 2 incidences be connected? Has anyone else had this experience? Being a cancer survivor myself, I am not sure that I could put her through the treatment that I had, it would be cruel.
Hi Druga’s mom,
sounds pretty odd. Something fishy going on here. Suspicious for some systemic immune derangement, perhaps, or a defect in the skin itself leading to this stuff. Also try to have a biopsy done to rule out mast cell tumor. Do you have a blue dobie? Make sure your vet does complete blood work, urinalysis, and a culture 10-14 days after the antibiotics are done.
Best,
D
To all pet owners of Lipoma plagued animals – if you can, find yourself a holistic vet who practices homeopathy. My brother (who lives in Europe) rescues dogs from Rumania and is friends with a couple of vets. They’ve seen their share of Lipomas and treat these successfully with Homeopathy. Some of the ingredients he mentioned were the following (I don’t know where to get these here and advise NOT to play doctor yourself but let a vet who specializes in this work out a plan):
Barium carbonicum D6 (shrinks tumor)
Arnica D6 (eases pain and anti-inflammatory)
Arsenicum album D30
Thuja D30
I have a 9 year old lab who has an infiltrated Lipoma, shoulder/chest. She had surgery and it could not be removed, they took a biopsy and it was benign, I’m so glad. I’ve been trying to find a remedy myself. In the meantime, I did find a holistic vet treats Lipomas with Acupuncture and Chinese herbs, no luck finding anyone in this area with Holistic and Homeopathy. Back to the current vet, the Acupuncture did no go over well with our dog so I won’t subject her to another one even though I am a firm believer in the power of Acupuncture. Our dog freaks out going to the vet and gets all worked up, I think her mental condition is to tense to get anything out of the Acupuncture.
Check out the book “The Nature of Animal Healing” by Martin Goldstein – to summarize his treatment of Lipoma – change the dog food to some HIGH quality dog food – he believes that dogs that get lipomas has a metabolic imbalance. The goal is to establish proper metabolic function to avoid additional lipomas and to successfully treat the ones the dog has. He recommends to add L-Carnitine, Chromium Picolinate and a homeopathic preparation called Weight Off Drops. If the pet does not respond to this, he adds Vitamin B6. He also recommends Chih-ko & Curcuma (Seven Forest).
I will try to give the Chinese Herbs some more time before I try something else, the lipoma does appear to have gotten a little bit smaller (will measure the height and width once a week to monitor progress).
Good luck to all!
Christine
Dr. Dressler,
My 12yr. old kuvasz Nik recently has been diagnosed with Liposarcoma. The vet didn’t aspirate explained that it might not be conclusive since the offending cells could be missed but based on visual she’s sure this is the case. He has had tons of these fatty lumps EVERYWHERE this particular one has been slowly growing for approx. 4-5yrs. been aspirated 2x’s past & I was advised past couple yrs. 2 different vets to leave it unless it affected mobility or bothered him due to the opinion at that time it was just a lipoma soft etc..
It seemed to take a big change over what seemed to be days now is hard & looks like he has a football under his skin to left of spine behind left front shoulder. I knew immediately when it got hard it was not a good thing hence took him in right away.
The aggressive treatment suggested was excision which possibly could involve muscle etc.. painful anyways & could need radiation after. His blood work was good 2 values were a little changed but she wasn’t concerned: Alkaline Phosphatase 178 / Granulocytes 12.5 she commented couldn’t believe she was looking @ a 12yr. olds bloodwork. His teeth are beautiful, his eyes just have normal age changes no cataracts he’s a very strong dog. He’s had a history of allergies during late august/sept. (pollens) would get skin spots & he is getting weak in hindquarters & especially over past month but still a very strong dog in spite of this & his age BUT…..
I at this point will not do evasive surgical procedures on him I’ve experienced this path before & know that it would be one thing after another hacking him up, there is another of these soft lumps that has changed over past month on his right side just behind rib cage so I feel we’d be chasing one after another & he would suffer the last months of his life instead of enjoying the time left & us helping him gently go with the vets help when the time comes I’d like to know if there are any NON evasive ways to help this condition such as meds etc… that may slow this liposarcoma.
I did order k9immunity/transfer cancer pack & will start that when it comes, my dogs both have eaten solid gold holistique blenz & wolf king for yrs. I was also looking into switching to tast of wild grain free? Will this support help at all? are there other things that could?
My other Kuvasz is 10yrs. old & acts like hes 3. He has one small fatty lump in groin area has also been aspirated no issue but I’ll likely get it removed if it changes AT ALL soft or not!
I am a prof. groomer & trainer attended tons of seminars on every topic to do with dogs including a mini-vet class @ the U of Mn so I do watch over my dogs carefully & have past experience with cancer (lost my first kuvasz @ 7 to hemangiosarcoma 6wks. after surgery) hence my decision not to start hacking on him @ 12yrs. old we’re lucky to have had his company this long. Just looking for advice if there are other treatments etc.. that your aware of since you specifically have researched this area.
Thanks
Linda
Can you tell me anything about liposarcomas induced by foreign bodies? I know there have been a few articles here and there over the years about these tumors occurring where a body had lodged (microchip, piece of glass), etc.
My 8.5 year old Akita cross has a few lipomas. We have been good at eyeballing them and aspirating them regularly. However, in recent weeks, one has not only grown, but it has gotten very firm and immobile–it has almost become a part of the ribcage (it is near the ribcage front limb junction). All of the previous aspirates have only been examined at the vet–no path/cytology.
We will be opening him up (dog, not vet ;-)) next week to see what we can see–and hopfeully excise whatever’s there (I told him that if he has to, take as wide of margins as possible), but I am concerned about the possibility of a well-defined liposarcoma. I know they are rare–but they are also the most mistaken for a regular lipoma. I should also note, I’m also concerned about an infiltrative lipoma…which would almost be worse.
Either way, long story short, this spot, coincidentally is also where the dog had an embedded foxtail that had burrowed its way into the muscle. We had to surgically remove it and a bunch of infected tissue last year at about this time. The current lipoma appeared later…and has been growing/changing for the last 6-8 months. could there be a connection? Not that it matters, I guess…but is it possible? Or is it most likely that this will just be an atypical, but normal, lipoma.
hi my 10 year old pit/dal mix has had several small lumps all in different areas of her body/the vet did a biopsy and said to just keep an eye on them….well over the last 12 months they have slowly been growing,
but worst/ from the middle of her back to mid tail, right under the skin is hard,stiff and rippled (when i asked the vet about it last year,it was less noticeable and the vet said it was prob. from weight gain) it has spread and looks larger than the surrounding area.i am taking her back to the vet next week/do you have any tips on what to ask the vet,or what kind of tests i should expect to have done?
thank you
I have an 8 year old male dalmatian who had 2 tumors diagnosed as “fatty tumors.” One was on his chest/ribcage area and very small, the other is on his hip area and at the time was about the size of a half dollar. It has since grown in size. The problem is my husband is in the Air Force and we are stationed in Germany. The local vet speaks almost no English which makes it difficult to inform them of what we want or need. So we took Maveric to the base vet who did a needle aspirate and informed us of the “fatty tumor” status. The local vet didn’t even do that, just felt it and called them fat tumors. Anyway, I asked about aspirating them down in size and was told that they are nothing to worry about and they won’t remove them right now because it’s “cosmetic.” They would only remove the one on his chest if it starts to impede his mobility.
My question is this. I had a friend, who was once a vet, say they can aspirate the tumor and from the way she talked, I thought she meant they would pull all the cells out of the tumor with a needle. Is this done? And is it an alternative to surgery? I plan on going to the base vet and having him checked out again to be sure nothing has changed. However, we leave here in a year and I would prefer to not have any surgeries done here because of the language barrier. So is there a way we can try to “manage” the growth of the tumor until we can get back to the US and have it removed properly?
Kathleen
My 11 year old labrador has got three tumours one in the colon and two in the rectum. My vet says that they are inoperable and he is find it increasingly difficult to empty his bowels. Albert my dog undersent his first course of chemo today. I have been given advice from my vet on diet and what to do in the next few days but if you have any advice on diet and how to treat this I would be grateful