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.
my 11 year old rottie is in great condition blood work kidneys liver she had a big mass came up the vet took it off and came back it was a hemanglopericytoma markly affacing the adipose tissure are whoris and streams of dense spindle cells the neoplasm extends to the margins of sections examined samantha everyone says acts looks younger than her age she is a great dog she does take throid after all this she is full of energy playing jumping running do i need to worry at her age shes old for a rott but can it return quickly can she have meds or supplement to help you would think by seeing she is in excelent shape please explain the above terms
my 11 year old rottie had a hemanglopericytomas removed i just found the big mass after she started limping it was on her hip the report says marked affacing the adipose tissue are whoris and streams of dense spindle cells the neoplasm extends to the margins of secton examined but samantha is 11 her liver kidney and blood test the vet said were excellent everyone says she looks like a young dog after mass removed she is running jumpimg and full of energy she is on throid meds at her age will this tumor return or is a chanceshe will live her life out shes a great dog rotties are sweet
Sharon –
Sounds exactly like my 12 year old dobie. Many lumps in various spots, especially the very large one on ribs. Recently I found on attached the skin at her throat. The vet had told us it would be to dangerous to remove them at her age. The throat one though has yet to be checked out.
Sadly, we are trying to make the decision for her. She seems to be suffering from cognitive dysfunction and does not even respond to her name. Its so hard to make a decision when you cannot tell if they are in pain…. 🙁
i have a dobie with 8 tumors, one very hard on stomach, and fatty hard on rib cage causing it to expand out. vet said it was COPD. i knew something else. found a fatty tumor in lymph node under neck. several all over body. growns at night, sounds like fluid in lungs. could this be heart also? age 13. has some curvature of spine. one cloudy eye.
then, my 5 year old pitbull, am staff has one hard tumor in middle of chest. what kind could this be. frequent thirst in middle of night.
please reply if you have some suggestions. or know of a very good oncologist in washington state.
I think i have left a comment before on this.. I can’t seem to find it. so i will reply again. On March 6th i had to put my baby girl, Cookie down 10yrs old. I did not know she had liver cancer.. with in minutes my vet came back and gave me the test results on Lucky (7yrs) who had a bio-opsy done the week before and found out she has Lymphosaroma (high grade). I was told she has about a month to live. Heart broken. still makes me cry. So, What should i do?? is she too far gone for treatement?? I didn’t know either of my babies had problems. no signs until it was too late. Lucky is still going. The following monday i had 17 stones removed from Lucky. lg stones. She is feeling better or at least acts happy. Cookie had started to not want to get up. I was thinking she was have pain in her knee she had surgery done about five years ago. so that’s why I thought that. Then she stopped eating… I had just had both of them to the vet the week before all this started. They were fine and happy. I guess i am at a lose for words. Just wanting to know if i could prolong lucky life. ??
Thanks,
Dar
Dear Dar,
I am so sorry to hear about all of this. You should really think about “putting on your oxygen mask”, which I talk about in the Guide. It means taking some time to deal with the trauma you are experiencing before making decisions. A day or two is all it takes. You probably need to decompress and release some of the feelings you must be having.
Then you may want to ask yourself the same question. You need to decide if you want chemo and get an oncologist involved. You should think about supplements, diet, and life quality issues. You might want to get a copy of the Guide, I think it would help answer this very complex question. In the end, it comes down to you becoming comfortable being in the driver’s seat. This takes some getting used to.
All my best,
Dr D
Hi John,
no lumps in throat, rear of stomach, or back upper legs. She does have a few other fatty growths, but those are NOT growing.
The vet saw it 3 weeks ago and said it was fat, no problem, but it’s grown since then – not doubled, but grown.
Vets have told me before to not bother removing fatty tumors, as they may well just grow back anyways, and don’t cause the dog pain – this one just seems to be growing fast, though it still doesn’t feel like the cancer my old dog had.
Hi Terri,
I’m going through the same thing with my 7 year old pit. Can you feel any lumps in her throat, rear of her stomach or the very back upper part of her legs. Usually lymphoma cancer will attack the immune system which will case the lymph nodes to swell, usually in the throat first. That is where we found our dogs first. Then the rest swelled. If it is just the one it could be she is fighting an infection for the lymph nodes swell because of that as well. The best thing is to take her immediately to the vet and they will check it by drawing a bit of the liquid from it. I hope it is not lymphoma, for it is extremely expensive for the chemo and no guarantees. Good luck!
Dear Dr. Dressler,
I got a 5 year old female Dalmatian from Dalmatian Rescue (they got her from the pound) on January 1st. When she had her spay surgery (upon release from the pound), the vet also took out what he said was just a fatty tumor – but he said he removed it because it was in a potentially uncomfortable spot, and not to worry. Rescue gave me the rather large tumor in a baggie and told me it was a lipoma, though I saw on the surgery papers they gave me that they had denied a biopsy of the tissue – so I guess we don’t know for sure.
In the 2 months that I’ve had the dog, the lump has grown back, and then some. It’s like there’s a pouch in her chest that’s filling up with this stuff – and 2 months seems very very fast to me for it to come back entirely. It still feels fatty (though getting harder, because that pouch is filling up as it grows – that’s the way it seems to me), and I can move it from side to side a bit. It doesn’t seem to be bothering the dog, but I really can’t say, as she’s extremely quiet all of the time. I’d say it’s about golf ball size, and is tucked neatly between (and just ahead of) her armpits, exactly on the middle of her chest.
I know you can’t diagnose through an email, but I welcome any comments. I just had to treat my dear recently departed Dal 2.5 years ago for cancer on her arm, and I sure don’t want to go through that again anytime soon. But I remember when her lump showed up on her upper arm (a pretty big one, like 2/3 golfball size), it showed up pretty much overnight, and was very very hard.
thanks,
Terri
Dear Dr. Dressler,
My maltese has something in between his ribs. Right in the lower center part of his ribs is a… not a lump but more like a small flat bone ) ) ) , <—- i tried to give an example i don't know if you will be able
= to make it out but if that was his rib cage (looking at it
) ) ) ' from the bottom up) the "equal sign" is what i was concerned about is it part of his bones or is it something i should get checked out? i've felt it and it does not seem to bother him and it does not seem like its growing… also its does not feel hard like a bone its feels more like a cartilage please let me know thank you!
Dear Dr. My 12 year old cocker spaniel has a growth on her upper eye lid. It doesn’t seem to be bothering her. Could you advise what this could be? Thank you for your help.
Vivien