In this episode: discover the surprising link between diet and these fatty growths. Dr. Randy shares evidence-based insights on how “inflammatory carbs” and weight gain trigger these tumors, and why calorie restriction isn’t just about weight—it can actually extend your dog’s life by up to two and a half years. Whether you’re dealing with a new lump or looking to prevent future ones, this guide will help you move from fear to proactive care for your pet’s longevity.
- Guest episode
Ep.46 – Is That Lump Cancer? What Every Pet Parent MUST Know
Paws, Reflect & Heal with Dr. Randy
Finding a lump on your dog can be terrifying, but not every bump is a cause for panic. In this video, I break down exactly what you need to know about lipomas—the most common "fatty tumors" found in breeds like Labs and Golden Retrievers. I explain the diagnostic process of a Fine Needle Aspirate (FNA), why I define these as "benign cancers," and the specific "danger zones" under the legs where these growths can actually interfere with your dog's mobility and comfort.
Key Takeaways
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SPEAKER_00:
So we have Debbie from Buffalo, New York. I love these questions from all over the United States. So Debbie has a four-year-old chocolate lab. About three months ago, she noticed a lump on her dog, and the vet said it’s nothing to worry about. It looks like he drew some fluid from it. It was negative, and he told her to just kind of leave it alone. Another similar lump appeared. And they while they don’t seem to be bothering the dog, she just kind of wants to know, well, why are we getting those? And can you offer just any more information or insight?
SPEAKER_01:
Absolutely. So this is a really, really good question because uh lumps and bumps um can be innocuous in our dogs, but can be very, very dangerous also. So what Debbie is alluding to is what the veterinarian did is called an FNA or fine needle aspirate. And that is if we see a lump that we’re concerned about, we can actually block that area a little bit, shave it, clean it, and draw some cells. It wasn’t really just fluid that he was drawing. Uh draw some cells from that area and look under a microscope, or even send it to the diagnostic lab if there’s questionable cells there or a question in our mind when we look at it in office. Uh, the lump that she was probably referring to on that fine needle acid. And I guess. Yes, please. Was it a lipoma? Oh, very good. She’s so smart. This this girl is gonna do it. Giving me too much credit. This girl’s gonna do so well. So a lipoma is a benign, fatty tumor. So I want to mention one thing. People always say, well, it’s not cancer, uh, because they think it’s benign. So let me explain that cancer is an abnormal growth of normal cells.
SPEAKER_00:
Yes.
SPEAKER_01:
Benign or malignant. So they’re always a cancer, but they’re not necessarily a bad cancer or or a malignant cancer, which is the one we were.
SPEAKER_00:
I just learned this in class, and and we were talking about using the word cancer properly, but that can obviously cause a lot of uh of fr of fear because we use that word incorrectly all the time. Absolutely. Um and so I’m glad that you that you touched on that. That’s so exciting.
SPEAKER_01:
Yeah. So um basically uh the cells were withdrawn, they were looked under the microscope, they were fatty in nature, there were no abnormal other cells there. And the veterinarian determined at that point that this is a lipoma, and he or she was absolutely right. Most of the time we leave those alone. Now, the two places that I worry about the most on lipomas is one when they get it underneath the front arms in the what’s called the axilla, or also uh in between the back legs in the what we call the inguinal area because they cause pressure on the leg and they can really be uncomfortable. And we’ve seen them as large sometimes as basketballs, they can get that big.
SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, my dog’s had a couple, um, and unfortunately he has one kind of in that unfortunate area right now.
SPEAKER_01:
So it’s usually a place where I usually recommend considering surgery because uh of its location, not because I’m worried about it being what we call malignancy. So um in in in in the lipoma situation in labs, because it’s not uncommon to see that in labs and golden retrievers, some of it is weight related. So some dogs that are gaining too much weight or growing, you know, gaining too much weight quickly will form these very more or more often. There’s definitely some genetic disposition to getting them. But I tell people again, we’re looking at getting those inflammatory carbs out of the dog’s diet if we can, uh feeding them um consistently where they’re not you know gaining weight. We we body score them in our in our practices one through nine. We like to see them around a five. When a lab starts getting into a six, six and a half, or seven, I get worried because that’s when we can see these coming up. So that’s actually the best preventative you can do from the colour.
SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, which makes sense because if it’s uh essentially a cancer or just an overgrowth of fat cells, you would expect that’s because we’re maybe eating too much, gaining too much weight, gaining too much fat, right? Absolutely. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01:
And we’ve we’ve talked about the dong lot longevity study that showed that dogs that are fed on a what we call a calorie-restricted diet, which means they’re getting what they need but not over what they need, tend to live about two and a half years longer, besides. So there’s really good reason to look at uh at making sure that we don’t let our dogs get overweight, especially our labs and our Goldens who are prone to these lipomas.
SPEAKER_00:
That’s how I would say that’s most of the dogs that I’ve seen the lipomas on.
SPEAKER_01:
Exactly. Exactly.
SPEAKER_00:
Well, thank you, Debbie, so much for your question. Uh, we love getting your guys’ questions. If you guys have any more, please feel free to add them onto uh the Instagram, the YouTube channel, or even the website, which are all at Dr. Randy PetFit. Um and thank you guys so much.
SPEAKER_01:
Yep. And you can reach uh Olivia also at at Dr. Satchi, right? Perfect.
SPEAKER_00:
Well, at Dr. Satchi on Instagram. Yeah, S-A-C-C-I for my last name. It’s perfect. Kind of like Versace, Italian.
SPEAKER_01:
I love that. That’s so cute. Well, thanks for joining us. Uh, we’ll bring you another question coming up down the road, uh, and talk to you soon.
