Please help! Strange growths on both dogs

[ericamichele]

Hello, I'm generally more of a browser than a poster on this site-mainly because there's already so much great information on here!-but after tons of fruitless searching I'm hoping someone out there can help me. Here goes-
About six months ago, Willie Nelson got a new boxer sister named Lucy. Having been a stray, we are not sure of her age but guess her to be about 2. She is sweet as can be and gets on famously with Willie.
I found a lump right below her neck just this past Tuesday. It was small, kind of floppy and looked to my inexperienced eye to be a skin tag. Planned to mention it at her upcoming appointment. Today I checked on it again and it is not so much a lump anymore as a...protrusion. It is sort of a gray-ish flesh color, about half an inch long and wiggly. It doesn't seem to bother her until I get to messing with it.
Now today I found a similar bump on Willie's abdomen, which I am certain is new. Since his is in a less hair-covered area, I can see it more clearly and describe it better. It's the same color as Lucy's, but looks almost like a horn or toenail type of deal the way points out. It looks to be coming out of flesh and has a few scratches around it. His also seems more sensitive. They are sort of squishy to the touch, not solid, and moveable. They almost look like big ol' bloated ticks.
I don't think this is related but ought to mention-Lucy finished a round of antibiotics recently for hair loss that the vet diagnosed as a staph infection, though they didn't really help and is scheduled to go back in a few weeks.
The closest thing I've found in my searching is Cuterebriasis grubs, though it seems to be the wrong time of year for this. I'm definitely going to call the vet but was wondering if anyone has any ideas in the mean time??? I'm sick with worry, not to mention completely grossed out at the idea of worms coming out of my dogs' skin! Thanks in advance for any help!!

 

[Sansal]

From what you describe it could be a canine papilloma. It is caused by a virus, usually harmless and can spread from dog to dog. I would definitely mention it to the vet, just to make sure it isn't something more serious.

 

[mileswilson]

I just posted something similar to this. My dog had a bump and it felt like he had water in it or something. I was so scared. Took him to the vet for a routine visit and mentioned it to him.. well it was his glads that accumulate.. ( not sure if that is how he explained it to me) but he aspirated it with a needle to see what color it was going to come out. It was clear... so no worries and he did not even charge me... It was just like sweat glad accumulation. It went right away and he said that every few months it will come back again and not to worry it can get aspirated out. Hope this helps. Hope your pup is good. Let me know.

 

[Cami]

Since both dogs have something similar I'd suspect a virus as well however there are growths called "cutaneous horns". When you described it as a horn that came to mind.
Here are two pictures of an unknown non-cancerous growth that my girl had once. Was checked out by an oncologist and eventually just fell off.
The first picture it is hard to notice. Don't look at the inner part of the leg where you can see small red pimple like bumps. Those are from a staph infection. The growth is black and in the middle of the picture.

Another shot...it started out all black and then started to turn pink before falling off.

 

[ericamichele]

Thanks to everyone for the speedy and reassuring replies! Sansal-Papilloma came up often in my research and it makes sense being a virus, since both dogs have it. Mileswilson-I am so glad to hear that everything was just fine with your boy, I now know how nerve-wracking it is when something is wrong. Cami-thanks for the pictures of your girl's benign growths. They actually look pretty similar, other than that Willie's and Lucy's are gray rather than black or pink.
It's a new story today. While I was at school this morning, my better half reported that Lucy was getting into things while he was working outside. Now when we just fed the dogs dinner, Lucy didn't finish hers, which is very unlike her-she normally eats like a refugee! She just let Willie have it, then came in and peed on the floor right in front of me! Another first! Noticing her odd behavior, I went to check her lump, praying it hadn't grown teeth and eyeballs or something horrible overnight, and it's...gone!! There is a brownish, kinda crusty spot where it was, and seems a little tender, but no scab or anything. I remember my boyfriend having a wart on his wrist that we froze, and it eventually fell off. Does that happen with canine warts, without treatment? This new development has really thrown me, and I am now scouring the floor looking for the nasty old thing so I can cut it open and see what was inside. Thanks again for all the help, and if this new info brings anything else to anyone's mind, I would be glad to hear it!!

 

[Sansal]

Yep, Sky had a papilloma (or at least that's what I think what it was), she had it for about a week or so and then suddenly it was gone and there was a little scab where it used to be. It never came back.

 

[ericamichele]

Total moron

Am I ever embarrassed!! I found Lucy's mystery lump on the ground, and guess what-it was moving! I said in my original post that they looked like big old bloated ticks, and indeed they were. With the freezing temperatures, snow, and sleet we've had around here all week, I'd totally forgotten that we took the dogs on a long hike last weekend, and they must have picked them up then. Growing up in the country, I've been dealing with ticks all my life, but always deer ticks and not the common dog ticks, which is what these are. We safely removed Willie's tick, and have neosporin on both holes. Kept one of them in a bag, in case either dog starts showing signs of any illness. So I guess Lucy's rotten behavior this morning was just that, rotten behavior, and I have been flipping myself out over nothing. Thanks again for all the help, and sorry for being such a doofus!

 

[Sansal]

At least you have your answer!
I don't think you need to keep the tick. Maybe just take a picture of it. But I would definitely closely watch for any symptoms of tick disease.
Here is a good list to refer to:
http://www.mirage-samoyeds.com/tick.htm

I'm sure they will be fine

 

[Gatorblu]

You should keep the tick! It can be tested for disease if your dog has any strange symptoms. Not only can ticks carry Lyme disease, but Rocky Mountain Spotted fever and a few others. I learned this when living in VA when I had to keep and tick for a couple of weeks (Lone Star tick) because they are known carriers of Rocky Mountain Spotted fever. The incubation for that disease was a couple of days to a couple of weeks. You can probably look up what is common in your are for each type tick, and keep it that long and learn what symptoms to look out for. After you safely remove a tick, kill it with alcohol and keep it in a plastic bag. Some say keep it a few weeks others a of couple of months. Some diseases can take weeks or months to show any symptoms. So I would hold on to it. If your dog becomes ill and you aren't sure why, then they can look for a tick borne illness.

 

[hurleygirl]

So glad it was ticks. As you know boxers will develop all kinds of lumps and bumps. The vast majority are nothing...but always wise to check it out with your vet. Like I've said before, our Hurley had so many false alarms, but the one we didn't even notice turned out to be lymphoma. I'd say a big red flag would be change in appetite, weight loss, change in behavior or bowel/urine habits.