My 4 year old female has a spot on her stomach that concerns me seeing how I haven't seen it before. Is this something I should that should be looked at by my vet, or could it be a bug bite? Any advice is greatly appreciated.
That looks kind of nasty. I would definitely suspect a bite of some sort, perhaps a tick or spider. I also live in the US and know how many creepy critters you have in Texas, lol. Did you pull any ticks off of your dog recently? Is there any sort of foul smell or drainage coming from the site? Has your dog been biting or licking the area? I would definitely get your vet's opinion on the matter at the very least. If you don't want to go to into the clinic, call and ask if you can email pictures to the vet; my vet encourages this to avoid unnecessary visits and answer questions.
Thank you for your feedback! Unfortunately, there wasn't a tick or any signs of one. No drainage, foul smell or licking. I even looked for fleas. I checked my other two labs and I didn't see any spots like this one. The spot may look raised in the picture, but it is actually flat. Almost like a slightly raised mole or freckle. I sent some pictures to a few friends that work for rescue groups I am affiliated with and also to several vets. I hope I hear back in the morning. She doesn't seems bothered by the spot when I touch it. She does have a mass on her leg. She's had it for about 2 years now. We had a biopsy done and the results were good. The mass wasn't cancer but would need to keep an eye on it. The vet didn't seem too concerned about it. I thought it could possibly be ringworm. But after some research, I found that the chances are slim.
It looks like a spot a tick WAS. Maybe it fell off and you didn't notice? I have only pulled a few ticks off Oban but the spots looked like that as they healed over, with the black being scab.
UPDATE - took my dog, Farrah, to the vet today. The vet did a full exam and everything sounded great. She then looked at her stomach and felt the spot on her stomach. She said it is definitely a mass. She then did a cytology test to see if the cells were cancerous. She stated that the test did not show any cancerous cells and may be benign. She then stated we could wait until her next checkup, which is in February, to have them cut it off and send it off for a biopsy. She said that if it is the type of mass she thinks it is, it is common a common thing with Labradors. She said we will need to watch it and feel it often to make sure it hasn't hardened or grown any. She also stated that the other spot that is on her thigh needs to be watched also. She said it's still soft and fatty which is a great thing. That spot hasn't grown much over the years. Maybe a little. I feel a bit more relieved knowing it probably isn't a big deal, although any mass could be dangerous. ☺️
So glad you got it checked out, and some good advice what to look for. Big relief it doesn't sound like it will cause problems.
