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Experienced and professional animal trainer provide their insights in answering this question :
A. Ai believe you are miissing a word in your question. What is it exactly that looks as if it being blown up like a balloon? Please contact us again and clarify your question.

How to Identify Common Pet Problems ?

Our sources include academic articles, blog posts, and personal essays from experienced pet care professionals :

There are several reasons why your dog may develop bumps and lumps. It can be a benign growth, skin infection, allergic reaction, or something more serious like cancerous tumors. Consult with your vet to get an official diagnosis and treatment plan.
A hygroma is a fluid-filled swelling surrounded by a thick capsule of fibrous tissue that develops under the skin. Hygromas are typically not painful.
Pilomatricomas are rare skin tumors that develop from the hair matrix, where the cells which grow the hair follicles develop and are contained. Pilomatricomas are small and are often found on the trunk of middle-aged dogs. Hair follicle tumors should be immediately evaluated by a veterinarian.
Because they come from pigmented cells, melanomas tend to be a brown or black tumor on your dog`s paw that has a raised or domed appearance. However, there are a few cases where there is no obvious coloring (i.e. amelanotic melanomas). Or, sometimes the tumor may be flat and have indistinct margins.
Lumps and bumps are not uncommon in dogs, and they can pop up seemingly overnight. Any new lump on your dog should always be checked out by a veterinarian to make sure it isn`t something dangerous like an abscess (a pocket of infection under the skin), or even cancer.
While some may be present for many months without growing much, others can appear suddenly and grow very quickly. Sometimes they can suddenly grow quickly after months of no change. They may appear to fluctuate in size, getting larger or smaller even daily.
A blister is a raised part of the skin that fills with clear fluid. Blisters usually develop to protect injured skin and help it heal. Blisters have several potential causes, including skin friction, viral infections, and exposure to certain chemicals.
Common Skin Cancers in Dogs

These tumors appear as raised wart-like patches or lumps that are firm to the touch and are typically found on the dog`s head, abdomen, lower legs, and rear.

One of the best ways to identify a potentially cancerous lump is to evaluate how that tumor feels when touched. Compared to the soft, fatty characteristics of a lipoma, a cancerous lump will be harder and firm to the touch, appearing as a hard immovable lump on your dog.
Black Spots and Hyperpigmentation

This might become most noticeable on dogs with lighter coat colors than on darker-coated dogs. These spots can come from aging, intense friction in one area, or even sun exposure. For the most part, hyperpigmentation could be harmless.

Melanoma occurs more frequently in dogs with dark pigmented skin. Cutaneous melanoma tumors are usually solitary and appear as small brown/black masses. They can also appear as large, flat, or wrinkled tumors.
Can lipomas in dogs grow fast? Lipomas are traditionally slow-growing tumors. If you find a mass that seems to have appeared overnight, it is unlikely to be a lipoma.
They rarely cause discomfort unless they are large.” They rarely cause discomfort unless they are large. Ulceration and bleeding are rare but large lipomas may necrose (die), causing yellow discoloration of the fat with, in the case of very large ones, toxic effects to make the animal unwell.
Sometimes lumps can appear on dogs overnight — if they don`t seem to bother your pet, you can monitor the growth at home until your next vet visit. But, if your dog starts licking or scratching the bump, or it changes in appearance, contact your vet as soon as possible.
Bumps that are cancerous are typically large, hard, painless to the touch and appear spontaneously. The mass will grow in size steadily over the weeks and months. Cancerous lumps that can be felt from the outside of your body can appear in the breast, testicle, or neck, but also in the arms and legs.
Check if it`s a skin cyst

are round lumps just underneath the skin. often contain fluid or pus. sometimes have a small, dark spot in the middle. grow slowly and vary in size from smaller than a pea to several centimetres across.

Common reasons for an unexplained lump or swelling

A painful lump or swelling that appears suddenly over a day or two may be caused by an injury or infection. It`s likely to be an infection if the skin around the lump is red and warm. Your GP can advise you about how to care for this.

In contrast to liquid tumors, as cells expand, they create a “lump” known as a solid tumor, which often does not include pockets of fluid, pus, air, or other substances. Solid tumors can be non-cancerous, pre-cancerous, or cancerous.
In many cases, lumps go away without treatment. It`s not always possible to tell exactly what causes a lump. If you notice a lump under your skin, keep an eye on it. In general soft, movable lumps are harmless and will likely improve with time.
No treatment is necessary for simple breast cysts — those that are fluid filled and don`t cause any symptoms — that are confirmed on breast ultrasound or after a fine-needle aspiration. Many cysts will disappear with no treatment.
Cyst maybe caused by genetics, inflammation, infection or other issues. They are usually benign but may need treatment if complications arise. A cyst is a sac-like pocket of membranous tissue that contains fluid, air, or other substances. Cysts can grow almost anywhere in your body or under your skin.
Papillomas, also known as dog warts, are small growths caused by a viral infection that grows outwards and have a lumpy surface, often resembling small cauliflowers. They typically appear as a cluster of multiple growths, although single growths are possible.
Dog Cyst vs Tumor: How Do I Tell The Difference? Cysts are fluid-filled sacs under the skin that are usually easy to move around, while tumors are typically more solid. A cyst also may drain a white, yellow, or green discharge.
It depends on how aggressive or advanced the particular cancer is. By the time it`s detected, some dogs will live weeks to months, while others will live for years. Lymphoma patients, for instance, can live several years.

Relevant Questions and Answers :

the most relevant questions and answers related to your specific issue

Q. Beagle/Golden mix. Her looks as if it is being blown up like a balloon. It start really small, didn’t think much of it. Now it’s the size of 2 grapes
ANSWER : A. Ai believe you are miissing a word in your question. What is it exactly that looks as if it being blown up like a balloon? Please contact us again and clarify your question.

Q. Rescued a dog almost two weeks ago, and now that her kennel cough is gone her personality shines!! No previous training, how should I start?
ANSWER : A. POST FOUR:

After your dog is familiar with the behavior you lured from scratch, and taught to your dog, you can start to use the “no-reward marker” I talked about. What you do is ask the dog to perform the behavior, and if the dog does not perform the behavior, you simply say your no-reward marker (choose one: eh-eh, hey, uh-oh, oops) show them the treat, put it behind your back, and BRIEFLY ignore your dog. Just turn your back for a second or two, before turning back to your dog and saying, “let’s try that again.” When you’re ready to start over with your dog, make sure you move around. If you are repeating the same cue while in the same position, while your dog is in the same position, you are likely to receive the same results. The more you move around, and start fresh, the better your chances are of having your dog listen to your cue the second time around. BIG rewards when they dog it successfully! Lots of praise and treats.

My no-reward marker is “hey.” When my dog does something wrong I say, “hey” and she immediately understands that she needs to offer a different behavior. This is clear to her. I don’t have to say it in a mean way, I simply say, “hey” in a normal tone of voice and she understands what the word means.

Once you’ve built up that connection and communication with your new dog, you can work on all kinds of fun behaviors! I personally enjoy the more zen-like behaviors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruy9UMcuGh8

I like to teach my dog fun tricks that offer her a “job” to do of sorts like object retrieval: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4iertZSva8

(object retrieval training completed; what it looks like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx0Dml28FGY)

Scent-games are fun too! Very confidence building. Hide a REALLY smelly treat in a box, and place that box in a line of boxes. Let your dog go in the room while saying something like “search!” or “find it!” and watch them hunt for that smelly treat! Lots of rewards when they find it!

Q. Why does my English bulldog have re occurring urinary tract infection since she’s a 8 weeks and she’s 9 months now? And now they say she may have ki
ANSWER : A. As I’m sure your vet has told you it’s pretty unusual for a dog to have had multiple UTI’s starting at 8 weeks of age. I think it’s likely that she has a congential problem, which means something didn’t develop correctly inside or outside her body and it’s making her prone to the UTI’s.

There are a few bladder abnormalities that can contribute to UTIs, including urachal diverticulum (a little pouch or out-cropping of the bladder) and ectopic ureters (the ureters do not enter the bladder at the appropriate spot). On the outside, she could have a redundant vulvar fold, which is predisposing her to trapping fecal matter at her vulva, and the bacteria is ascending up to her bladder and causing recurrent UTIs.

The other possibility of that she got a UTI initially and it was never treated appropriately, i.e. The appropriate antibiotic wasn’t used and it never really resolved, but it seems like it’s coming back. I think this is less likely, as it’s really uncommon to begin with to see UTI’s in dogs this young. I also once saw a 4 month old dog with bladder cancer, but that’s incredibly rare and I think highly unlikely in your dog.

Your question got cut off at the end but it sounded like you were about to say that she may have kidney problems. If that’s right clearly this is becoming a serious problem for her.

Your dog needs a competent vet to work up this problem. It’s likely that she’s going to need some advanced imaging, including possibly an x-ray procedure called a cystogram and possibly an ultrasound. You might consider taking her to a veterinary internal medicine specialist at this point, if one is available in your area.

Q. MY Shih Tzu IS 14 YEARS OLD. SHE WILL NOT LIFT HER HEAD UP EVEN WHEN YOU ASK HER IF SHE WANTS A TREAT. NORMALLY WHEN YOU SAY TREAT SHE COMES RUNNING .
ANSWER : A. From what you’re describing I think 2 things are likely. Either your dog has pain in her neck, which is causing her to not want to move her head, or she’s feeling generalized weakness.

Neck pain in small dogs is usually due to disk problems. They get a form of disk disease known as Hansen’s type II chronic disease, where the disk gradually moves upward and presses slowly on the spinal cord, causing pain and weakness.

Generalized weakness can be due to a number of conditions, starting with just not feeling well due to a GI problem (nausea, for example) to something like anemia (low red blood cell count) or heart disease. It sounds very much like your girl isn’t feeling well, and likely need some diagnostics in order to figure out what’s going on. You vet will start with a physical examination and rule out possible neck pain, and then will likely recommend blood work or other tests. If you want to talk to us further we can probably provide more information on a consult, where we can get more details about exactly what’s going on.

Q. 5 Yr old female cat change in behavior last 2 mos: hides, sleeps all the time, meows when touched, decrease appetite; last 1-2 wks wobbley.
ANSWER : A. While I think neurologic disease is certainly a concern based on what you’re describing, and should be ruled out with a good neuro exam (full examination of spinal reflexes and cranial nerves), a cat that sleeps all the time and is wobbly could have many things going on. What you’re describing sounds like generalized weakness to me, and that could be caused by heart disease, liver disease, kidney disease, anemia (lots of causes to this) or metabolic/hormonal conditions like diabetes. Often cats “look” neurologic when in fact they’re just really weak.

However, as far as specific neurologic conditions that might cause what you’re seeing, chronic ear infections or a polyp in the inner or middle ear can affect the vestibular nerve and affect balance, some drugs if used long term (metronidazole) can cause it as well. Other things include intervertebral disk disease (slipped disk), cancer in the spinal cord, thiamine deficiency (not a problem if your cat eats a commercially-prepared diet) and feline infectious peritonitis.

Unfortunately the only way to start figuring out what’s going on is likely with lab work (complete blood count, chemistry panel, and urinalysis) and x-rays for starters (likely of the spine). And as I said above a good neuro exam is critical to starting to figure out whether it’s a neuro problem or not. Your vet will possibly recommend other tests based on the initial results. If you’d like to consult further about exactly what’s going on with your cat select the “consult” button.

Q. Shiba Inu. He periodically shakes and trembles, usually unrpovoked and seeming for no reason. Usually cuddling helps but not always. Becomes reclusive
ANSWER : A. I do find that Shiba Inu’s are a really sensitive breed. I think the first thing to rule out is pain. That could be pain from a muscle injury or even gastrointestinal pain. Try to pinpoint whether it occurs after a meal or not. He might be painful due to something going on in his GI tract, and the pain is at its worse after he eats.

I’ve also seen a lot of small breeds like Shibas get back pain, and shaking can definitely accompany that as well. If you haven’t see your vet who can perform a good physical exam and look for any signs of muscular pain along the spine or elsewhere. It’s not a bad idea at this point to consider doing some blood work just to screen for any problems that could be affecting organ function, for example.

If he’s healthy otherwise, I think it’s likely that there’s something that’s scaring him at home. These things can be really difficult to identify, and you have to be really aware and note exactly when the shaking occurs, how long it lasts, etc, and look for patterns. Dogs can hear things we can’t, and he may be hearing things you’re missing, and the noise is disturbing to him. Cuddling is a good idea, also working to distract him and desensitize him with toys and treats might help. But like I said above – definitely rule out pain first.

Q. 2 month old Bulldog. While playing gets TOO rough:gripping hand REALLY tight/growling/shaking to the point of drawing blood. Aggresive?Normal?HELP!!
ANSWER : A. For the most part, this sounds pretty normal to me. English Bulldogs can be like this. What you can do is teach him bite inhibition. He needs to know that biting gets him nothing. Each and every time he nips, even gently, you immediately yelp like a puppy would, stand up, cross your arms, and ignore your puppy. Once he is ignoring you, go back to calmly playing with him WITH A TOY. Remember to always use a toy when playing with/petting/interacting with puppies. They will be teething very soon, and they don’t understand that biting you is inappropriate, so using a toy to redirect their attention is important. He needs SOMETHING to bite, or else he will choose your hand. Give him more options.

Another thing you can do is have a toy that YOU OWN. This can be a soft braided rope toy or something of the like. Dot not allow your dog to have this toy whenever he wants. This toy disappears when you are done playing with him with it, and reappears when you want to play. Never allow him to “win” games with this toy. Eventually, the toy will hold so much meaning, when he sees it, he will be instantly interested in the toy instead of your hands.

It also helps to have two bags of toys. Bag#1 is full of chew toys/rope toys/soft toys/etc. It comes out for one week, and then disappears and out comes Bag#2. Bag#2 has the same types of toys in it. This will keep the toys feeling like “new” to your pup and make him less likely to chew on you during play!

Q. My maltece are chocolate what do I do
ANSWER : A. This all depends on how much and what kind of chocolate. A small piece of a snickers bar is probably no big deal, but something like bakers chocolate is a different story. Malteses are pretty small dogs so it wouldnt take much for your dog to be in trouble. You should take your dog to the vet where depending on how long ago the chocolate was consumed they can do things to help minimize the effects. Bloodwork will most likely be done to try and determine the extent of the damage. Fluid fherapy alomg with certain drugs can help your dog avoid long term damage. If recently consumed they may even induce vomiting. Like i said, rich chocolate can be very toxic, and it wouldnt take much for a small dog. Good luck