If you are a worry-wort dog owner like me, I feel your pain if your pup has ever been afflicted by a mysterious lump or bump. But again, unfortunately, I have to wait for a few weeks, monitoring the lump, in order to be completely sure that this diagnosed histiocytoma isn’t actually a more aggressive and malignant type of growth. Unfortunately, my boxer has a tumorous lump on his chin. Most commonly histiocytomas are found in young dogs and appear as a small, solitary, hairless lump… They are most commonly found on the head, neck, ears, and limbs, and are usually less than 2.5 cm in diameter. Boxers are ALSO prone to this type of tumor, especially young and otherwise healthy individuals. Unlike the aggressive and malignant growth of mast cells, a histiocytoma is a growth of a different type of immune cell in the monocyte/macrophage line originating in bone marrow, the histiocyte.
She said that, given the fact that Mojo is a young dog (only 2 years old) she was diagnosing the lump as histiocytoma, but that I should watch for it to grow, as that could be an indication of mast cell tumor.Ī histiocytoma is a benign tumor, and often regresses without treatment in a few weeks to a month or so. The methylene blue stain, for example, intensely stains the granules in mast cells that contain histamine, a chemical involved in immune responses and allergies (which, interestingly, boxers are also prone to).Īfter a few minutes of peering at cells from Mojo’s lump under the microscope, the vet returned to the room to inform me that she hadn’t seen any clear indication of intense staining, and therefore could not diagnose a mast cell tumor at that time. The vet was likely referring to Wright’s Stain or a variant thereof, a technique used to differentiate between particular cell types under a light microscope based on a colored stain. “Mast cells will stain bright purple in a cytology test.” “Mast cells have a very definitive appearance,” the vet said. The vet proceeds to stick a fine needle into the lump under Mojo’s chin, in order to confirm whether the lump is some type of infection or abnormal cell growth.
Boxer dog black lump skin#
As it happens, mast cell tumors are the most common form of malignant skin cancer in dogs, and some breeds, including boxers, are predisposed to developing these tumors. I’m trying to keep my spirits up, but this isn’t exactly good news. “It’s good practice to investigate any bump or lump that shows up on a boxer.” “If you weren’t already aware, boxers are prone to a cancerous growth known as a mast cell tumor,” the vet said almost immediately after a brief examination of Mojo. I waited rather excruciatingly until Monday morning to visit a veterinarian clinic in Durham NC (unfortunately I wasn’t at home with my familiar vet in Baton Rouge, LA). Through multiple forums, social media advice and (most probably under-credible) pet wellness sites, I came to the conclusion that Mojo had either an abscess, a benign histiocytoma, or an (unspoken) cancerous growth. Of course, this being Saturday evening, and non-emergency vet clinics closed until Monday morning, I did what I think most other bloggers and internet junkies would do – I rushed online. The lump was very hard, about the size of a pea, raised above the skin and red in appearance. As I woke up from a late Saturday afternoon nap and made my groggy way to the living room, my boxer Mojo greeted me as usual, with big slobbery kisses and those uncontrollably happy contortions that boxers are famous for.īut as I scratched behind Mojo’s ears and under his chin, I felt a strange hard lump right under his jawline, under his oversized boxer lips.
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