Fat in a dog
Many owners believe that a wen in a dog can only cause aesthetic harm, so you should not worry. Is it so?

Why does a dog have a wen

Not a single dog is immune from these unpleasant appearance of rounded bumps on the body. However, it is generally accepted that if they cause any harm, then only in appearance, especially if the dog is smooth-haired. Or, on the contrary, having seen or felt a bulge where it should not be, dog owners immediately begin to panic, mentally making terrible diagnoses to their four-legged friend.

Wen or lipomas are pathological growths of adipose and connective tissue. Most often, a wen in dogs is formed under the skin (1) in the back, sides or chest, but it happens that a lipoma also occurs inside the body, because adipose tissue is also deposited around the internal organs, protecting them from damage.

As with all other neoplasms, today science cannot say exactly why a wen appears in dogs, but there is a connection between metabolic disorders, as well as clogging of the sebaceous glands. Often wen occur in overweight dogs. Thus, we can say that one of the reasons is improper feeding of dogs: an excess of fatty foods in their diet with limited mobility. Also at risk are animals with a genetic predisposition to the appearance of neoplasms. Most lipomas occur in older animals and very rarely under the age of 5 years.

In the initial stages, the wen is small (about the size of a hazelnut), it resembles a small cone with clear outlines, but as the lipoma grows, it “blurs”, loses its clear outline and becomes softer. Such a neoplasm is called spilled.

Usually a wen does not cause any noticeable inconvenience to the dog, at least until it has reached a gigantic size – in this case, the bulge can make it difficult to move, lie down or sit. Also, the dog touches various objects with a protruding bump, or injures it with its claws when it itches.

In itself, the presence of a wen in a dog is not dangerous to health and life, but it should not be confused with a malignant formation similar to it – liposarcoma. By the way, it is sarcomas that predominate among oncological diseases in dogs (2). In addition, if there are a lot of wen, this signals the propensity of the animal’s body to neoplasms, which means that the owner should closely monitor the health of his pet.

Treatment of lipoma in a dog

And is it necessary to treat a wen in dogs at all if it does not pose a health hazard and does not interfere with its owner in any way? Any veterinarian will answer: no doubt it is necessary to treat. Firstly, a bump on a dog’s body always looks unpleasant and ugly. Secondly, lipomas tend to grow, and if they are not removed at the initial stage, when this operation can still be quite easy and less traumatic for the dog, they can reach gigantic proportions. There are cases when in small dogs the wen grew the size of themselves. Of course, with such a load, it is difficult for a dog to move around, and simply to exist. And most importantly, no one is immune from the fact that the bump that appears is precisely a lipoma, and not a malignant neoplasm.

But often the owners turn to veterinarians only when the dog’s wen has reached a large size. This is especially true for shaggy dogs, in which it is not so easy to find a lump under a long thick coat.

So how to treat a wen in a dog?

Diagnostics

In order to properly treat a wen in a dog, you need to make sure that it is really a lipoma, and not a malignant tumor. And the owner of this, no doubt, will not be able to do this on his own. Therefore, without delay, show the dog to the veterinarian.

The first stage of the examination is a visual examination and palpation of the neoplasm, on the basis of which the veterinarian makes a preliminary diagnosis. Further, in order to confirm or refute the initial conclusions, a biopsy of the tissue filling the bump is taken. But this method does not give one hundred percent accuracy, therefore, ultrasound, X-ray or CT is also prescribed for safety. Such studies help, firstly, to determine the structure of the wen, and secondly, to make sure that there are no such formations on the internal organs of the animal. The final stage of diagnosis is the histological examination of the already removed lipoma.

Modern treatments

Treatment of a wen in a dog is most often done with the help of surgery. Although there are cases when wen, being at the initial stage of formation, passed by themselves, as soon as the owner changed the diet and lifestyle of his pet.

But still, surgical removal is more often prescribed. If the neoplasm is small, the operation is easy, and after a week the dog no longer remembers that it was subjected to any treatment. But large wen, which have already managed to “blur”, are much more difficult to remove – you have to capture nearby tissues. The most difficult is the removal of lipomas located inside the body of the animal – in this case, an abdominal operation is performed.

Prevention of a wen in a dog at home

Unfortunately, many people forget the common truth that the disease is easier to prevent than to cure. Of course, heredity also strongly influences the appearance of wen, but an important factor is the lifestyle of the animal.

As mentioned above, you should not overfeed the dog – its nutrition must be balanced, because distortions in the direction of any one product (for example, meat or flour) lead to a violation of the body’s metabolic processes. Also, such failures can be caused by stress, a sudden change in climate or diet.

And most importantly, if you do find a bump on your dog’s body, don’t put off going to the vet.

Popular questions and answers

We talked about warts in dogs veterinarian Reshat Kurtmalaev.

Can a wen develop into a malignant tumor?

A wen or lipoma has a twin brother called liposarcoma. However, the lipoma does not degenerate into it, the liposarcoma grows completely independently – it cannot degenerate into one another, because their tissues are different.

Another thing is that in the diagnosis it is necessary to distinguish one from the other. It even happens that a malignant nodule can hide inside a benign neoplasm.

Can a wen resolve on its own?

If a lump is found, it is better to contact the veterinarian while it is small. Because, if suddenly it turns out to be malignant, you should not wait until it grows. And malignant tumors grow very quickly.

Is it true that obesity can cause the formation of a wen?

Yes, obesity, as well as a sedentary lifestyle, can provoke the formation of a wen. In particular, after castration and sterilization, dogs become less active. Although, of course, it all depends on the breed – for example, Jack Russells remain very mobile even after castration.

Is there any breed predisposition to the formation of wen?

There are breeds that don’t move much: English Bulldogs, Pugs, Labradors because they tend to be overweight and love to eat. They are more prone to the formation of wen.

Another question regarding the operation to remove the wen, we addressed the veterinarian, surgeon, traumatologist-orthopedist Alexander Alekseenkov.

Do I need to remove the wen?

A lipoma or lipoma is a benign formation of adipose tissue. Not treated conservatively. Needs surgical excision. It can be in one pore for a long time, but then give out a sharp growth. It does not develop into malignant formations and, as a rule, the animal does not bother. Surgically, it is possible to remove the wen even under local anesthesia, if the animal is calm.

Sources of

  1. Mitrokhina N.V. Clinical and morphological characteristics of mesenchymal sarcomas in small domestic animals // VetPharma, 2016 https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/kliniko-morfologicheskaya-harakteristika-mezenhimalnyh-sarkom-u-melkih-domashnih-zhivotnyh
  2. Khankhasykov S.P., Kosinskaya V.O., Tikhenko A.S. Oncological diseases of dogs in the ecological conditions of Ulan-Ude. N. E. Bauman, 2015 https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/onkologicheskie-zabolevaniya-sobak-v-ekologicheskih-usloviyah-g-ulan-ude

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