my boxer (roxy) is 10 yrs old  & she has a lump at one of her teats about the size of a ten pence piece .last year i asked my vet about it & he said it was  just a fatty lump (but it was only pea sized then,& he said i didn't have anything to worry about) but since then it has grown, she has also had a phatom preg  (which i asked about  on here) & she has got over,& a blood blister on her ear(which vet siringed/ drained on 15 may 04.) i feel that everything is happening to my old girl at once, what should i do about the lump? i am in two minds , do i get a biopciy & risk it spreading, or do i keep monoriting it to see if it gets any bigger or what, to be perfectly honest with you i am s******g myself incase its bad news .i'd be lost without my girl. 
please help thanks

please someon help me!!!!

Hi Caramac, the lump you speak of as a 'fatty lump' is a lypoma or fatty tissue usually benign. It is usually found in older dogs and causes few problems except when it grows too large. My dog has some and although the vet keeps an eye on them we have  'left well alone'  The 'blood blister' may have been a haematoma, it occurs in ears when the blood from an injury (often caused by scratching ) seeps between the layers of skin and gets trapped then has to be drained off. I had two dogs with that close together,both had grass seeds in their ears. They had their ears drained but both had an ear that shriveled up like a dried leaf :-(
In the case of your dog who has from the sound of it not been spayed, I would be more cautious as to the lump, it may well be a lypoma but could be other things. My moto is always..if in doubt check it out..so I would speak to vet if you are worried. Hope your dog is ok :-)

hi reddoor thanks for replying,your right rox hasn't been dressed  because at one point i did think about  letting her have a litter but i decided against it ,i did ask my vet if i should get her dressed but he said that she was in good health so he wouldn't bother, i just feel that i don't really know what to do ,but if someone was to ask me ,i would say that a 10yr old boxer shouldn't be put under anesthetic but it's different when it's your own i think, i know what i should do but i'm a bit of a coward, i mean she's my waine.anyway i will let you know what my vet says , keep your fingers crossed for Rox ,thanx

If it was my dog, and my vet agreed, I would have her spayed and the lump biopsied at the same time. It is my experience that you can't be too careful with lumps on a Boxer, and I do feel that the stress of false pregnancies is unfair on an aging dog.

General anaesthetics are much safer these days. My last boxer bitch had a GA at the age of 13 and was fine. Her heart was tested first of course and I made sure that Acepromazine was not used.

Hope all goes well for your girl.

Hi SB I agree with you since having Dixie spayed and her lumps removed it was the best thing I could have had done for her as our vet said her uterus was in a bad way and if she had had another season I could have lost her and she is only just 5 years old.Dixies lumps turned out to be nothing major but you have to be so careful with any lumps, same as in the human world.

Jane..

caramac, :-) I know how worried you must be about your much loved Rox and you will have read what SB and I have said. SB mentions the false pregnancy...I will add... a further false pregnancy could result in pyometra a serious womb infection. It is not for me to tell you to have your dog spayed only you can decide that, after talking to the vet you should find it easier to weigh up all the factors and decide the best thing to do for Rox..:-)  I will wait to hear how you got on with the vet...so yes fingers crossed RD

hi i just want to let you know that Rox is having the lump removed thurs 29 july so i will let u know how it goes thanx

Fingers & paws crossed here for her

Hope all goes well.

Good luck.....hope it all goes well :)

hi got Roxy home ,shes alittle worst for wear , i take her back to the vet on saturday so hopefully i will find out then what kind of lump it was.what a worry it is ?she can't make up stairs to bed tonight, so me & my wee boy are sleeping in the living room with her tonight.i will keep you posted on Roxys recovery. thanx to everybody for their advise & concern.

hi there just had my Boxers results for exactly the same op and it was fine so fingers crossed it goes well for you too

hi i've got wait till the 9th aug  to find out the details of the lump .rox went to the vets today but it was just a loccom that we saw,& she didn't have all the details , so it's fingers & toes & everything else crossed that it's not bad news.do you know its only 2 days since op (& the wound is about 6"long) & she is ready for a carry on, its kind ofa hard tryin to keep her calm( but i am) i will let you know how we get on . i'm glad your results are okay!!!!!