Is it ever right to leave a lump unchecked?

Nearly 2 weeks ago i noticed my 14 month old Golden Retriever had a lump across his back. Its about 2 inches long and 1 inch wide,and goes over the spine just behind his shoulders. I first thought it was an injury due to having a bundle in the snow with my other dog, but it hasn't reduced in size and is very hard. You can move it back and forth but cant get your fingers underneath it. It doesn't seem to bother him, he has no reaction when you touch it.

He is not actually my dog, he belongs to a charity, and will be going back to them in mid January. I have asked if i can take him to the vets, but was told to leave it, unless i could do a 70 mile round trip today to see their own vet, which i cannot do today.

If he were mine i would take him to my vet today, as the
lump has had enough time to reduce if it were a simple bruise.

So is it ever right to leave a lump, for what will be nearly a month by the time he is evaluated by the charitys vet? I feel uncomfortable about it!!

I agree with you, I would feel uncomfortable not having it checked too. Can you insist on taking him to your own vet?

Hi Kathy I think it is always wise to check out mysterious lumps.
You say...
...is there a cost implication here, will they have to pay more to use a vet other than their own ?

I would get it checked out too, especially with it being the size that you say.

Just a thought... Could it be where he had his jabs? Don't know if jabs would cause such a thing, but it sounds quite local to where jabs are given.

personally i would get it checked asap.

I think its very irresponsible of the charity to leave it for over a month, especially as its been there a few weeks already therefore ruling out a simple bruise etc.

i would take him to the vet and just tell them you didnt want to wait just in case.

I would take him asap as well. It is extremely irresponsible of the charity to say to leave it.

Personally I would just take him to my own vet and explain to the charity afterwards that you didn't want to wait, in case it was something that required immediate treatment.

NO.
I think the vet needs to be seen, but then you knew I'd say that!!!

This is the classic place to find a lump related to either an injection site or a microchip site. So I would not be panicking. I would monitor the lump and if it suddenly started to get bigger I would take the dog to my own vet and worry about the charity later. If it remained the same, I would take the dog to the charity's vet in a couple of weeks time.

It could be that the lump has been there all along and you have only just noticed it.

My Flash has had a lump like this for about 6 years now (he is nearly 11 now), and I just monitor it. There have been no changes and neither I nor my vet are worried about it.

We hope that all is well.

Thalice's Mum

There's always a cost implication! Even if i take him to my vets I wont be allowed to accept any treatment until it is cleared by the powers that be

It's rather further along his back than where they have jabs etc

err, yes i did !!

It's not quite where they do jabs etc, also he hasnt had any jabs recently. The lump appeared overnight, which is why i thought it was an injury. He has a full daily check over, including eyes, ears, teeth, paws body etc, as part of his daily routine as required by the charity, so I dont think it it has been there all along. Still nothings impossible i suppose!

I'm not panicking about it, I just feel that if it were a bruise its had enough time to reduce, and therefore feel it should be checked out, as it would be if he were my own.

I would take him too and sort out the consequences later.