Cyst on back, along spine - Page 1

I found a huge cyst on my boys back about 24 hours ago. Theres some hair missing at the cyst area and it somewhat resembles a huge zit a little bit smaller than golf ball size. This thing is oozing a liquid, which I assume is puss. Is this anything serious? I have recently changed food and the cyst is close to wear I put on frontline, between the shoulder blades. Does anyone have any idea what this could be?

My boy has one too but it's about 1/2 way down his tail....took him to the vet and he said it's like an ingrown hair.....it was HUGE, about the size of a golf ball, but has ruptured and went down alot. He prescribed a topical "Tritop". Vet told me that if it didn't go away completely on it's own in a couple of weeks then he would have to cut it out. I ALWAYS think the worst..and was sooo afraid to hear the 'c' word or 'tumor'. Because it is oozing puss, it sounds alot like what my boy has. But I would still go to your vet to make sure it's nothing more.

My old girl had one under her chin that we had to drain periodically--it would get to the size of a golf ball. Drained kindof a gray, cloudy liqued. When she needed to be knocked out fo another procedure the vet finally just took it out. My current female has one exactly as you described--pretty big, along the spine, thick white stuff when you squeeze. I put antibiotic on it , but obviously will show it to the vet next time I take her.

Thank you so much everyone. I worry so damn much about everything, I feel a little better now. Should I clean it with anything in particular until I can get him to the vet? I used Hydrogen Peroxide this morning and it did seem to get a little smaller. Is Hydrogen Peroxide okay?

Hydrogen peroxide is fine for a topical treatment or for use to induce vomiting during an emergency. I have seen a hot spot on one of my girls in a similar area, and it was swollen just like a cyst. The veterinarian advised me that it was a hot spot, but never convinced me of that. That said, the swelling did appear very quicky. He shaved the area a bit and followed this with a lancing of the spot. Afterwards I kept her on antibiotics for several days as well as a topical application. It never happened again in that area or any other. I am curious; is this the first time that you have used Frontline on your boy? The reason that I ask is that one of my bitches had a large and serious hot spot in exactly the same area where I applied the Frontline just a couple of days before. I nowadays use Revolution on her without any issues. I still use Frontline on al of the other dogs without any issues. This same bitch has a small cyst just to the right of her spine that changes size. You cannot find it unless you feel of her coat, and it has never ruptured and drained. It did disappear completely after she received some strong antibiotics after a c-section, but returned several months later. And it could be as simple as an ingrown hair. I don't worry about it, but I do examine it from time to time. Bob-O

No this is about the 2nd time Ive applied it. However, the first time I put frontline on he went swimming prior to that first 24 hours where its supposed to be absorbed. Ive put other flea and tick meds on his and gots something similiar. The directions for the other stuff was to apply it all the way from the shoulders to the start of the tail. A few days later I noticed sort of the same thing except smaller and many more of them starting from the application point to finish. I cant remember the name of the other stuff but I remember getting it at some non pet specific store such as Wal Mart or Target. Ill try Revolution though and see what happens for next time. Thanks!

Most cysts of the oozing variety are sebaceous cysts... they start out small and grow and get almost a core in them.. you can squeeze and usually get a cottage cheesy like material out of them.... some go away on their own, some need to be removed.. We have a couple dogs that get them Some warm compresses, peroxide will help.... they can be messy....

It also could be a in-grown hair we had a dog several years ago that was prone to them and this sounds much like what he had. We put him on a course of antibodics for a time and one was large like you describe and the vet removed it. Marlene

Not to worry. Several of my older dogs (> 8 yrs.) have had cysts exactly like the ones descrbed here, some slimey, some cottage cheese, usually along their spines. If they burst on their own I just poured hydrogen peroxide in them and kept an eye on them to make sure they drained completely without sealing over early and stayed clean. Only one dog's had to be cut out, halfway down one shoulder, but that one was fiberous and had grown sideways between skin layers, never would have come to a head & dranied. Biopsy was benign. None ever caused any long term problems. Daily flushing with peroxide bleached the hair, but all healed quickly without scarring. U used a restaurant style squeeze-type catsup bottle to flush the wound 2-3 x daily. worked fine. I did wish I had been wearing a dive mask when I palpated the first one! Eeeuw!