survey on cyst - Page 1

I would like ask what you feed your dogs and if you have seen any sebasious cyst. I'm wondering if it food related.

I have but one (1) bitch with one (1) small cyst on the right-hand side of her thorasic spine. She is four-and-one-half (4 1/2) years old, and has had this for more than three (3) years. It remains the size of a pea, does not rupture and does not weep. She, as are all of my other dogs, are fed Royal Canin Maxi GSD 24. I don't any allergy issues with my dogs and this food. I realize this is not much help, but it is all that I can provide. Bob-O

Sorry - jittery fingers ! To Bob-O.... I have seen so much great information coming from you an a variety of matters, that I wonder if you would be able to expound on this "cyst" topic. I have a dog - a beautiful young male that I would love to show, but his look is spoiled by two such cysts on his head. They do erupt, but they dont go down. I have taken him for specialist advice, and they were aspirated and nothing sinister was found. I treat them topically when they erupt and clean them right away, and he has had one course of antibiotic treatment - but I dont care to keep repeating them. They have been there since I bought him, some some 10 months now. The dermatological surgeon says that he COULD remove them, but he would shave the whole head for safety from infection - this is fair enough, but he then followed with .. "The hair sometimes grows back a different colour" !! that made me think a while, but the problem isnt going away, and my main concern is that I put the dog through total lumpectomy and they grow again if just sebaceous cysts. I know this is a question for the vet - but hey - its your own fault for giving such sound advice on here so regularly. Regards Mo - Mascani

Mo, you are welcome for the information. These cysts are normally not removed unless they pose a problem. In your case where they are on the head, I agree that they can mar the appearance of the dog. Plus, he can scrath them and cause more problems. If the dog is shaved for surgery, then the hair will grow back just fine with its original colour. The only time that it looks strange is when a sable dog has lost a patch of hair, but even that corrects itself in less than one (1) year. It is my experience that the only time that the hair will return as a different colour is if the dog's face is injured in the area under the eyes. I have three (3) dogs who have recieved minor abrasions or bites on their faces in this area, and a few hairs in those areas have a "whitish" tint. I don't know what causes that, but I suppose that the hair follicles in this area could perhaps be weaker as far as their pigment function is concerned. I would say that if the veterinarian is very careful then he should be able to remove the cysts with a minimum amount of scarring. I have treated some nasty cuts and scrapes on my dogs' faces without any visible scarring or hair pigment changes. Most of the time I just used a common triple antibiotic salve that kept the flesh soft while it healed. I have one (1) show male who had his right ear ripped apart crossways more than 1", and save for a tiny "notch" at the forward edge of his ear, and he has no visible scarring or hair pigment changes. And, this was done without any shaving, believe it or not. And that was not at my insistence. While I understand removing a small amount of hair in the areas of interest; I don't know why your veterinarian wants to shave much of the dog's head. Comfort level, I presume. Good Luck, Bob-O

I agree entirely with Bob-O. These are not diet related, although some dogs fed high fat seem to get more of them. Royal Canin Maxi GSD24 is a great food and I feed it to my entire kennel. The cysts can be removed safely, if necessary and without shaving a lot of hair. Before doing that, next time try sedating the dog a little and if the vet can get some iodine in there to swab around, that might help shrink it. Sometimes it does not help and again, unless it really causes problems, I would leave it alone. Another suggestion is to minimize them by expressing and then treating with antibiotic topically and do a show. If the cyst can be cleaned out well and the dog given a good course of antibiotics, it is possible that it might get much better. There is nothing wrong with judicious use of appropriate antibiotics. Judges will note it perhaps, but they are not looking specifically to see if the dog has some minor cosmetic blemish. For example, I have had a dog with a small, but visible hematoma on the back be noted by the judge. It did not effect the overall critique or rating.

I am thinking that exact thing Hodie. That too much fat in the diet creates them. But could it be genetically predisposed? I suppose evrything is genetic!

I had 2 Czech dogs that had 1 each on the back. Fed them Iams. I have 9 German imports same food no Cyst. So would not figure it was the food. Mike

I just was curious. I wonder if those who do a raw diet ever had them show up.

They are present on many GSDs, regardless of diet.

A sebasious cyst is really kind of like a giant black head or pimple, it is a stopped up oil gland, if you will. You can squeeze them some times, but they are encapsulated and will return unless they are removed. I had a male with one on his foot and it just kept coming back and getting bigger, really was ugly, so I had it removed. Had another bitch that got one that would come back about 2 times a year, just squeezed it like a pimple (was REALLY gross!), but it was gone for a little bit. Vickie