Hank has a quarter size lump on his tongue, somewhat hard. No discomfort or pain it seems

Hello If your pet has a soft mass on his tongue, it could possibly be a cyst or some type of cancer. I recommend that you take him to a veterinarian for an exam. They may want to take a sample of the fluid or tissue to send off to a lab to be evaluated. Good luck.

My dog has mouth cancer, she is on medications and pain meds. Her mouth is deforming her teeth are hanging out of her mouth. My vet said when she stops eating is time for her to put her down. How long do they live with this type of mouth cancer? She is 12 years old shih Tzu.

There are different types of oral tumours which grow (and spread) in different ways, this makes it very difficult to make any indication of a life expectancy; also the current progression of the tumour and the effects it currently has on eating and other activities will also play a part in judging life expectancy. I would say that you take each day as it comes, but your Veterinarian would be able to give you a better idea than me. Regards Dr Callum Turner DVM www.acvs.org/small-animal/oral-tumors

I would just like to know if there is anything that would help with the foul breath that accompanies mouth cancer. I have already been to a dental vet, my vet and an emergency vet and just been pushed around. I will be seeing an Oncologist on Thursday.

Unfortunately there isn’t much that can be done, the smell can be bad but may arise due to the cancer itself, secondary infection, poor hygiene around the mass etc… I cannot think of anything which would help you in this situation. Regards Dr Callum Turner DVM

I have a Lab mix he is 9 years old. I noticed a lump on his gums over a year ago and thought maybe his tooth was just infected. It has gotten bigger still the same color though. He doesn't have any of the symptoms that it is cancer. He also has fatty tumors all over his body, could this be a benign tumor? I took him to the vet yesterday and the vet just took a look at it saying it looks like cancer and he wants to do surgery then at the end of the visit he said well this just might be a funny looking abscess.

There are many different tumours or growths that may occur in a dog’s mouth; these may be benign or malignant. Usually they are removed or biopsied prior to removal. Benign growths are removed due to the growth possibly comprising the consumption of food; if it is a “funny looking” abscess, drainage and treatment with antibiotics would be required. The next step would be to confirm the type of mass which would be by fine needle aspirate or biopsy, but usually surgical removal is recommended with Histopathology of the removed mass to confirm the diagnosis. Regards Dr Callum Turner DVM

My dog has a huge mass on the roof of his mouth. It also pushes out the side of his teeth; like meat hanging out. I only found it because he stunk really bad still after being groomed. The vet thought it was gum disease but missed the huge mass. She says it cannot be removed because of where it is. He is 10 years old and he doesn't act sick at all. What I'm reading pretty much says we can spend 12,000 dollars and there is very little chance he will be cured. We don't have 12,000 dollars. We are supposed to go in for a biopsy but I don't know if it's worth it to spend any money. We LOVE him and are DEVISTATED; living in grief everyday. I don't want him to die, but I also don't want to spend a bunch of money to have him die anyway.

Regardless of your decision to operate, it would still be beneficial to determine exactly what type of growth this is and if it is likely to spread. Oral growths can be tricky to treat and due to not being able to take adequate margins or the nature of the growth recurrence is common. Since the growth is so large that it is pushing out from the side of his teeth, it may start to affect his eating habits which can lead to other problems. The $12,000 is an upper ball park figure; I cannot promise you the price as numerous factors determine cost of treatment (type of growth, size, location of growth, level of invasiveness, follow up treatment, your location, your Veterinarian etc…). I would recommend getting the mass biopsied and then discussing treatment options and cost with your Veterinarian to determine the best solution for Kaitos. Regards Dr Callum Turner DVM