Hi, um i have a problem.
I was just petting my dog and she let out a yelp when i tried to rub her tummy with my foot. when i tried again, i noticed a large hard lump just below her rib cage on the right side that kind of protrudes. I'm freaking out here because it's night time and we can't take her to a vet until morning. My sisters and i are somewhat panicking because we love this dog like a child. We rub her tummy a lot and it does not seem as though she could have had this lump for very long so it seems to have just developed over a day or two at the most. if anyone could help out about what it is it could be and what we should perhaps do to ease any pain she is experiencing until morning it'd be great.

place a warm wash cloth on her tummy.....and just keep luvin' her...get her to a vet as soon as you can tomorrow....

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Is she fixed?
How old is she?
Is it more by the nipple or right side of rib cage?

is the lump hard or soft
small or large?

yes she'd been fixed less than a year ago, she's about 11 years old and no we dont have a pool table or any small balls like that around the house.

just below the rib cage on the right side. i guess it's near her nipples...

its a hard lump

my sister says she seems to have a fever as well... *sigh*

Does there appear to be a wound? As if it got a cut and its infected? The warm cloth seems like a good idea. I am not 100% sure, you might want to google it, but I think that you can give a dog either aspirin or tynenol.

I'm not a vet but have owned several dogs....is she showing any aggressive behavior when you touch her ?

Acetaminophen is a medication commonly used to alleviate fever and pain. Common brands include Tylenol®, Percoset®, aspirin free Excedrin® and various sinus, cold and flu medications. Dogs most commonly receive toxic amounts of acetaminophen because owners medicate them without consulting a veterinarian. They also consume tablets that are dropped on the floor or left lying around.

Dogs are less sensitive to acetaminophen than cats. For example, a 50 pound dog would need to ingest over seven 500 mg tablets in order to suffer toxic effects. In the cat, one 250 mg acetaminophen tablet could be fatal.

In addition to severe liver failure, acetaminophen causes damage to red blood cells.

Based on reactions in our canine patients, this is the ranking I would give these medications: safest = acetaminophen (Tylenol tm), also safe = aspirin, less safe = ibuprofen (Advil tm, Motrin Rx). However, this is the ranking that I would give them based on the reports in the literature and factoring in the likelihood of a bad reaction causing death: safest = aspirin, also safe but less so = acetaminophen and less safe = ibuprofen.

The reason for these rankings include these things. Aspirin is reasonably likely to cause gastric ulcers, which can be life threatening if ignored but which respond to withdrawal of the medication. Acetaminophen doesn't seem to cause ulcers but there are uncommon reactions to it in which liver failure occurs and this may not respond to therapy, so death is a possibility. Ibuprofen is very likely to cause ulcers, with 100% of dogs developing ulcers with the use of ibuprofen in at least one study. On the other hand, lots of my clients come in and tell me "I gave my dog an ibuprofen last night" and I have only had to treat one or two cases of ulcers and I can't recall a dog dying from this medication, yet.

My personal preference for pain and fever in dogs is aspirin but we do warn our clients to discontinue the medication if the dog stops eating and to call us or come in for a recheck if that happens.

is the area red or hot to touch?
Normal temp for a dog is 101 to 102.

I feel for you, my poor dog has been sick all week; I started to get worried and brought her into the vet today. Wouldn't you know, as soon as we get home (didn't even have the chance to give her any medication) she starts acting like her old self again.

Could have saved myself $75 and just walked her through the lobby.

Hang in there until the morning and keep us posted.

I would take a guess but it sounds like a possible blocked milk duct or hernia,ingested object
possible insect bite (tick)
I would try a cold compress and get her into the vet tommorrow
if she has trouble breathing or stops moving around then take her into an emergency vet clinic

thanks for the responses guys.

she's acting a lot more subdued and passive than normal.... i just fed her and she's eating but not as eagerly as she usually does.i googled the problem already but nothing seems to match what is going on here... i don't even want to touch the lump (and no it's not a wound) or even look at it because it freaks me out and i'm scared of hurting her. we'll just have to wait until morning.

thanks again.

An abscess? Maybe? If it just showed up and she's eating, I'm thinking she'll be fine, but in discomfort, till morning. Any off-hours emergency vets in your area? We're lucky enough to have 3 in this area. A bit pricey, but I've been grateful to them the few times I've needed their services.

i asked about getting her to a vet now and my older sister wasn't at all hopeful one would be available at this time of night, so i think not.

i'm hoping she'll make it through the next 7 hours...

maybe it's something harmless... i'm the kind of dog owner who freaks out at the slightest possible discomfort she ever experiences so maybe i'm just blowing this out of proportion...

i'll let you guys know. i'm going to bed now

good night

in case anyone was wondering... she was taken to the vet this morning and it turns out she has a breast tumour. surgery will be done on monday to see if its dangerous.

A mammary tumor was the first thing I guessed. That was the same thing that killed my cat.