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I have a 10 year old Dane that has an exposed tumor on the back of his neck.  It sounds gross but it kind of looks like a brain and it is about 4 in by 4 in.  We have been to our local vet to try and freeze it off with no success.  It actually just got bigger and started to bleed more.  now we have a daily ritual of taking him into the shower to rinse off the blood and pus and then we wrap it up with a gauze sponge and then wrap it again with a flexible bandage wrap.  We apply triple antibiotic ointment to the gauzes pad.  And we have trimmed all the hair around the area to prevent it from getting messy.  according to our vet surgery is not an option because his liver counts are too low and they don’t believe he will make it through surgery.  We have tried other products like Wonder dust which is a grey powder for horse or cows.  That just gets messy.  We have also used liquid bandages and similar products to try and keep it from bleeding but they end up just adding to the mess.  The tumor itself is not anything to worry about according to our vet.  the tumor itself looks to be kind of moving in a direction, almost like it might fall off, and new scar tissue does appear to be showing up on the opposite direction so it is almost like it is trying to heal.  It is just not moving very fast.  Our Dane shows all kinds of excitement for life and is still very rambunctious and runs around and loves to play.  so it seems like he still has a lot of time to give and be around.  really at this point in time we are just looking for other options, solutions, potential ideas to help aid in the quality of life for our dog.  it is a daily routine that takes up quite a bit of time and you can tell he doesn’t enjoy the process.  Also by the time we get to it the next day the smell is pretty bad and it can be hard to live with.  Especially since we let the dogs sleep inside the house at night.  So any ideas thoughts considerations are greatly appreciated!  I can supply more information if needed.

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The treatment recommendation for this would depend largely on what sort of tumor it is.  For more information about tumors, I recommend looking at this article here:  https://www.vetbabble.com/dogs/questions-dogs/lumps-and-bumps-when-to-worry/

As the article mentions, a fine needle aspirate could be performed to confirm what sort of tumor it is.

If it is a benign growth, such as a sebaceous cyst, I would recommend reading more about them here:

http://www.pethealthnetwork.com/dog-health/dog-diseases-conditions-a-z/sebaceous-cysts-cats-or-dogs

As the article mentions, bathing too often can sometimes exacerbate the problem.  With sebaceous cysts, there are some medications that you can get from your vet which might help with the problem.   At-home therapies commonly provided involve using warm compresses with a washcloth and a disinfectant can be of help.   However, it is important to first understand what sort of tumor it is and to check with the veterinarian you have been working before trying any therapies on your own to avoid causing complications.

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