Is it a tick, or a skin tag?
Written by LyricMom
My Black Lab has had a thing near her eye for about a month now. At first, I was pretty sure it was a skin tag, so I left it alone. I'm unsure of what it might be now...it might be my imagination, but it seems to have gotten slightly bigger...and slightly darker.
It started out almost skin-colored, which is why I thought it wqas likely a skin tag. I don't want to pull at it, because if it IS just a skin tag, that will hurt my dog...especially, being as it is about 2 inches from her eye.
Is there a safe, non-painful to my dog way, to determine if it is a tick...or a skin tag...and, if it is a tick...a non-painful way to safely removeit?
Please help!!
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LyricMom, if your dog has been sporting the growth for a month now, chances are it is a skin tag. A tick would have fallen off after feeding for that long. The skin tag you are describing is usually a benign growth that is more of an annoyance than a medical concern. There is blood supply to those as a rule which is why you should not try to remove it on your own.
A problem can arise if the growth begins to irritate your dog and your dog rubs her face trying to get it off and does damage to her eye, like a scratch or the growth comes off and bleeds more than you can stop on your own. Occasionally they will grow to a size that gets in the way of daily activity. If you are concerned that it is still growing, you should have it checked out by your vet. They may be able to remove it with a local anesthetic and an electric cautery or cry freeze procedure.
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