OP here - one last thing - he has no lameness - does not seem to bother him at all.

Usually the aspirated fluid is examined under a microscope, cells are checked for abnormalities.

Sounds like it could be a sebaceous cyst or a benign lipoma. However it sould be checked for malignancy by a vet.

I would never be comfortable aspirating anything on my own. Infection or complications could arise if its done incorrectly.

Thanks joe - good idea - i'll give him some antibiotics just to be sure.

I'll refresh the thread and let ya'll know what the vet says. I'll google seb. cyst and benign lipoma and see what they say.

thanks again

I wouldn't give antibiotics because you can't tell it's infected without looking at the fluid under a microscope. There's no need to give antibiotics if there is no infection, and besides which ones would you give without knowing what bacteria you are trying to kill?

Have a vet do the aspirate and look at the fluid under the micsoscope. Mast cell tumors can look like anything and you'll never know without the scope. Clear fluid is not a sebaceous cyst- that looks like toothpaste crud. It could be a lipoma, but again you can tell under the scope.

Don´t give any antibiotics.

The lump is located where ?
Is it well defined with clearly marked clear edges ?
Is it loose or attached to the underlying tissue ?
The fluid has a high degree of viscosity ?
Did it appear in a very short period of time ?

Fluid filed lumps are the common consequence in places where the area has being traumatized, the trauma separates the tissue layers which creates a dead ( empty ) space, the way the body fills that dead space is with fluid ( trasudate commonly named serum ), the fluid is used first to fill the empty space, then it´s slowly absorbed as the fibroblasts create a fibrin clot, fibrin acts like a rope pulling the tissue layers and binding them together, this process may take several weeks until the area heals.

Common places where these fluid filled lumps appear are on top of bony structures that can be easily traumatized like the elbows, the front part of the paws, the hocks and on the back above the spiny apofisis of the vertebrae, on top of the head ( interparietal crest ). In those cases it´s recomended to aspirate all the fluid until the lump is empty and then applying a pressure bandage to maintain the tissue layers in closer contact to shorten the healing process where this is possible, in other cases surgical excision and suter are needed to maintain the tissue together with stitches.

Also an histopathological study of the content is necessary to eliminate the possibility of a tumor.

The antibiotics are for the potential infection from the aspiration itself - not the lump. I'm sure that the lump is not infected - it's something else.

But vets don't find out every type of bacteria they're dealing with - they give "broad spectrum" antibiotics first and those usually work. I've never had a wound become infected and I usually give tetracycline (an old-fashioned antibiotic). I have 16 dogs and they do get in fights so I rarely take a dog to the vet for a wound. People who fight dogs for sport don't use vets. They take care of their own wounds - even though the average person is offended by that - it's true. Good evidence of the felony of dog fighting is having antibiotics on hand.

Don't you think that vets lose sight of the common mans' ability to handle medical conditions? It's the difference between how livestock and pet dogs are handled. It's the culture of pet ownership. For example, aren't cattle castrated without anesthetic? Is that because they have less nerve endings than dogs or because we wouldn't want to do that to our sweet little puppy dogs?

How often would a vet tell a patient to "take some antibiotics, keep the wound clean and it will heal?" No, they'll spend your $200 and suture it up. After having many dogs, I've learned that wounds heal - just need to prevent infection. I think that vets are somehow taught to be so safety-conscious that we laypeople have to educate ourselves on basic health care. I use vets a lot though - but I also can avoid them too. I live near Mexico and antibiotics and prednisone are otc there - what does that tell you about American medicine?

I'm a different type of dog owner than most people on this forum - I know that. One of my dogs dislodged his entire top canine tooth (one of them) and it was just hanging there by a piece of flesh. I brought her home, gave her a muscle relaxant and severed the flesh - . No way I'm going to spend money on that small procedure.

hope i haven't alienated too many,
vicky

Wow, Vicky, what an interesting post. You haven't alienated me, I just found it fascinating - a different viewpoint from most, for sure.

"How often would a vet tell a patient to 'take some antibiotics, keep the wound clean and it will heal?'" That's exactly what my vet, to whom I and my whole family have been taking our dogs and cats for years, has always done, and that's why we like him. We laugh about how he seldom really "treats" anything, but he's always right and they always get well. Years of experience and a lot of common sense. I'm worried that he's about to retire, though. That would be a great loss for us and our animals.

There is no reason to give antibiotics to prevent an infection from doing an aspiration as long as you used a sterile needle and cleaned the area first. I've never seen an aspirate become infected- ever. And I'm sure you've done all the research and did it properly. I have no doubt. That's why I don't think you'd need Abx. Most wounds heal fine without ever getting Abx- just keep them clean and let the immune system do the rest. I'm not big on throwing Abx at everything, in case you noticed :)

My biggest concern is that there is a malignancy in the lump and you will never see it without looking under a scope. Mast cell tumors are notorious for this. They think it's fun to look and feel like a fluid filled cyst or a lipoma and the only way you'd know to remove the lump is to look at the aspirate under the scope for mast cells.

If you're concerned enough about the lump to aspirate it, you ought to at least find out what you are dealing with. No use sticking needles in things without getting a diagnosis IMHO. And trust me, I LOVE sticking needles in things. My classmates laugh at me all the time. Something's wrong- stick a needle in it LOL!

I had a sharpei cross for years. He was the only dog that I had that I had to have "warts" and other growth taken off of. Sharpeis seem to get these type of skin conditions. He had a large bump on his head. It did give out a clear liquid, but my vet did remove it.
He was such a homely guy, but he (our dog Zeke) and the whole family thought that he was "beautiful"!
I agree that its right to get a diagnosis before messing too much with a lump like that.

MonaRae