Natural Treatments for Dog Skin Tumors

All lumps and lumps on or under a dog's skin are called tumors, but not all of them are necessarily cancerous. Many dogs over the age of five will begin to develop harmless tumors that are filled with fat. They may not need to be removed unless they are in a sensitive area.

  1. Prevention

    • Shading the dog from the sun can help skin tumors not become worse or prevent skin tumors of melanomas from forming in the first place. The Doctors Book of Home Remedies for Dogs and Cats recommends to limit the amount of time dogs stay in direct sunlight, always offer shady spots for them and to use SPF 15 sunscreen on areas that tend to burn easy, such as the ears or nose.

    Immunity

    • Skin tumors often mean that the dog's immune system is working very hard or is not working hard enough. Natural Remedies for Dogs and Cats recommends herbal supplements such as echinacea, astragalus, dandelion and ginseng to help boost a dog's immunity. It also recommends that you first check with your vet before feeding these supplements to your dog.

    Diet

    • It also recommends making sure that your dog is not overweight, as this puts undue stress on the whole body and can make skin tumors harder to detect. If the dog does eventually develop skin cancer, then it is essential that they go on either a homemade diet of human-grade food or a prescription diet available at veterinarians.

    Potential

    • Should the dog have skin cancer, one of the ways modern veterinarian now treat it is through a combination of conventional medicine and acupuncture. Sometimes, animal acupuncture professionals will make house calls. Dogs often fall asleep during treatments. According to R.M. Clemens, DVM, PhD, acupuncture not only helps the dog with stress but helps boost the immune system.

    Warning

    • According to The Doctors Book of Home Remedies for Dogs and Cats, any skin tumor needs to be immediately checked by a veterinarian if it suddenly grows, grows a jagged shape around the edges, begins bleeding or suddenly changes character, as if it moved freely under the skin but now will not move. All of these could be signs that the tumor is cancerous.