Ruptured Cyst

[Dee]

My 9 y.o. GSD, Sally, has a few fatty cysts and we were told not to worry about them, that it's common in older dogs. Yesterday morning when I got up the cyst on her tail was ruptured and had a large, very hard mass underneath the rupture. I used warm compresses soaked in epsom salt on her till we got her to the vet this morning. She's now on antibiotics for 2 weeks and the vet recommends removing the cyst as he said it may become infected again. This isn't the first cyst that has broken open, but the others didn't get infected and just needed to be cleaned up. Has anyone else had the dogs whose cysts got infected? Did you have them removed? If you didn't, did they ever get infected again?

I normally wouldn't worry about just doing it, but hate to put Sally under the stress of anesthesia and also the stress of being away from us as she has SEVERE separation anxiety. After many years of working with her she now manages well at home but I just don't want to put her through the stress of being away if it's not necessary. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

[Judi W]

My old girl had one. Showed up when she was about 10 so we really only had 2 (2 years between) episodes. Vet wanted to excise it - I did not and simply applied hot packs and then after about 3 days of the hot packing, squirted some hemorrhoid ointment in. This shrinks swollen tissue, has a bit of topical anesthetic and antibiotic. The hot packs were what did it though. And yes, they can almost always clear up infections.

[Dee]

Thank you so much Judi! I'll make sure I have what's needed here in case it ever happens again.

[C Ross]

My old lab had a massive cyst that broke open a couple of times. The last time it broke it was a large gaping wound. We had the vet remove it and close the skin. While Baloo was under, he had a couple nasty skin tags removed. I think he came home the same day.

With other cysts and other old dogs, we've kept the cyst clean and maybe had a round of antibiotics. If it looks like the skin will close up without surgery or suturing I would follow Judi W's advice.

Christine