To Michelle and John King:
 
>Our little girl (7mo, spayed but not descented) has a bump on one side of
>her anal opening.  We are taking her in to the vet but wondered if anyone
>has had experience with something like this.  I hope it is nothing serious.
 
    It probably isn't.  There are two main possibilities - one is a cyst or
tumor fo the apocrine scent glands - these are usually cysts, occasionally
benign tumos, and very rarely malignancies.  Second - you could have an
inflamed anal sac if she was not descented, or improperly descented.
 
    Your vet should be able to "get to the bottom" of this one.
(I guess I'm drinking too much coffee tonight...bhw)
 
Bruce H. Williams, DVM         Dept. of Veterinary Pathology
Chief Pathologist, AccuPath    Armed Forces Institute of Pathology
[log in to unmask]         Washington, D.C.  20306-6000
                               [log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 1242]