Our dog had a large sore on his tummy that we had to have excised, it ended up being a granuloma and not cancer. He is fine now and I watch him closely for new spots.

Does Molly seem excessively itchy? We had to go to a grain free diet and use GNC itch relief shampoo now to cut down on his itchiness which seems to have led to the licking. Baxter is a mostly white pit bull and has very sensitive skin.

Our sheltie had what the vet called a "lick granuloma," which may be the same thing Molly has. It's been years ago, so all I really remember is that he wore a cone for a while to stop the licking.

If Molly has to wear a cone, you can look for the softer ones or inflatable if they might work. They are more comfortable. Not sure if a dog can sleep with the inflatables. Keep us posted, jwood.

Molly!! Get better soon!

P.S. Post a pic on the pet photo thread if you can.

I've recently read of applying original Lysterine to the sore. But please read up on it and check with your vet if you think you might try it.

I heard from the Vet the lab work came back. Luckily Molly does NOT have cancer. But she does have both staph and strep bacteria in the wound. So she'll be on antibiotics for a few weeks, then back to the Vet for more tests.

A Siamese that I had for too short of a time, started licking her chest. She actually wore a hole through her skin. She had breast cancer. She had 2 sets of kittens and was older when I got her fixed. Apparently they're prone to breast cancer when not spayed as a kitten. I was given her as the previous owner didn't want her. She was amazing, and I sure miss her.

My dog has had all kinds of lick sores/spots/hair loss, etc. She is now 8 years old, and we FINALLY have it under control. Here are my tips:

1) Make sure your dog does not have fleas/be sure the flea medication works. One of the worst bouts we had was b/c the vet did not check her for fleas (just gave her a steroid shot and cleaned it and gave us meds), and the (cheap) drops she was on did not work. Needless to say, I was angry and changed vets.

2) Look at changing foods as food allergies and skin allergies often come together. Grain free helped my dog a lot. The best one she is on is the one now, though, is this one: Purina One Sensitive. She has had WAY less issues on this one than she ever has. Obviously, different ones work for different dogs.

3) Fish oil is a HUGE help. You can use human fish oil. I use the Costco brand. She is 75 lbs and gets 2 daily. I can tell a difference if she does not get it.

4) She gets daily Benadryl, too. I hate doing it, but it helps her a lot.

5) Shampoo is very important. Frequent baths during bad times will do more good than harm. This shampoo has been a miracle-worker (from my new vet)! Unfortunately, it seems to no longer be available. It looks like the same manufacturer may have alternatives, though. Allergroom

Anyway, these are the things that helped me with my dog. It is a lot of info, but I hope to save you some years. I wish I had known all this 5+ years ago. :)