Amber got some food a couple of weeks ago that had her mystery allergan and she broke out with a rash and her ear tips got crusty( typical reaction for her) because of her lyme flare(I suspect) it has not cleared up as quickly as uusual, so I decided to put vit e on her ear tips and wow after two applications in six days her ears are looking fantastic 90% better.
She has also developed a very weird thing, first off I've gone over her tooth to tail, she has NO external parasites. But she has developed (not at the same time) very small bumps maybe bb size that rupture and have a tiny glob of fat tissue come out. The first one was on her back, the tissue appeared slightly reddened, the bext one was on the side, tissue was (I mean fat tissue) normal yellowish color, the next one fat tissue was grayish. They have a strange scab it is pointed like a horn. As soon as they rupture ( I've been watching them closely) there is no swelling, bleeding, they just look like a tiny puncture wound. Looking at the m I don't think they are lipomas... anyone seen anything like this?

Sounds like it could be sebaceous cysts. I've never been overly concerned about them, but watch for secondary infection if they get big.

She may just need to be bathed on a regular basis to get the dirt and oil secretions out of her hair follicles.

Do sebaceous cysts go past the skin level to the adipose (fat) tissue? She's had allergy related sebaceous cysts before but they didn't look like this. I have a skin antibiotic I've been using to prevent that very thing, hopefully.

From Petplace.com-

A sebaceous cyst is a small sac containing an accumulation of secretions produced by the sebaceous glands. Sebaceous cysts are also known as epidermoid cysts, epidermal inclusion cysts, epidermal cysts, and wens.

The sebaceous glands produce an oily substance called sebum, which lubricates the skin. The ducts of the sebaceous glands empty into hair follicles. The development of sebaceous cysts is thought to arise from an obstruction of the follicles, leading to abnormal accumulations of sebum.

Sebaceous cysts are common in dogs. There are no breed, age or sex predilections with respect to formation of the cysts. There is no significant impact on your pet, as these are benign, non-painful growths.

What to Watch For

• Smooth, round firm to fluctuant growths, roughly 5mm to 5cm in diameter. They may have a slightly blue color to them.

• Release of a grayish white or brown discharge with a cheesy consistency.

• Development of cysts on the head, neck, body and upper legs.


The hair follicle is located in the Dermis layer of the skin. Adipose tissue is located in the subcutaneous layer- below the Dermis. Can I ask why you think that adipose tissue is involved? Often the gunk that comes out of a sebaceous cyst can look like fatty tissue...

I guess if it was me, and I thought that adipose tissue was being expressed from a growth, I would take the dog to the vet for a needle aspiration... the only growth that I have experience with that involved adipose was a limpoma.

Good luck!

Kelly, in the bottom line, are you saying lipoma or lymphoma?

Sorry, I always add a second M to Lipoma. Don't know why I do that.... must be Ed's spelling classes...

I say adipose tissue because I've worked in the OR, and in surgeries ( including surgeries to remove large lipomas), the stuff that sticks out of these little areas looks exactly like a fat tissue cell, it is most definitely not a discharge, there is no fluid, blood, pus or any other discharge with it. It is tissue that remains attached. I do not think it is a lipoma because the tissue is not clumped together, nor does it have the appearance of other lipomas I've seen, nor does her skin have a lump, as it would with a typical lipoma. If you ever seen anyone cut deeply and a little fat tissue is sticking out of the wound it looks like that. I guess what I was trying to figure out is if there are any internal parasites that erupt through the skin?

No internal parasites that I am aware of burrow out through the skin. I'm stuck.

Is there a way to get a sterile sample to the vet to look at under a scope?

For me, adipose tissue is deep enough that repeated expression through a growth or opening in the skin would make me take the dog to a vet. I would be concerned about a systemic issue and would want to prevent infection from getting into the sub cue layer (if something's comming out, something may be going in).

Let us know what you end up finding out about it. I'm curious.

I'm not completely following. These are BB size bump, from the first post. Then here you say no lump. Do you mean no lump after the rupture?

What tissue isn't clumped together?

There are a few helpful images if you go to Google, then click on "Images," then type in DOG SEBACEOUS CYST. There are three or four pics of the actual emerged plug (of sebum, a kind of waxy substance).

But also, I'm thinking that your vet may be able to say "sebaceous cyst" just with a look-see.

http://www.highplainsvet.com/ask-the-vet/benign-lumps

http://healthypets.mercola.com/sites/healthypets/archive/2011/08/16/sebaceous-cysts.aspx