[slwalker]

Hi there. We have a 8 month old female GSD. When we got her back from being spayed, she was calm enough for us to notice two lumps on her head (pictured with her toy carrot post-kindle consumption). There appeared to be a hole with hair in it. As we live near a forest, we assumed they were ticks. So we got her relaxed with a big plate of peanut butter while we tried to get them out. Upon further inspection, these appeared to be a cyst filled with... hair (ew). It's a hard lump with a hole in her skin with hair chutes coming out of it. (there's a picture of that as well).

They don't bother her, she doesn't scratch at them. They are not red, inflamed, or filled with puss. We took her to our vet and he very quickly looked at them, shrugged, and told us to keep an eye on them. Since this is our first GSD, I'm looking for some reassurance as to whether or not this is normal? I know they are prone to cysts.. but... hair cysts?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Dutchy]

Looks like maybe the pup had a wound there and the hair grew into and through the wound maybe? Other than that, I know humans get something called a Pilonidal Cyst (NSFW google) in which ingrown hairs right above the butt crack cause a cyst. These need to be excised or "lanced" by a professional but I think only because of where they are located, they can cause pain and irritation. I think otherwise, they are of no real concern. Kind of silly comparing humans to dogs but that's what I thought of when I saw the picture.


So I would presume this is the same for the pup, they are probably harmless, but that cyst can really only get worse. And that's an area that can be prone to infection. That's never naturally going to go away. So you may want to decide if getting it excised or lanced is appropriate.