sebaceous cysts dilemma (dogs)

hey there! i would like a little input from people with pets my seven-year-old golden retriever/best friend has had half a dozen small cysts under her skin for about a year and a half. as soon as we noticed them, and didn't know what they were, she was taken to the vet and we were told that they were harmless, and probably wouldn't get too much bigger, but would never go away, and it was a cosmetic issue whether or not we wanted to get them removed.

we decided not to put her through the stress and the (minor) risk of general anesthesia for something so cosmetic, and because they weren't growing, it wasn't a big deal.

then i started taking her to work (on a 15 acre ranch with lots of other dogs and room to run) with me, and swimming at the lake. she is in excellent health and a very happy dog, but with all the excersize latey, three of her cysts have more than doubled in size suddenly. i took her to the vet again today, and he told me that they would continue to get bigger and bigger, and never go away. still, it was purely cosmetic, and they would not hurt her unless they got big enough that she chewed them for some reason. he had no opinion either way on whether or not i should have them removed.

it's not a big deal, really, she would go in in the morning, and come home that evening, etc.

i am leaning towards getting these lumps removed, as one of them is about the size of a golf ball and right on her back. even if it is only cosmetic, it's bothersome, as i just saw one of the ranch dogs put down from a big (benign) tumor that he chewed at so much that it got infected, absessed, and then burst open etc. even though it's a pretty different situation, it's bothersome to have golf-ball sized (and growing indef.) lumps all over my puppy... then again, it's bothering ME, not HER.. and she's totally healthy and happy.

what would YOU do?

 

my dog has quite a few "lumps". All hard, some big, some tiny. The vet told us that they were "fatty tissue deposits" and that they were harmless and just to keep an eye on them. As long as they don't seem to be bothering her he said that they do not need to be removed. I personally am not going to remove them as my dog is a senior now and I don't want to put her "under" for something that is not necessary. She has had them for a while though but since they never seemed to bother her (i don't even think she is all that aware of them) then we have just kept an eye on her. I would maybe get a second vet's opinion if I were you. That is what I did just to be sure. Not all vet's know what they are talking about.

 

i really want to get another vet to look at her, just to make sure, because those few practically doubled in size over a couple days. i asked the large animal vet that comes out to take care of the horses, and she said the same thing; that they are harmless, but may get bigger, etc. i'll probably take her in to another clinic on monday thanks!