Mark on skin

[JudyN]

I spotted this mark on Jasper's belly today. It's ringing alarm bells and I'm certainly not going to rely on 'diagnosis by forum' but I wondered if anyone had seen anything similar? (If you're thinking 'Eek, melanoma' but don't want to worry me, don't worry... because that's what I'm already thinking!)

It's flush with the skin, as if it's simple pigmentation, but there is that little dot on the upper right.

 

[JoanneF]

It could just be a big freckle. The hair is quite thin there so his skin is probably more exposed than on other parts of his body. But on the other hand, his tummy would normally be protected from sun damage by just being underneath. Like they say for humans, if it's asymmetrical, irregular at the border, unevenly coloured, changing or growing, raised, scaly or weeping then it needs attention. I think that looks fairly regular at the edges and isn't raised/scaly/weeping. There is a slightly darker point that you have noticed yourself. So hopefully nothing serious but obviously worth getting checked.

 

[Mad Murphy]

Oscar had a similar looking mark on his leg but it was raised , irregular and started to grow.
Turned out there was a mass under the skin caused by an air gun pellet that had become encapsulated..

Benny was spotty and as he got older he got more of them, vet said it was like liver spots on old people.!

 

[JudyN]

Thanks @JoanneF and @Mad Murphy. He sunbathes lying on his side so the sun could well be a factor.

It does look similar to a mole OH had on his chest years ago. The doctor kept telling him it was nothing, he kept worrying about it and fretting over whether it had got bigger, and in the end the doctor removed it - I suspect just to shut him up

 

[Janer]

What part of his belly is it on? Spike has similar. Is the darker spot where his nipple type thing is?

In the winter his belly is a pinky colour but it goes darker as it gets warmer. They look darker on his nipples. As far as I know it’s just normal, he’s been back and fore the vets and they have never commented on them.

 

[JudyN]

Sort of midriff, but further up his side than his nipples - this is an uncropped photo which gives a better idea (he's on his side, you can just see his boy bits bottom right). I'll have a look later to make sure the dot definitely isn't a nipple though - they don't seem to line up very neatly on him!

 

[merlina]

Whatever it is you'll feel better once it's been looked at. Good luck with it.

 

[JudyN]

Oops, just realised I didn't post the less cropped photo - my brain is all over the place at present

I'll see if I can get the vet to have a look tomorrow.

 

[Jack-Russell-Lover]

In the winter his belly is a pinky colour but it goes darker as it gets warmer. They look darker on his nipples. As far as I know it’s just normal, he’s been back and fore the vets and they have never commented on them.

Roxy is exactly the same Janer, sometimes her belly is just pink but others it’s covered with these dark spots like she’s part Dalmatian (I’ll try to find a pic)! To me that’s what it looks like @JudyN, but obviously good to check with the vet if it’s a new thing for him

 

[JudyN]

I've sent some photos to the vet - J is such a pain about being examined, and when he's standing the mark is harder to see, so the vet may prefer it that way His skin tends to go generally darker in the sun, rather than patchy.

 

[JudyN]

I've had a reply - he's a little evasive, but he has to ocver himself if it did turn out to be something nasty...

In general with these lesions, the worrying signs discernible on a photograph are any swelling/standing proud of skin surface, ulceration, inflammation, infection.
These do not appear to be present.
Other signs would only be apparent when physical examination is possible.

I'm choosing to read that as 'There's nothing worrying there, and if there was, I'd have to have a good prod and poke, which won't be easy with Jasper. But on the face of it, there's no need to prod and poke.'

I'm going to keep a very close eye on it, and make an appointment if it changes. Otherwise, I'm not going to worry

 

[Janer]

The part that sticks out for me is ‘these do not appear to be present’, so yes just keep an eye on it xxx

 

[Jack-Russell-Lover]

Sounds good to me, just something to keep an eye on

 

[Jack-Russell-Lover]

It’s interesting that you can send your vet pictures to look at. I would never think to do this.
Is it just because Jasper is a chicken?

 

[JudyN]

Is it just because Jasper is a chicken?

Nah, one of its ancestors - a tyrannosaurus rex!

I didn't actually ask if I could send photos in advance, but I've been using this vet since... hold on, I need to do some sums... around 25 years? So we've built up a relationship. I actually sent it to the general practice email address asking if it would be possible for him to have a look, adding that I would of course come in if needed - so they could of course have replied that it wasn't possible and I had to come in.