PLEASE ADVISE! Worried about my dog's tail...

[hope114]

I have a 12 year old terrier mix in overall very good health. She has had cysts on her body on & off for the majority of her life. We have had a few tested & they have been free of any malignancy. She has a very hard ball/knot on her tail that could be a cyst but it has something growing out of it that looks like cartlidge or some type of calcium deposit. My dog hates when I go anywhere near that spot & she sometimes bites at it but not too often. Once I saw that cartlidge part come out & it left what looked like a crater in her tail. This was not an open wound so I thought it was healing but now it is back & very hard & greyish looking. There seems to be a lot of pressure at that spot. I took her to the vet & had it tested for cancer & was told that they did not see any cancerous cells & that it could be a cyst in an uncomfortable area but I do not understand why something would be growing outward almost like a fingernail. I don't know if I should get a second opinion. She squealed a lot when they poked the area & the vet was unable to drain anything b/c it was too hard. PLEASE HELP! This dog means everything to me!!!!

[blondi815]

Have you or anyone else on here found out what that is? My dog has it too, just noticed it. (PS sorry if this posts twice but it doesn't look like it took the first time)

[pajkam]

I have exact same problem with my 4 yr old dog. Do you have any information what that might be and how to treat it.
Thanks

[bailey200]

Hi!
I know this is a long shot since you posted this back in 2009 but I've recently discovered the EXACT same thing on 2 of my dogs and I came across this post when researching it.
Did you ever find out what these things are???

[ginger899]

I don't pretend to know what this is, but wonder if it could be a Keratin growth. (Keratin is a protein which can be soft, like skin or hair, or soft warts, or can be hard, like nails, claws, hooves, etc) I think keratin growths can be quite tenacious, but ask the vet about it. If by any chance it was caused by a virus (like the papilloma virus can cause warts) there may be an anti-viral treatment to stop it ??