Best Dog Food For Lipomas: Diets To Help Lessen Skin Lumps

Did your senior or overweight dog suddenly grow soft skin lumps on her body? Sure, it looks worrying. The good news is that most of these lumps, called lipomas or fatty tumors, are not cancerous or painful. Still, every new lump should be checked by your vet, because a lipoma cannot be told apart from a cancer by touch alone.

Learn about lipomas in dogs in this article, which tackles the characteristics, possible causes, and prevention or reduction measures of these ugly-looking fatty masses in your furry friends.

Also, this article includes the latest review of the best dog food for lipomas and ways to help alleviate and prevent it in your dog. More than just to fill a dog’s empty stomach, the right diet is vital to canine health.

What are Lipomas in Dogs?

A dog’s lipoma or fatty tumor is a common benign mass composed of fat cells that grow under the skin anywhere in the body, but more prominently in the belly and chest areas.

Most dogs with canine lipomas are in the middle age or older groups. A large UK study of 384,284 dogs seen by vets (VetCompass, published in 2018) found that about 2 in every 100 dogs were diagnosed with a lipoma in one year.

The same study found the odds were much higher in older dogs, and also higher in neutered dogs and in dogs heavier than the average for their breed. Dobermans, Weimaraners, Labradors and Springer Spaniels had the highest odds.

Among the breeds most prone to a dog’s lipoma are the Labrador Retrievers, Doberman Pinschers, and Weimaraners. However, all dog breeds or mixed-breeds may experience lipoma growth. It’s just easier to recognize it in short-coated pooches.

Typically, most canines start growing one or two of these benign tumors, but other dogs immediately grow several lipomas earlier on.

The exact cause of lipomas is still unknown. Age, extra body weight, breed (genetics) and neutering all seem to play a part. There is no good evidence that toxins from food, water or the environment cause them.

Most lipomas grow slowly and stay soft and movable under the skin. A less common type, the infiltrative lipoma, grows into muscle, feels firmer and is harder to remove completely.

Although commonly harmless, pet parents are urged to have the vet examine their dog’s lipoma. A test known as needle aspirate can be conducted by the vet to study the fat cells from the lumps. This is important to rule out cancerous or malignant tumors.

Sometimes, dog owners confuse a fatty tumor for lymphoma, which is the cancer of the lymph nodes, or liposarcoma, which is a malignant tumor.

Both liposarcoma and lymphoma tend to grow rapidly and spread in other parts. These may require immediate surgical removal.

Like in most health issues in canines, a veterinary check-up is crucial to fixing the disorders in the early stages.

 

Best Dog Food for Lipomas

1. Ollie Chicken Dish with Carrots

This fresh food happens also to be our top overall choice for the best dog’s diet for lipomas – Ollie Chicken Dish with Carrots recipe.

Probably one of the most respected fresh pet food maker today, Ollie prides itself on having partnered with a U.S. Board Certified Veterinary nutritionist as its chefs to guarantee that all AAFCO standards for pet nutrition are met.

For dogs with lipomas, and also for weight maintenance, this chicken cuisine is our recommended recipe as it has the lowest caloric content among the company’s offerings at only 1298 kcal ME/kg. But the other recipes – beef, turkey and lamb are just as amazing.

Real diced chicken meat is the first ingredient in this all-fresh ingredients food, followed by highly nutritious whole foods potatoes, carrots, peas and spinach to make a fabulously healthy diet for your furry loves.

It’s also enhanced with outstanding amino acids and essential nutrients like taurine, and vitamins A, E, and various B’s. Plus, it includes salmon oil, which is a great source of omega fatty acids that can also help eliminate toxins.

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2. The Pets Table Human-Grade Beef Stew

Another excellent fresh diet option for your pooch is this human-grade frozen fresh food from a relatively new brand.

The Pets Table makes top-tier fresh food recipes made with outstanding natural ingredients that can satisfy your dog’s appetite and nutritional needs.

Working side by side with a US Board Certified Vet Nutritionist, they prepare dog foods free of unhealthy ingredients that bring toxins to the dog’s body.

We especially like the Beef recipe, which is made of primarily beef and organs and splendid fruits and veggies like green beans, sweet potatoes and carrots for a complete and balanced diet.

Its healthy protein and fat contents are 13% and 10% respectively, plus .75% fiber pack. All ingredients are frozen fresh to retain all the natural goodness and nutrients. Yes, this diet is heavy on essential nutrients too. And it has salmon oil for the high-quality omega fatty acids.

We love the ingredients and consistency of the recipe and even picky pups would lick clean their bowls on this one.

But there are also a number of cons that we see: product needs thawing and that it takes up storage space in the freezer.

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3. Stella & Chewy’s Surf ‘N Turf Dinner Patties

As for a freeze-dried raw food diet, it’s hard to match the superior quality of Stella & Chewy’s.

For lipomas in dogs, we particularly like these patties, which features freeze-dried raw beef and organs from grass-fed cattle, and wild-caught salmon meat, plus 100% organic plant-based ingredients including cranberries, spinach, broccoli, carrots, and blueberries for a balanced diet. 

This recipe is also high in protein at 45%, and essential nutrients like calcium carbonate for bone support, and various vitamins, plus probiotics for immune and digestive health.

The carb content is just 11% but the calories and fat load are pretty high at 5140 kcal/kg and 34% minimum respectively. The freeze-dried raw food is easy to prepare – just add warm water to rehydrate.

Over at Chewy website, 816 reviewers gave this product a remarkable average grade of 4.6 out of 5 stars, with 90% giving the thumbs-up.

Most reviews were about the high-quality product as well as how their pups adore the patties. Some of the not-so-friendly comments mentioned that the patties were a bit too hard and takes longer to rehydrate, and that the scent was too strong.

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4. Weruva Paw Lickin’ Chicken in Gravy

If your pooch likes wet or canned food, this chunky recipe from Weruva is certainly one of the finest choices.

Notable as a premium brand, this wet food features human-grade boneless, skinless, white chicken breast as the first ingredient.

There are limited ingredients in this formula but the nutrients pack is certainly not limited. The carb load is amazingly low at just 1.9%, but the protein content is bounteous with 10%.

With over a thousand reviews at Chewy, this wet food received an overall rating of 4.7 out of 5 stars, with 91% of respondents giving positive comments.

You’ll hardly find negative reviews, except for some customers finding the price too high. On the other hand, many said their food-sensitive dogs were fine with this food, and that it produced healthy stools.

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5. Ziwi Peak Venison Recipe

Talk about premium wet food brands, Ziwi Peak is surely one that easily comes to mind. This venison recipe in particular is highly touted for its novel and high-quality protein source – venison.

Real premium-quality venison meat and organs, including tripe, plus the very delectable New Zealand green mussels make up 92% of this exceptional pate.

It has none of the undesirable ingredients like GMOs or artificial preservatives. The carbs content is only 3%, while it packs a 10% protein mass.

While there were only 79 reviewers for this food, 81% were encouraging comments, which are mostly about the savory taste, food allergy relief, and its compatibility with aging dogs.

The few adverse comments were mostly about the “nasty” smell and extravagant price.

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6. Farmina N&D Ocean Herring & Orange