The Golden Unicorn

Our Human Mommy Speaks

Several weeks ago, I noticed what looked like a little pimple on Birdie’s nose. It wasn’t bothering her, so I decided just to watch it for any changes. When it started to grow and seemed kind of hard, I made an appointment with her vet. The minute Dr. Kevin saw it, he chuckled and said, “Birdie’s growing a horn. She’s becoming a unicorn!”

He determined that it wasn’t anything too serious (serious is always code for cancer in the Golden Retriever world). That was reassuring. His diagnosis suggested that it could be one of three things:

1. a small papilloma (also known as doggy herpes, obviously contagious), in which case it would fall off on its own in a month or two;
2. a cutaneous horn (not contagious), which would have to be removed sometime in the future after it grows large enough for a safe procedure; or
3. and Dr. Kevin put this in Birdie’s official clinical summary for the permanent record . . . “golden retriever unicornitis.”

In the past week, it’s become obvious that this is a cutaneous horn. It’s also quite obvious that Birdie is a unicorn, so we’ve added Eunice the Unicorn to our toy basket. Eunice will keep Birdie company while she waits for this thing to grow large enough to be removed.

In all of my years with dogs, which has been my entire life, I’ve never heard of a cutaneous horn. The scientific name for it is cornifying epitheliomas. It looks like a nail, horn, or stick growing from a hair follicle. Google it, if you dare. Add this to the way-too-long list of dog health issues I wish I didn’t know. Has anyone else ever heard of or experienced a cutaneous horn on your dog?

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