abscess??? - Page 1

I would like to know if anyone has ever seen anything like this:

I have a 6 1/2 year old Long coat spayed female she is a certified Therapy Dog

We were at a fundraiser yesterday for our local animal shelter, she started off doing her normal routine with obedience/tricks for the kids.  After about 2 hours I started to notice that she would head over to her crate [I keep it open if she needs a break] she would go in and lay facing away from everyone.  I had her come out and was looking her over and found a huge mass under her neck.  I immediately gave her two benedryl thinking she had been stung or bitten by something.  I took her to our emergency clinic they checked her temp and it was 105.  They immediately took her in the back and started working on getting the temp down etc. They did radiographs of her neck/face only showing soft tissue enlargements, by this time her bottom lip was also affected.  They felt that since I gave the benedryl she was not have a allergic reaction.  They ended up lancing it and sending her home with Clavamox, deramaxx told me to use hot compress on it several times a day.  The vet stated that when she went in to clean it out there was a huge area affected, it was also draining down her throat.  The vet called it an abscess but she had no wounds around her neck whatsoever? They really don't seem to know what it is or what caused it, anyone have any similiar experiences?? What did your vet do? How did the dog do? Any further surgeries? The vet mentioned that if it continues to get bigger and not drain they would need to do surgery on her and go in and look around. Sorry for such a long post but I'm out of mind with this! I always worry about cancer or something horrible! BUT no signs of any tumors on xray, vet said its just a flucky thing. Also I was reading about Abscess online it says how painful it is, I can say this the dog is not in pain from it I've been pushing on it and rubbing it to get more fluid out and she doesn't feel a thing.  She is not a stoic dog!  Again anyone have any ideas??

Amy

How awful!

I once had a GSD with a puss filled pocket on his neck.  When we lanced it, the smell was horrendous.  It appeared that there was a puncture would - perhaps from another dog - but it was our dogs hair that was growing inward because a small piece of skin was turned inward fromt he wound and the follicles were making the hair grow inwards and creating the abscess.  

Oddly, the hari never grew back the same color on that point.   

How odd! I wondered if it was a gland issue with my girl but the vet didn't think so, I could see a diagnosis of abscess if they actually found a wound but she had nothing at all?? The smell is horrible though but its infection, plus her white cell count was really high so definately an infection is running through her.
Amy

Poor dog!  Good thing you got her to the vet right away.  I hope she's better very soon.

Please don't worry about cancer or glands - it sounds like a straightforward abscess.  It's not unusual that you wouldn't have noticed a wound on her neck; sometimes the puncture or whatever it was can be quite small and just not noticed until the pus and swelling make the area obvious.  And the x-ray would've showed if it was a splinter or something.  Who knows?  It could've been a small wound that closed up already with the abscess forming underneath, or a tiny splinter that washed out in the gunk.  A bad tooth can do it, too, but I'm sure the x-ray would've shown if that was the problem.
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I had a pup once who developed one when he got bit by another dog.  I saw the bite happen and kept my eye on it - otherwise it would've been impossible to see.  As soon as it was abscessing, I did the hot compresses applications and they worked great.  Really helped it to drain and he was fine very soon.

Really, don't worry.  After a lifetime with dogs I can attest to things like this being lIke your vet said, just a flukey thing.

Thanks Tess certainly makes me feel better, she's such a great dog and has been by first dog to compete with, the swelling is definately going down so I think she is on the mend, taking her to the vet again today just to be sure.  My main issue now is that its not draining at all they lanced it and it was draining pretty well the first night and next morning after that no draining but she still has a large mass.  I've been doing the hot compress every hour and really trying to manipulate it etc.  Nothing seems to be working to get this to start draining again, we'll see what the vet says today.
Amy

Things like this can also be caused by foreign bodies, such as grass seeds.

With a long coat, it is sometimes difficult to see grass seeds before they imbed themselves. They can enter at a different location to the abscess and then migrate. Therefore, you will not see a wound at the site of the abscess.

Just something to keep in mind.

I hope your dog is well soon.

Julie

I had a Golden Ret. that has a similar thing happen to his leg. In the AM when I went to work everything was fine. When I got home his leg was about twice the normal size. Took him to the emergency room, the said that these things pop up fast and that for the most part are very localized. The popped it, yes the smell was disgusting! Cleaned it, wrapped it and sent us home with instructions to keep him quiet for a few days and to watch it for further swelling. 5 days later it was gone.

Hope your dog recovers as quickly!

I have also seen dogs have something that embedded in the throat area and work outward that abscess, and it could have been very small. Was she at all off food at anytime before the fever?  After the treatment of Clavamox please have your vet run a routine blood work to see how she is doing.
Always,
Cee