thread: Trip to the vet or not?

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  1. #1
    Registered User

    Feb 2008
    Near the Snowies!
    2,975

    Trip to the vet or not?

    Silly dog has a lump/swelling on his jaw again...he had a similar thing about 4 months ago, only it was a very distinctive round lump on the side of his mouth/lip, where this one it's just one side of his nose looks swollen and wider than it should be.
    Last time it turned out to be an abscess and he was put on a 5 day course of anti b's which thankfully cleared it up. I'm not sure if this is the same thing or not, because it doesn't quite look the same, so I thought maybe it's an ant bite or bee sting instead, or it could be another abscess.
    It doesn't seem to be worrying him, he's still racing around like a lunatic and eating. Not sure if I should make an appointment with the vet tomorrow if it's still the same or just leave it for the moment...If today was Monday then I'd leave it for tomorrow and see what he was like the day after that, but the day after will be Friday and I don't want to leave it until 'the last minute' and then not be able to get an appointment. If it was on his leg or something I probably wouldn't worry too much about seeing a vet tomorrow but then I don't want to have to wait until monday when it might be worse.
    I'm leaning towards taking him tomorrow, but we aren't exactly rolling in $$ right now, so if it's not essential then I'm a bit hesitant about spending $60 odd on a consult/drugs when it might be something his body can fight off itself.. silly thing

  2. #2
    Registered User

    Jun 2010
    Tiny Town
    4,675

    Is it hard? If it was then it could be some kind of growth. Or if you can get him to sit still a bit, can you find a little spot that seems like a centre? Like a bite or sting mark? I'd probably call and make an appointment anyway, if it starts to get better you can always cancel it. And considering you'd have to wait all weekend otherwise it'd probably be better to be safe than sorry.

    hope the little guy is ok!

  3. #3
    Registered User

    Feb 2008
    Near the Snowies!
    2,975

    It is fairly firm, but it's only come up overnight so i don't think it's a tumour or anything like that. It does seem to hurt a bit if I lift up his lip and press on it, the swelling comes from his gum not his skin ITMS. He's a very bouncy boy so can't get him to sit still long enough for me to get a good look at it! It's just a bit odd, because the last time it was a very distinctive lump, round like a ping pong ball, where this one is kind of just a fat swelling that makes one side of his muzzle look really wide.
    i think I will ring them, rather be safe than sorry I guess!
    Thanks hun

  4. #4
    Registered User

    Jun 2010
    Tiny Town
    4,675

    Could he have eaten/bitten something nasty? My old foxy used to love chasing bees, the little idiot. He got them a few times and we had to take him to the vet to have the sting removed from his tongue once (that was gross!!). Otherwise it generally went down on its own. Hope it's nothing too bad

  5. #5
    BellyBelly Life Subscriber

    Jul 2008
    S.E. Melbourne
    802

    I'd take him too, rather than risk waiting til next week Hope it's nothing serious!

  6. #6
    Registered User

    Feb 2008
    Near the Snowies!
    2,975

    took him to the vet this afternoon, the lump was bigger again this morning so thought I better! The vet seemed a little concerned that it has presented differently to last time, but has prescribed a course of antibiotics and if he isn't getting better by Monday have to take him back so they can investigate further. He did talk about some kind of fungus they can get in their mouth that can have cancer-like symptoms, i was like uhh..ok...lol. I don't think it would be anything sinister like cancer though because it only happened overnight. He was really nice and even put it through as a repeat consult (even though the other one was 4 months ago!) so was a fair bit cheaper than it would have been

    So fingers crossed it starts looking better over the weekend!