Tonight I've just noticed that my 7½ mth dog has a small lump on the side of his face, it doesn't appear to be attached to anything and moves around, when I looked in his mouth I can see a tiny cut next to it. I'm wondering if it is a cyst or a small infection from a puncture wound? He is forever playing rough & tumble with my adult bitch. It's about the size of a marble. Should I leave it and see if it get's any bigger or should I take him to the vet before the possibility of it getting bigger.

He's perfectly fine in himself.

Ta Muchly!

Claire.. Does it appear to be in his cheek? No sign of anything inside his mouth? I have a puppywith the same symptoms if so.... e mail me and we'll swop symptoms!
Lynn

He's got another one now on the other side of his face. It's just above the crease in his mouth, this one is slightly smaller than the other - at the moment!

Don't think it is his saliva glands, I'm wondering if he's starting to cut his back molars although this didn't happen with Nell but her saliva glands were raised slightly

Lynn I'm at work but will try to email you later today/tonight.

Been talking to my breeder who has advised me it is his internal saliva glands which can become bunged up when his back molars are finally setting into the jaw. Best thing to do is leave them alone and not to poke around otherwise this can make them worse, they tend to settle back down in time.

Inside Harris' mouth there is a small hole which looks bunged up with something white. Lynn could it be the same as your pup, is she teething ??

Claire

If it's a puncture mark and looks full of white stuff, it sounds like it could be an abcess (is that spelt right?)

Grumpy collie had them where TH hung off her neck when a puppy. Loki was hanging off her neck, broke the skin and then it got infected and developed into an ascess (that word again!). It burst and there was blood and pus everywhere.

I had it burst and cleaned out at the vet, but that's coz I'm paranoid. Someone else may be able to suggest a way of doing it at home.

9th

Absesses are horrible things when they burst. Our Bernese has got one on the side of her face but we didn't know about it until it had burst. The smell was disgusting, like someone had trodden in something.

Hi Claire, No he is not teething..... it has been suggested that it is scar tissue? But where would scar tissue come from when there has been no injury? The vet has shaved his face and taken biopsies of the lumps on both sides. He looks a b****y mess..... bless him! The vet has also mentioned saliva glands.... says if it is then they will have to be removed? I have no experience of this and dont know what to do? Any help greatly appreciated... Let me know claire what happens with Harris
Luv
Lynn

Hi Lynn

One of our Cocker bitches had a persistent "lump" which kept coming up on the side of her face - antibiotics would knock it on the head for a while but then it would pop up again. The diagnosois was salivary gland cysts & eventually she had the damaged salivary glands removed from that side of her face - she has had no further trouble with these cysts & is fine now. Before the op, she used to get v depressed & had trouble eating when these cysts came up which is why we went for the operation in the end. Apparently its quite a difficult op as the gland are so small but I'm glad we went ahead with it as Daisy is a much happier old lady now! Dogs have 4 pairs of salivary glands & seem to manage perfectly well if a couple have to be removed - certainly Daisy has no trouble eating now.

Regards

Jane

I'm fairly sure it's not an abcess. He has a lump in the same place on both sides of his face, he's at the right age for his molars to be settling into his jaw, the lumps have now gone down slightly and move around whereas an abcess tends to feel more solid and compacted at the site.

Another thing I have to disagree with you is abcess's being disgusting. I used to work in a vets and used to love expressing abcess's, okay they are a bit smelly but I love that cream cheese effect you get when you squeeze them. Just thought I'd share that one with you :D

Claire... how gross ! Didnt realise you were a sadist :)

Speak soon
Lynn

Hi Claire, Got the results back from the biopsy..... they say the lump on the side of his face is scar tissue. The other lump on his neck is an infection of his lymph nodes? So now salivary glands seem to have gone out the window! and have been replaced by Lymph Nodes.

Any Ideas?? anyone......

Lynn

Sorry to hear about the lymph nodes, I'm afraid I don't know much about them. I presume it is Luke you are talking about, I thought at first it was one of the pups.

Hope everything turns out okay. Are they just treating him with antibiotics?