Overnight golf ball sized lump in throat!

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

Wednesday Abby was wonderful. Had a great day - played for hours with her BFF. Yesterday morning she woke up with a golf ball sized growth under the left jaw inside (where the gland would be - like a goiter). I thought maybe she swallowed a bee so I gave her benadryl. Then in the evening low dose aspirin. No change this morning still. She hasnt eaten yesterday or today. She has no Abby zest. I am scared now and am frantically trying to get into the vet in the next town as our local is on holidays. I dont think it has anything to do with a bee. Cross your fingers that I can get in! The receptionist is going to talk to the vet and call me. She cant yawn!

[Leslie and Halas]

Fingers crossed here! Hope you can get her in to see the vet.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

How frightening for you and Abby. I'll be thinking good thoughts that the vet finds it's nothing serious. Good luck!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Poor Abby, I hope you can an answer soon & it turns out to be no big deal. Sending positive doodle vibes for Abby & you!

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Tick or parasite. Tell her to stop golfing. H$ll, I don''t know just throwing questions into the wind; Wishing her well soon.

[Sue & Willy Babe]

Wilson is sending Doodle best wishes let us know what's wrong

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

I am back. The vet explained that it would be caused by a poke (such as a splinter) inside her throat. Anaerobic bacteria flows in and creates a large abscess. He said if the object is still in there it will likely not imrove with the shot he gave her (he gave her an injection and pills to take of a special antibiotic designed for this sort of thing). If it is not radically diminishing in size there is something worse with it. I am to give it till Monday 8 am. If it is bigger I have to bring her right in and they will have to do emergency surgery to lance it and try to remove whatever if anything is still in there. He said I am absolutely not to wait because it can go from golfball to baseball to football in a matter of hours and the dog can die. Pray that there is no splinter and that these antibiotics take away any infection rapidly. The abscess is near things in her neck that make it a risky surgery that can kill at worst. An $800 bill at best.

But I really like this vet. I am going to switch and stay with him. Even if it is in another town. He also said the ears were inflamed because of allergies and the brown wax was not normal - like my other vet told me it was. He actually looked into her ears with a scope as opposed to lifting her flap and sticking a q-tip in. He gave me a write up on allergies. He was very thorough.

[Leslie and Halas]

But he thinks it's ok to wait until Monday, even though it can get so big so quickly, right? So he must not be too worried that there's still something in there. I hope it's just an infection, and those antibiotics will take care of it. Good luck this weekend. Good thing you were able to get her in today.

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

Well he was giving me best and worse case scenario. He said because where it is he doesnt want to risk going in and doing any surgery today. So he gave her the shot and the pills...this should cure it and fast, but if we dont see the improvement by Monday or it gets bigger that she will have to have the surgery Monday 8 am. Does this make more sense? I was flustered writing the post. Basically the way I understood it if it is just a wound from say chewing on a stick it will be curing fast. If there is actual wood lodged in there (or some such thing) then it wont.

[Leslie and Halas]

It made sense the way you had it. It sounds like there may or may not be something in there. And he's more comfortable waiting until Monday to know for sure vs. doing surgery in that area now, when it may not even be necessary. And if it turns out that it is necessary, she's still ok waiting until Monday, as long as it's dealt with early. How many times do you think you'll check the lump this weekend? I'm going with somewhere in the range of 300 times. I'll play the part of my mother here, and say, "Stop messing with it! You're only going to irritate it more!"

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

LOL! Guilty. I check the lump (very gently) all the time. But you can actually see her face is lopsided looking at her. She looks like a dog with the mumps on one side (or someone who had a wisdom tooth pulled late in life). I am so relieved; she just mooched a carrot off my son and actually chewed a few kibbles! That must be some potent antibiotic injection he gave her. If it has anything to do with her getting her appetite back already. (It really stings - he warned me but I still felt ill at the ki-yi-yipping)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Prayers for Abby on their way...we hope there is no splinter or anything else and the lump goes down quickly. And big hugs to you both from JD & me.

[Betsy D.]

O.K., I can't take it. My eyes are welling with tears for you all and Abby. I will pray that the weekend isn't too terrribly taxing for all of you, especially Abby. I really hope the swelling goes down and she doesn't require surgery. I am so glad that you found a vet in who you have more confidence. The drive to the other town is well worth it. Cimmy and I are sending you doodle warmth and hugs.