Dog Community

Elderly terrier with digestive troubles and lump on face--UPDATE--It's an abcess!

Posted : 4/4/2006 8:32:03 AM

Hi all,

I'm new here, and I'm really sorry to jump in under such unpleasant circumstances....

I didn't even want to put a question here for this, because I felt like admitting that things were bad would make them bad. But I am pretty sure, now, that they are (though I would LOVE to find out that I'm overreacting).

Max is my family's terrier mix. He's medium-sized--you can view a photo of him here, since we're not really sure what he's made of:

He's 12 years old, and until recently, he's done great for a dog his age. However, during the past year or so, he's started to get a bit arthritic, it seems--nothing serious, just a little gimpy when the weather changes or when he's been lying around for a while.

Then, on Friday, he threw up, randomly. No wretching, no signs of illness, just lost his dinner (might be regurgitation, rather than vomit, because his food was not really digested at all, it seems), and then was running around like a wild man as usual five minutes later. The next day, his stomach was making some weird noises, but he ate fine, and we weren't too worried after that. Then yesterday afternoon, apparently he threw up again. Once again, he ate his dinner fine last night and was very frisky, until a thunderstorm came along and scared him before bed.

This morning, he seemed little less energetic, but I still wasn't super worried because he probably lost a lot of sleep last night due to the storms, and he's old, so he sleeps a ton anyway. However, just as I was getting ready to get the train, I was petting his face and I noticed a lump below his left eye. Probably the size of a half-dollar, I would guess. I don't know how I didn't notice it before.

I am so incredibly worried, and I know he's old, so I know this could be it, and that honestly, vets often can't do much with dogs this age in a lot of cases.

Please let me know if you have any thoughts or suggestions, regarding what might be wrong. Thanks.

Julie Beveridge

Posted : 4/4/2006 9:58:54 AM

Hi there. So many questions.
What kind of food is the dog eating?

Are you giving any supplements?
I think throwing up for a dog is ok once in awhile, we do it sometimes too.
I would have the lump checked out by a vet, it sould be anything from a bug bite to a dangerous lump that needs treatment.
Let us know.
Julie

Noel Dietrich

Posted : 4/4/2006 10:12:27 AM

Thanks so much for your reply. I am at work right now, and incredibly worried. I'm just out of college and living at home with my parents, and honestly I'm not entirely sure what kind of food we feed him because I don't buy it, and they buy huge bags and keep it all in this big bin. But I will check when I get home. It's a dry senior formula--might be Science Diet or Pro Plan. We give him a scoop of that, and then mix in a spoonful of canned food (we've been doing this for the past five years or so), which is also often Science Diet, I think, because it seems to make him clean out his bowl more!

Nope, we don't give him supplements (though I think something for the arthritis might be a good idea if he gets through this...)--just occasional treats.

Yeah, I know throwing up isn't always a huge deal... But he has only done that a few times in the past that I can recall, and twice in the course of four days worries me.... But then he always seemed to feel fine afterwards! The vet did tell him, a while back, that he had some bad teeth, so maybe the lump on his face (kind of below his eye), could be some kind of a tooth swelling problem? I'll have to look at it better when I get home from work... I am just really worried right now.

Noel Dietrich

Posted : 4/4/2006 10:31:19 AM

Oh, I also wanted to point out that it seems like this lump came out of nowhere, if that's noteworthy at all.

I mean, he just got a haircut a week or so ago, and we regularly pet/groom him, so I feel like this appeared over night, though maybe we're just somehow oblivious... I don't know.

Julie Beveridge

Posted : 4/4/2006 11:53:04 AM

Well I do know that with senior dogs diet is crucial.
I am not the most knowledgable person on this board by far.
There are really great foods out there for older dogs and for dogs with arthritis, perhaps go to the nutrition board here and post about what kind of food you should feed and what supplements to give the dog.
People here are FANTASTIC when it comes to helping with that.
Science diet is not a good food. I know it is touted to be but it is not and it does have ingredients that can cause cancer. Sorry, I know not what you wanted to hear.
You can give dogs with arthritis glucosimine chondrotin like what people take but again post on the nutrition board they can and will tell you much much more.
Good Luck and call the vet, get the dog in for the lump check.
How many times a day is the dog eating? You are POSITIVE beyond a shadow of a doubt that he did not get into anything to make him sick??
When was the last time he went to the vet.
Good Luck!
Julie

Julie Beveridge

Posted : 4/4/2006 12:00:39 PM

[linkhttp://www.marvistavet.com/html/cherry_eye.html]http://www.marvistavet.com/html/cherry_eye.html[/link]

[linkhttp://www.nzymes.com/Articles/dog_skin_hair_problems.htm#LUMPSANDBUMPORBENEATHTHESKIN]http://www.nzymes.com/Articles/dog_skin_hair_problems.htm#LUMPSANDBUMPORBENEATHTHESKIN[/link]

[linkhttp://www.ask-the-vet.com/pet-health-questions.php]http://www.ask-the-vet.com/pet-health-questions.php[/link]

Found these links.
Maybe they will help.

cakana

Posted : 4/4/2006 12:00:47 PM

Science diet is not a good food. I know it is touted to be but it is not and it does have ingredients that can cause cancer.

Is that true? I don't feed Science Diet and I know it's not highly regarded by most people, but does it really have ingredients that can cause cancer? Do you know what they are? I just want to make sure they aren't in anything I'm feeding.

Julie Beveridge

Posted : 4/4/2006 12:10:49 PM

Here is some info.

[linkhttp://www.api4animals.org/facts.php?p=359&more=1]http://www.api4animals.org/facts.php?p=359&more=1[/link]

[linkhttp://www.feedmypet.com/dog-food-comparison.html]http://www.feedmypet.com/dog-food-comparison.html[/link]
[linkhttp://www.theherbsplace.com/petdiet.html]http://www.theherbsplace.com/petdiet.html[/link]

Noel Dietrich

Posted : 4/4/2006 12:28:27 PM

Thanks again for the info. I am really not positive that Science Diet is what he's getting right now, but it rings a bell. I will find out for sure when I get home. I feel horrible if that's what it is. After reading those links about the food, I saw that it has ethoxyquin in it, which I knew was bad for hermit crabs (my other pets), so now I feel terrible.

He hasn't been to the vet for a couple of years, and I feel awful about that as well. I've been in college, so I haven't been Max's primary caregiver for a while, until this past May. But I still feel horrible. He has always been super healthy, and just like I don't always go in for annual check-ups unless I'm sick, my parents thought the same should be true with a dog. Sigh. But someone will definitely take him in later today or tomorrow.

In terms of the other links about the lumps.... The picture of the thing below the eye definitely didn't look like what he has. It's not actually on the eye or anything and it's not red. It's more like the one in this thread, I think:

http://forum.dog.com/asp/tm.asp?m=10632&mpage=1&key=lump

As for whether or not it's possible that he got into something, I would say it's highly unlikely. We keep him gated in our family room whenever no one is around to keep an eye on him, and there's nothing that he could get into, in there. Even when we're around, he's limited to the family room, sun room, and kitchen areas, and we have all of our cabinets "child-proofed." He doesn't roam free around the neighborhood or anything, and when we let him out back, he's always on a long rope so he can't get into anything. There's always the possibility that someone dropped something in our yard that he got into, or something, but I don't think it's likely....

Please think happy thoughts for us... Thanks.

jennie_c_d

Posted : 4/4/2006 1:05:27 PM

Twelve is not too terribly old for a smallish dog. He could easily last another 5 years or even longer, if you make sure and catch things early. It sounds like you've caught something that could be serious, or could be nothing. With a senior, it's best to always treat it as serious, and get him to a vet immediately.

Do some reading, and decide which food will be the BEST for him. Give him the best of everything, and you might even keep him around for another TEN years! Wouldn't that be awesome?

Noel Dietrich

Posted : 4/4/2006 2:51:59 PM

Thank you so much for your optimism, Jennie. I really appreciate it. And I know it could be nothing. Max also has had a big "fatty lump" for a few years, and we had that checked and the vet told us that was nothing to worry about! So I am still praying that this is something equally unworrisome, but I don't know.

But yeah, thanks Jennie, that really did make me feel a bit more optimistic. We'll see....

Noel Dietrich

Posted : 4/4/2006 2:53:43 PM

Oh, and we feed him once a day, by the way, which, now that I'm reading about dogs with digestive problems, maybe that isn't wise. He has a good appetite, and maybe he's eating too much at once?

jennie_c_d

Posted : 4/4/2006 2:59:54 PM

It could be that it's just too much at once. Splitting it into two or three meals may help him out.

Noel Dietrich

Posted : 4/4/2006 3:02:12 PM

Yeah, that definitely could be the case, though it still doesn't explain the bump on his face. Poor doggy...

dyan

Posted : 4/4/2006 3:44:45 PM

Hi!
About a year ago, Bubblegum had a lump on her face.

Hope this works when I send it. But we were sure it was an infected tooth. There was even a vet here at the time that thought it was. Everything pointed to it. Took her to the vet where they drew fluid...and it looked like pure blood to the vet. She was put on prednisone and antibiotics to see it it would clear it up and it took weeks to go down completely. She was not bothered by it, even when I touch it, it seemed. Eventually we figured it was a hematoma. I realized one day back then that the bump was exactly the height of the railing upstairs where she spends a lot of her time. It went totally and completely away by itself. Don't worry. Get it checked, but don't worry.
I agree that you might want to split up her food into at least two meals, especially now that your dog is getting older. Much easier on her tummy!!!