Abscess on muzzle/autoimmune conditions

H

Henrie Lee

Forums Regular
Hi everyone, my sweet 2 year old pup is having some scary problems with his skin. On Monday I noticed a little bit of swelling on his muzzle. It was almost like a bug bite, but I'm not sure what would've bitten him in the middle of winter in New York. I shaved the bump to get a closer look and more easily apply antibiotic ointment to it, but that unfortunately erupted into an abscess that grew to the other side of his muzzle.

It very much looked infected, so I took him into a walk-in vet clinic. The vet looked at his nose and said it was almost probably from an autoimmune condition, and to get him to a full service vet ASAP.

When I took him to the full service vet they were still suspicious of a potential autoimmune condition, but also said he could very well have acquired the bump in a variety of other ways.

His breeder said the only sheltie she ever had an autoimmune condition with was a dog with a thyroid condition, but she was spayed and not genetically related to my pup.

Do any of you have experience with Lupus or other autoimmun conditions? I'm extremely worried about him. He's on an antibiotic now with an ointment. There seems to be a mild improvement with his nose so far...
 
While im sure it must be worrying I’m wondering what caused this first vet to jump to the conclusion that it’s an autoimmune condition? Dogs stick their noses into all sorts of places and while there aren’t any bugs outside in the winter many many bugs find their way into our houses in the fall (as the occasional spider’s and spider webs I find and kill). When my dogs see a spider on the floor they don’t run from it screaming like I do haha they put their nose closer.
I know a couple times over the years Finnie has had a small bump on his snout and I’d keep an eye on it and it would go away…I’d figured bug bite or the way the dogs play with each other. Could also be an ingrown hair…
I’d wait and let the antibiotics work and if you see any other symptoms then talk to your vet but in the meantime I wouldn’t jump to conclusions. You’ll only give yourself grey hairs unnecessarily. Although I know that’s easier said than done sometimes lol!
 
I've had several swollen faces on several dogs here. Some were tooth abscesses, some were bug bites, once Fillion got a foxtail imbedded up under his gum by the canine tooth, that bump lasted for over a month and had everyone scratching their head, finally after week or so of antibiotics, (or the right amount of time passed for the body to expel it--who knows?!) a hole burst in his gum and I could see and grab the end of the foxtail and pull it out with tweezers.
Never once did any vet say auto immune....
One vet did say if we didn't get Koko's tooth abcess down it would erupt through his face which had me panicking!
I'd just give it more time to heal...
 
Thank you, everyone! My vet friend (who sadly lives out of state) also feels like it's a "wait and see" kind of situation...I think the two vets he saw in person were going off of what it looked like *after* it became infected from him digging at it after I shaved it...I do wonder what they would've thought had they seen it before I shaved it and it became infected. My first ever sheltie, Donovan got a horrible infection under his tail once after it was shaved. It looked pretty similar, though I don't remember if there were bumps.

I know we don't have any poisonous spiders here, but there are a handful of spiders around. Do you think they would still bite? We also have imposter ladybugs that occasionally bite. Our sweet Talvi is the type who literally tries to be friends with spiders when he sees them... he's such a special boy.
 
All spiders have venom. Its how they kill their prey. As a recovering arachnophobe, believe me when I say this :) But there are plenty other critters that can raise a bump! At this time of year though running into all kinds of bugs is unusual. Since its on his snout, odds are he stuck his nose in someplace he shouldn't have.
Note to self--next time take a pic with your phone.
 
I see you're in New England like me. Our weather here has been so ridiculously warm that all kinds of bugs are still around, including ticks. I killed a spider in the house about a week ago so yes, they are definitely still around. I hope that's all it is and it improves with the antibiotics. If not, you might consider seeing a canine dermatologist who would be more familiar with this type of thing.
 
Yes I imagine it looked a tad bit different before you shaved it lol. And it’s possible it was more accessible once shaved for him to scratch at it (and possibly the fur had been protecting it slightly from additional bacteria getting into it) thus making it look worse from the vet’s perspective.
 
Margi said:
All spiders have venom. Its how they kill their prey. As a recovering arachnophobe, believe me when I say this :) But there are plenty other critters that can raise a bump! At this time of year though running into all kinds of bugs is unusual. Since its on his snout, odds are he stuck his nose in someplace he shouldn't have.
Note to self--next time take a pic with your phone.
Click to expand...
I have pictures, but I can't figure out how to upload them on here :(
 
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