Swelling on dog's face.

Dr. Marie replied:

Thanks for your question Stephanie!

This is a tough question to answer without seeing your boy, but I'll give you my thoughts on his situation.

If this had just happened I would be wondering if it was an allergic reaction to a bee or wasp sting. However, if this were the case it would certainly be better by now (2 weeks later).

The most common reason for a dog to have a swelling on one side of the face like this is a dental problem. He may have something called a carnassial tooth abscess. The carnassial tooth is the largest tooth that you can see in the mouth. The root of this tooth pushes up below the eye. So, if there is an infection in the root of the carnassial tooth we will often see severe swelling below the eye and often around the eye as well. I have seen some that come and go like you described. My guess for these is that the pus in the abscess drains out at some point in the day.

Sometimes it can be really obvious when you look at the tooth that it is abscessed - the gum will be red and if you push on it you will see pus (and it is painful). But, it is not always obvious to tell from the outside.

If this is a carnassial tooth abscess the tooth will need to be extracted by your vet. Antibiotics will give some temporary relief but rarely solves the problem.

It is also possible that there is a foreign object under his skin causing an abscess (such as the nettles), but this is less likely to be the cause.

It does sound like Roddy will need to see his doctor soon. I hope everything is ok!

Dr. Marie.


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Dr. Marie replied:

You're very welcome. (I should let you know that I bent the rules for you a little bit. My free questions for website owners aren't really supposed to be for forum links. But I figured this would be an easy question for me to answer, so I let it slide. :) )

I still think a dental problem is most likely. If it's happened a few times over the last 2 weeks then it's quite unlikely that there were several insect stings.

If it is an insect sting it will respond to benadryl. Benadryl tablets come in a 25 mg strength and you can give 1mg per pound. (So, if you have a 50 lb dog you can give 2 tablets). There's no harm in doing this (other than possibly some mild sedation). But, I would definitely recommend a vet visit in the morning if things haven't cleared up 100%.

Dr. Marie replied:

No worries! The link thing is just something new that I am trying out, so I'm still working out the bugs.

What you are describing doesn't sound like a mast cell tumor, but then this is one of the risks of talking to a vet online. I might feel differently if I was looking at Roddy's face.

Again, I hope things go ok!

Dr. Marie.