Swollen eye led to bump on head

[lenslen]

Hi everyone! I was hoping to get some advice or personal experience stories regarding our girl, Bailey. A few weeks ago, we noticed her eye was a little red and swollen. It was the weekend, so I took her to the only vet I could find open. They thought it was conjunctivitis and prescribed some eye drops. Within the day, it blew up to the size you see in the first picture. She was sensitive to the touch, wouldn't chew on that side of her mouth, was itching her eye, super low on energy, etc. As it wasn't getting any better, I took her to the eye vet, where they performed some tests and an examination. This vet said it was an infection behind the eye, causing the eye to swell shut and causing pain on that side of her face. They prescribed a steroid (prednisone) and an antibiotic (Cephilexa). Almost immediately after taking the medication, her eye seemed to respond well and she started to get her spirit back. After a few days on the medication, her eye appeared to go back to normal. She took the medication for as long as prescribed. Once the mediation was done, it was about two or three days when we noticed a bump above her eye, right around her temple (Second and third picture). It feels like a hard lump, about the size of a marble (kind of hard to see in the pictures). She's not sensitive to the touch, seems to have her energy and spirit, and is eating just fine. I took her back to the eye vet to clarify what the lump was. This time, they're not sure -- they suggested we do another round of medication (antibiotics and steroid) and see if it goes away. Or we can do a CT scan to find out what exactly is going on.

Does anybody have any similar experiences? She's only a year and a half old (she was a oopsie litter puppy) and has never had a dental. The vet checked her teeth and said they looked fine upon initial examination, however did mention she would need to put Bailey to sleep to get a better examination.

[FiveRoooooers]

If she were mine, I'd start with an xray *asap*.

She's beautiful. Please keep us posted.

[MP_the4pack]

I had something similar with the eye but no bump.  It was an abscessed tooth. The very last tiny tooth on the top.

[2greyhoundMINI]

So pretty!

I'd definitely do the CT or Xray.

[Newgreymom]

I would do a CT scan just so you know for sure what it is

[greysmom]

It sounds like you don't have a regular vet of your own??  A specialist is almost always going to recommend a test or scan.  A regular vet may have a better - simpler - take on what's going on, by virtue of having dealt with something similar before.

Did the vet - either one - do a needle aspiration to see what's in the lump?  They can even look at it in their office under the microscope to identify the type of cells they pulled out.  FNAs aren't foolproof because you need to hit the right spot, but it's an easy and cheaper way to begin than even an xray (definitely than a ct scan).  A regular xray may not tell you much due to the dense bones in the head, but I might go that route as well.

This could be something simple like an abcessed tooth or lipoma, or something bad like a fast growing tumor, so you really do need to get it sorted sooner rather than later.

[lenslen]

Her vet was closed because it was the weekend. She has an appointment with her regular vet. I'm going to ask if they can do an aspiration. The first vet said they could but it would likely not be as good as a CT Scan, which was quoted to be only a bit more expensive. I'm going to reset and talk to her regular vet and see what can be done.

[tbhounds]

Do the ct -they are extremely diagnostic.  They will be able too do an aspiration at he same time.

[racindog]

I would be extremely concerned that it might be an abscessed tooth and would have that ruled out first and immediately. Teeth roots are close to the brain and abscessed teeth have killed humans and animals. The level of pain she was in is concerning as abscessed teeth are extremely painful. I also know from personal dental experience with my teeth that sometimes the antibiotics cannot clear certain dental infections because of poor blood supply to the infected area. Perhaps it was abscessed and the infection has 'moved' to somewhere the antibiotics can't be effective? I don't know. I do know however that an abscessed tooth is extremely serious-they can kill quickly. I would be consulting with a bonafide dental specialist(see links) immediately by phone or email and seeing what THEIR recommendation was for proceeding. One of them will help even if not in your area. I know some and the legitimate certified ones are are caring professionals. Be careful you don't fall victim to one of the general practice vets that claim to be dog dentists as there are quite a few that do. This is problematic for many reasons. Your pictures are excellent and maybe you could email them for them to look at.  Whatever you do do it asap IMO. Also, admittedly, I would perhaps be over reacting but I am like a mother hen when it comes to my dogs and that attitude has served me well.

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Edited September 11, 2019 by racindog

[lenslen]

Update: The bump was tested and found to be a bad infection. She is on antibiotics. Last night, the bump popped. We took her to the vet where they drained the fluid out of it. She's feeling much better with all that fluid out of her head. Now she's enjoying warm compresses and extra love until she's healed up. The first picture is the bump before it popped, and the second is it after it's been drained and has been oozing fluid.

[greysmom]

Good that it's finally resolved.  Did they speculate on a cause??  

I had a girl with an infected salivary gland that burst much like this picture, but it was much lower behind her jaw area. 

Anyway - glad she's on the road to recovery now!

[lenslen]

They aren't sure about a cause. They think something got in her eye then the infection spread to behind it, as this all started with a red and itchy eyeball. It's been a very scary and stressful few weeks, but I'm glad things seem to be getting better. They're testing the bacteria that oozed out to make sure we're on the right antibiotic. Thanks everyone for the concern and well wishes!

Edited September 20, 2019 by lenslen