What's this hard lump under my senior yorkie's eye near his mouth?

Unless you had dental X-rays taken under anesthesia, then there is no way to know for sure this is not a tooth root abscess from a bad tooth. This is by far the most common cause for facial swelling in a small breed dog of Jacky's age. Schedule a full dental procedure to include dental X-rays to fix this likely problem.

He’s a handsome boy! I recommend a vet visit for Oliver. The swelling could be due to a dental abscess or infection, cancer, infected salivary gland or even a foreign body in his mouth. Though that last maybe less likely if he doesn’t appear bothered by it. But the vet can do a thorough physical and oral exam to try to characterize the lump a little better. Depending on what they see they may Recommend a fine needle aspirate, a dental cleaning and assessment, or biopsy if it appears to be a mass. But given Olive’s age I would recommend you get it checked out sooner rather than later I hope it all works out well. Thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi, and thanks for your question. Although a picture of it would help to give you more specific answers, this lump/growth should be ideally examined by your veterinarian to have a definitive diagnosis. Your vet will examine it and possibly perform with an FNA (fine needle aspiration) or a biopsy. Differentials would include skin cyst, infections or benign or malignant type of tumors. Hope this answer was helpful, but please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further. If this answer was helpful please let us know, this will be used to improve our service!

HI, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Thanks for the pictures I see what you are worried about. Possible causes of the mass are: a benign over growth of gum tissue, an epulis, or cancerous growths. Some epulids are: Fibromatous, ossifying, and acanthomatous. Acanthomatous epuli, in particular, are highly invasive to the bone and are usually located on the front part of the lower jaw. It is sadly impossible to tell from just looking at the mass to say what it could be. I recommend you make an appointment with your Vet. Lucky will have to go under anesthesia, have dental X-rays taken of the area and the mass biopsied or removed, if able. I hope this helps! I wish Lucky the best!

We had some problems with clients attaching photos yesterday. And I'm sorry we haven't been able to get to your question until now. Hopefully you have been able to have your vet see Ollie today. There are a few possibilities, but if Ollie had any roots of his teeth that were left behind during his full mouth extraction (which can be common regardless of how careful we are), those roots could form an abscess which would explain the swelling along the face, the enlarged lymph node and the blood in the food. Hopefully he is on some antibiotics and feeling better, but I suspect that your vet will need to sedate him to take some x-rays and determine the source of the problem. Good luck! I hope that was helpful and that Ollie is feeling better. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

There is no alternative at this stage other than a full dental assessment to remove the tartar and infection and relieve pain by extracting the loose and damaged teeth which would then allow the gums to heal. Contact your local humane society for advice on subsidised care if you cannot provide for his care. Toothpaste, rinses and dental chews will not be sufficient at this stage and it is not appropriate to ignore the current pain and infection you describe

Ouch! Scrumpy probably had very diseased teeth that were already loose and they got knocked out of place in the scuffle. The other possibility is that she broke her jaw, although that is less likely She needs to go under anesthesia and have her teeth cleaned and any diseases teeth removed. I would recommend calling you veterinarian right away and seeing they can see Scrumpy today or tomorrow. She is probably in more pain that she is letting on and will be much more comfortable once those teeth (or her jaw) are taken care of. Best of luck!