How to treat dog injection site swelling? My retriever has a lump.

Hello and thank you very much for your question. What you were most likely experiencing is an injection site reaction. D’s can sometimes go away within 24 to 48 hours for these can stay for months. Sometimes these reactions can also be painful and elicit other immune responses such as difficulty breathing, etc. My best advice is to contact the veterinary clinic that administered the injections and tell them what you are experiencing. What most likely will happen is that they may want to re-examine your animal and possibly give you some topical or oral or injectable medication to offset the inflammation. Generally, these appointments do not cost anything and be makers of the vaccine take care of the costs associated. But this all depends on the veterinarian and the clinic involved. So I Urge you to call the veterinary clinic and schedule an appointment as soon as possible to get this lump checked out. We really appreciate you using our service. I hope I have helped.

This could be inflammation of the muscle but rarely an abscess can form at the site of an injection. As long as Cookie is otherwise completely normal she should be ok to wait until tomorrow to she her veterinarian.

It certainly is possible to see swellings at injection sites, but 2.5 weeks later is a longer period of time than we will commonly see before a swelling will appear. If there is any possibility that Emmett was bit or injured at that location, I would certainly be worried that it could be an infection at that site (despite the antibiotics). If the swelling is getting larger, I would recommend having your veterinarian examine it. If it is a swelling from one of the injections, it should gradually get smaller and should not be painful. If it is not going away, is getting larger or is painful, it should be examined. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hi and thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Sorry to hear about Lilith. Wow, how odd. It would be nice to know what the injection was that she received. I can only guess that it's a shot of benadryl (diphenhydramine) or some form of cortisone. This is an odd case. I would start to wonder about some type of allergic reaction to something in her environment or some food ingredient that she is consuming. Insect bites/stings or some environmental allergen could be the cause or some ingredient in her food. Other possibilities include some type of infection that keeps moving around but honestly I have not seen anything like this before with this kind of history and presentation. I'm not sure how they are treating this and that would help to offer some suggestions. If the injections aren't working by themselves, maybe she needs a combination of drugs given and very close monitoring. Dogs airways rarely swell with allergic reactions unless they receive some trauma to the neck or if a venomous snake bites them over the neck region. Otherwise I wouldn't expect swelling of the throat but this could progress to that. I would be trying antibiotics, steroids, anti histamines, possibly some Apoquel (for allergies), fish oil, turmeric, cumin, and boswellia (all of these spices are anti inflammatory) I would also put her on a bland diet right now of only boiled chicken/rotisserie chicken with white rice mixed 50:50 just in case it's something in her diet. But if she has developed a chicken allergy, you would have to look at a limited ingredient diet which has another protein source. I would question you on what is different in her environment- new products used for laundry, cleaning, carpet powders, treatments done in the home, remodeling projects in the home, different pet products tried or pet treats, etc. Good luck with this interesting yet troubling case. If your vet cannot solve the puzzle, consider a referral to a dermatologist and see if they can sort it out.

Hi, thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Belle is SOOO cute! I have had a lump form at the site of the Rabies vaccine in some of my patients as well. It is a local pyogranulomatous reaction that is non-painful. It is harmless and will go away. It can take a month or more in some animals. You do not need to do anything expect monitor it. I hope this helps and I wish you and Belle the best!

Hello, thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It could be any of those things: a localized vaccine reaction, a reaction to her microchip (if she has one), an insect sting.... no way for me to tell you which. Just call your vet to discuss when you can. Take some photos of the lump so that you can maybe send to them so they can decide if you need to bring her in or try some home treatment first.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is certainly concerning and not typical after a vaccine though possible. I would recommend you check in with your veterinarian as they know exactly where they put the vaccine and how expected or not expected this is. They may for example recommend anti-inflammatory medications or possibly sampling that lesion to make sure it is not something else such as an infection or growth that needs to be treated. I am hoping for a speedy recovery!