My dog has nasal congestion, snorting, and a neck lump. What's wrong?

Hi there and thank you for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to address your concern. If there are lumps on his throat and he is having upper respiratory symptoms, I would recommend having x-rays of his upper airway done to see if there is any compression or deviation of the airway due to one of the lumps. He may also be dealing with allergies, in which case you can try an antihistamine. Most people use 1mg per 1lb of body weight every 12 hours for Benadryl. The vet can also insert a small needle into the masses and examine them under a microscope for a better understanding of what the lumps might be. I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any other questions or concerns and I would be more than happy to help you further.

Based on what you are describing and the location of the lump I would be concerned that your dog has either enlarged lymph nodes (either from infection or cancer) or an abscess. Since your dog has these symptoms and is lethargic as well I would be concerned about a systemic illness. I would recommend taking your dog to see the emergency vet instead of waiting to see how he does over the weekend. Best of luck. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach!

Hi, if you post a picture of the lump we may be able to help more. If the lump is small, less than a centimeter, and not red or sore, I would monitor it to see what it does. If it gets larger, swells or has discharge, he should see a vet. Puppies can also get upper respiratory infections. I would take him to a vet for this to see if he needs antibiotics. If left untreated, URIs can become serious. It is better to get him looked at sooner rather than later. Good luck, I hope this helps!

To be honest, it sounds like your vet has done a lot to rule out the most common causes of this noisy breathing starting with the least invasive procedures first (medications in case it was a respiratory infection). Given that there has been no improvement in his symptoms, the fact that they have gotten worse, and the fact Jones is a Lab, I would be thinking it's cancer as well. Unfortunately, cancer is common in Labs. You can see if your vet will take an x-ray of his nasal passages. That will be show if there is a tumor in his nasal passages, and it may be less expensive than the biopsy. I am sorry :-(

It could be an infection, inflammation, tumor, etc. He should be examined by a vet to determine the cause. Your vet can do a needle aspirate to help diagnose and then determine the best treatment. He may need an antibiotic, anti-inflammatory, or other medications depending on the cause.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This lump you describe could potentially be something like an abscess for example. However, other things like a growth are possible. I recommend that you have Arlo evaluated by your veterinarian for further assessment and treatment. If an abscess was noted, further local therapy with drainage and antibiotics would be recommended. Good luck and best wishes!

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. I'm sorry to hear that Thunderbolt has lymphoma but I'm happy he has been doing fairly well with his prednisone. It is possible that this area could be his lymph node which has swollen/grown significantly in size. This can happen pretty acutely, over the course of several hours to a day. This would suggest that his lymphoma is progressive, and his body may not be responding to the prednisone any longer. There are other chemotherapeutic options that may benefit Thunderbolt. I worry that a mass on his neck could continue to grow and possible cause difficulty breathing or swallowing. I recommend having Thunderbolt evaluated by your veterinarian to determine what the swelling is exactly (lymph node vs. mass vs. abscess, etc), and discuss other treatment options. I hope this is helpful!