Mole? Cyst? Zit? What is it?
Suddenly over the past couple of days it seemed like it was growing rapidly. So I took a closer look and there was a small scab.... After some gentle expressing (sounds much more professional than squeezing, don't it?) a smal bit came out, sort of like a blackead, with some hairs embedded in it. After a little more expressing, I started seeing some hard/flaky yellow, almost like very dried pus and or sebaceum (oil...?) It didn't easily extrude from the pore, it was just showing through it. But with a little gintle coaxing some of it came out. It wasn't moist like I'd expect an impacted hair follicle to be. Anyway, after some more expressibng, quite a bit of it came out, and then a bit of pussy blood, so I quit and treated with neosporin. Now we've seen a lot of both moles and fatty tumors with Jake, but the moles never grew rapidly and the tumors were usually deeper under the skin. This really felt like a mole or a large infected follicle. I just felt it again, and it's not growing today as much as I thought when I started to post this... it's smaller than it was yesterday and it's soft with some hardness in places. Probably the hard areas are what remains of what didn't come out last night. Hopefully it will continue to receede, but to help it along I'll give it another expression tonight after some warm moist towels hopefull to soften it, and see what comes of it. Anyone have any thoughts other than "GET TO THE VET IMMEDIATELY!!!"? 
Thanks! |
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| I am not one to run to the Dr or the Vet, so take my advice with a
grain of salt. We have had these type of "blemishes" on our dogs several times. For us it always turned out to be similar to an ingrown hair - (or actually a few). As for it being dry, if he has had it a long time, it probably would be. I would just get all the goop out and put some stuff on it and watch it for a few days. I have always been able to take care of these at home. If you have serious doubts about what it is, call the vet and ask. My vet will rarely answer questions about anything over the phone, but I am sure yours is better about that! I wouldn't be running to the vet, but thats just me. I think he's probably just fine. But thats just me Ron- you know how duh I can be though. Shellie |
| I ditto Shellie... |
| It does sound like a hair folicle got infected. I'd just keep an eye on it for a few days and make sure it doesn't get bigger. Hot moist towels should help to draw whatever is left to be expressed to the surface. |
| It sounds like folliculitis(sp) , when a hair follicle under the skin gets infected. Keep an eye on it, he may need an antibiotic. |
| I never updated this with the results.
Well, after the second expressing, the thing really started to get irritated and swell. It swelled to about 2 inches across, perhaps 1/2 an inch tall. Time to see the vet. Our regular vet (the owner of the 4 vet practice) is tied up, but one of his colleagues is available. I am convinced this is an infected follicle and the vet is in agreement, and prescribes Clavamox which, according to what I find on the 'net, is particularly well suited for skin infections. I wanted the vet to surgically remove the infected follicle and then proceed with the Clavamox. A very, very small incision would be enough to remove the hard substance that was still left in there, in my opinion, and I would think it could be done with just a local anesthetic. She declines, saying there's no need to put Mulligan through a surgery. I predict that we'll just be back here for surgery in a week, both to her and to Joan. The vet insists that "the protocol" does not include surgery as the first option. So, Clavamox it is. Unfortunately, Clavamox is quite pricey. It's about $2.50 a pill, and Mulligan needs 3 pills per day (2 x 1 1/2 pills). 7 days = $53, plus the vet bill, we're up to about $100. Mulligan tolerates the medicine extremely well, no side effects that we can discern. The 7 days pass, and the thing has reduced in size, back to about 1/2 the original size when we noticed it for the first time, but is not completely gone. I hope that there is some residual activity of the Clavamox and that the small mass left is just residual scarring. No such luck. It flares up again, just before Joan and I are going on a little 2 week vacation to Maine. After phone consultation with our regular vet, he wants to now do a surgery. Roles are now reversed. I tell him about our plans, and suggest that we try another round of the Clavamox, and if this round doesn't solve the problem, we can go forward with the surgery in two weeks. He agrees and prescribes a 14 day regimen ($100) of Clavamox. This time, the antibiotic approach is successful, and Mulligan is cured. |
| Hi Ron
I am glad to hear Mulligan did not have to have surgery, but pills from the vets can get very expensive. I hadn't heard of a hair folicle being infected before, something else to look out for. I have to check daily for dear ticks and grass seeds. It is a typical drizzly wet September afternoon here in the U.K. There are big black muddy footprints all over the carpets and 2 sleeping dogs trying to look inocent.  Time to get out the dyson I think.
Chris Frodo and Smeagol |
| Pooh gets lots of ingrown hairs on the belly side when he's shaved...it has sparked a few conversations with the groomer's assisitant.....
Glad he's doing fine!!!! |
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