Bump on my mini dachshund's face, pics

[mmseng]

Hi, my local vet is closed today (Sunday), and I just noticed that my 7 y/o miniature dachshund has a rather large bump on her face.

It's about half way between her left eye and the left corner of her mouth. It actually feels like bone. It does not seem to be connected to the skin. I felt around in her mouth (as much as she would let me) to make sure there wasn't some food stuck in there. From the inside it feels as though the bump starts just behind/above the upper gum at the back of her mouth, outside the teeth.

It does not seem to be causing her any pain, and fiddling with it elicited no painful reactions. It's not disturbingly big (yet) and if she had a similar bump on the right side of her face I might have passed it off as part of her cheekbone. But when viewed from the front or top, her profile is quite clearly asymmetric.

The following are links to pictures of her face. They were the best I could get as she just won't stay still for me!

Here is the bump looking at the left side of her face:
http://bluehost.mattseng.com/images/...tside_bump.jpg
http://bluehost.mattseng.com/images/...side_bump2.jpg
http://bluehost.mattseng.com/images/...side_bump3.jpg
http://bluehost.mattseng.com/images/...side_bump4.jpg

Compare to the following pics of the right side of her face, notice the difference in where the light shines on her fur:
http://bluehost.mattseng.com/images/...ide_nobump.jpg
http://bluehost.mattseng.com/images/...de_nobump2.jpg

From the front:
http://bluehost.mattseng.com/images/...nt_profile.jpg
http://bluehost.mattseng.com/images/...t_profile2.jpg
http://bluehost.mattseng.com/images/...t_profile3.jpg

From the top (these tell the story the best):
http://bluehost.mattseng.com/images/...op_profile.jpg
http://bluehost.mattseng.com/images/...p_profile2.jpg
http://bluehost.mattseng.com/images/...p_profile3.jpg

Thanks so much for any advice. I will be making an appointment with the vet tomorrow, but it's killing me not knowing what to think of this.

== Matt

[rainbow]

Welcome to pets.ca Matt

It may be an abscessed tooth. Definitely should be looked at by your vet so glad you are making an appt. Good luck and please keep us updated.

[Bina]

Many years ago I had a German SHepherd with a similar swelling, his bump was from an infected molar tooth root at the back of the mouth. Vet did an extraction, gave antib pills and the dog was just fine.

[mmseng]

Thank you guys for your replies. I know not to count my chickens yet, but you've at least given me some hope where before there was only racing questions.

This dog already had the ever-common dachshund disc-slip (actually a burst disc). It was a terrible few days for her and us. But the University of Illinois Veterinary Hospital did a fantastic job with her and she made a full recovery in less than a year and has been fine ever since. So since then I've always worried about her perhaps more than is good for me. But perhaps with any luck my local vet clinic, or ultimately the vet hospital can work their magic again.

Thanks again.

[mmseng]

The vet wasn't sure what the bump was. Said it didn't really seem like a regular abscessed tooth, because it's too hard. She gave us antibiotics for a week and said to report back any changes. Of course it could be a cyst. But I'd be lying if I said the C word wasn't in the back of my mind.

[mmseng]

After a week of antibiotics the bump hasn't gotten any worse, but not much better either. It might be a tiny bit smaller... maybe. But it's hard to tell because the skin around it is fairly loose, so from the outside it tends to look slightly different depending on how the skin lays.

We took her back to the vet who said that it is possible that it's just an infection, but that it may be way down at the root (which is basically what I thought an "abscessed tooth" actually IS). Doesn't seem like much more of a diagnosis than before, but she sent us home with 4 more weeks of antibiotics.

Outwardly, the dog still seems fine. Normal behavior.