Vet is stumped......what could this be?

[Jenrae]

Before I return to the vet, I thought I would see what the Hive has to suggest.

 

A few months ago I took my dog to the vet for bumps on the underside of her mouth and she also noticed a blister in my dogs mouth, just above her teeth. The vet prescribed an antibiotic for the bumps under her mouth, thinking bacterial infection, and said to watch the blister, thinking maybe it was from chewing on a bone.

 

The bumps did seem to lessen but then came back. The blister never went away. It will burst and then comes back in time.

 

Now, a few months later and I’ve noticed the blister appears to be in the gum, rather than on the gum, so to speak. There is actually a little dip in the surface of her gum when the blister is broken. I returned to the vet, and she has no clue what it is. She says it doesn’t appear to be cancer, as it is not black. She offered to do a scraping of the blister and send it for testing, but that would require sedation, which means a greater expense, so we chose the lesser of the two options, which was a new antibiotic that works better for issues in the mouth.

 

Well, it hasn’t helped the blister at all. The bumps under the chin seem a little less prominent but are still there. I’m beginning to think this is allergy related, but have no clue about the blister.

 

Before I return to the vet, I thought I would see what the hive might have to offer as suggestions.

 

Have you ever seen this in a dog? Sure could use ideas to try before spending more money at the vet!

 

 

[Pawz4me]

Some form of pemphigus? I think pemphigus vulgaris is the one that most often causes mouth lesions, but this source says pemphigus foliaceus can also affect the mouth.

 

A much more common and much easier to fix issue that can cause issues around the mouth is using plastic bowls. Dogs can have an allergic reaction to things in the plastic or to bacteria (plastic bowls are impossible to clean completely). I hope it's something that simple!

Edited September 8, 2016 by Pawz4me

[Stacia]

I asked my sister for advice (she has had a ton of dogs & cats, often ones that have had health problems). Her response:

 

Definitely get it scraped. That is my only suggestion. Then they can see what kind of cells are in it, and fix it in a more timely manner. (Multiple visits with small fixes will add up, and if it is something serious  - not all cancer is black - the sooner you catch it, the better - and cheaper - the treatment options are).

 

:grouphug:

[StephanieZ]

IME, I had a dog that got face sores a few times. The key for her was to wash it thoroughly with the special (chlorhexadine) wash the vet provided. (Honestly, soap and water might work as well). You had to wash it 2x/day. They RX'ed an antibiotic ointment of some sort, that helped a little, but THE KEY was the washing. It was some sort of bacterial skin infection, to my best understanding. As we all understand, washing the area frequently and properly would help (and did solve) a bacterial skin infection. Antibiotics can only do so much if you are constantly exposing open sores on wet skin (muzzle) to bacteria . . . You gotta' wash it! (After this happening two or three times, I figured out the washing is key thing, and never again needed vet treatment . . . as I'd just start washing it when the first sores came up, and then it'd be all good. 

 

FWIW, I prefer the "sudsing" type of wound wash with chlorhexidine for these sorts of things. You want to actually wash/suds/rinse the area, not just squirt on some typical human "wound wash" that is just a squirt and done thing. The washing part is the key to cleaning, IME.

 

That was decades ago, before dh was a vet . . . Now that he's a vet, I know that plastic bowls can be a problem. I'd get rid of any plastic water or food bowls and replace them with stainless steel. And, wash them well every other day or so as long as she's got the blisters/sores. Once she's all fine, then still wash weekly or so for general maintenance.  

 

Those things are easy to do, cheap, safe, and won't hurt the dog. So, I'd start that right now. Wash and dry the area 2x/day with a chlorhex wound wash that your vet will gladly sell you (and until you can get it, use a good soap and water . . . baby wash or any liquid body wash should be fine -- just do rinse well with whatever you use.) If you've got the antibiotic ointment from the vet, then apply it after the washing. 

 

But, IME, the washing was the key. You might not even need the antibiotic.

 

Also, IME, my dog was reacting to "Dog Chow" by Purina. Once I made a permanent switch to a higher quality food (Eukanuba back in the day when it was a great food, now Science Diet), we never had the problem again. Could have been coincidence, but I don't think so. (She'd have the problems when I was traveling with her and would pick up a random bag at the grocery . . . ) Anyway, if you are using a cheap food, I'd try to switch to a high quality food and see if that prevents future problems (as well as being better for the dog's overall health).

 

 

[Jenrae]

Wow. How has two weeks almost gone by?

 

Thank you for the advice that you all gave!

 

I've been busy with a family emergency, so my poor baby still has not gone back to the vet. She doesn't appear to be worse, but the antibiotic didn't clear up the bumps on the chin. They aren't terrible right now.

 

 

We do not use plastic bowls at all, so that isn't an issue. Plus the bowls get washed in the dishwasher every three days or so.

 

I will ask the vet about the special soap and see if that works for the chin bumps.

 

My main concern is the blister on the gum line. It has burst and there is an indentation in the gum as I said previously. I'm currently using a rinse designed for human use on it. I soak a cotton ball and hold it on the blister for a minute or so. I was hoping I'd see some improvement with this over time. I will probably return to the vet and proceed with having the gum scraped.

 

Thanks everyone!

[Pegasus]

The blister on the gum line that bursts and then comes back sounds like a tooth abscess to me.  Antibiotics should clear up something like that though.

 

The bumps under the mouth.  I don't understand the location.  Just under the lips or on the chin?  We had pets with chin bumps and were told it was a contact allergy.  We changed their bowls from plastic to ceramic and applied witch hazel occasionally to the chin and it cleared up.

 

Sorry! I hope you find the problem soon. It wouldn't hurt to switch to a low allergy food for a while and see if that helps.