# Any Idea What This Is? (Pics)



## Jayar (Feb 6, 2012)

Hi guys,

Does anyone have any idea what this might be? We are working with the vet. Actually, we are on our second vet. Still no clear answer.

The important stuff:

- It started as a tiny pinhead, that swelled a little within an hour and plateaued. It looked like a meibomian cyst.
- BECAUSE it looked like a meibomian cyst, I did warm compress. I did not treat it like an infection, thus I spread the infection to what you see here. :-(
- It is NOT itchy. At all.
- It seemed to worsen with topical steroid use.
- A scraping did not show demodex mites.
- It seems to be improving with antibiotic use in terms of discharge, but the swelling isn't going down.
- There are no other symptoms whatsoever. No other infected areas. No lethargy, loss of appetite, lameness, etc. Nothing.

This photo is from BEFORE we began treatment:










This photo is from AFTER 2-3 days of topical steroid use (which has stopped) and it is about what it looks like today:










Any ideas? Anything at all we haven't considered helps. As it stands, it is looking like we will continue the antibiotics for secondary infection, and possibly start Ivermectin for the mites we cannot find in scrapings. We don't know what else to consider.


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## lulu'smom (Jan 4, 2012)

Oh I am sooo sorry for your little one!!! I do not have any idea, but I just wanted to send my healing thoughts and prayers and hope someone knowledgeable has an idea. Please keep us posted.


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## Evelyn (Oct 14, 2012)

I don't know what it could be, but it looks like it hurts , poor little one, I hope it goes away soon.


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## 4bsingreece (Apr 11, 2012)

That looks painful  


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## Chihuahuasloveme (Jan 8, 2010)

Hmmm not sure poor baby. What about allergies? I know you said not itchy did you try benedryl In case?


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## pigeonsheep (Nov 8, 2008)

omggggg  i feel her pain  hope it goes away soon whatever it may be! i hate when vets dont know what things are!  they usually recommend a dog dermatologist


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## Jayar (Feb 6, 2012)

Hi guys, doesn't seem to cause her any discomfort - if it does hurt, she's being very brave and doesn't let on. Benedryl had no effect on it, but we aren't officially ruling out an allergy, but it just isn't behaving like an allergy.

The vet we are working with is really trying hard. I do feel like she cares, and it frustrates her just as much that she doesn't seem to have a conclusive answer. :-(


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## Rocky (Jan 25, 2010)

I think it could be an allergy. 
You could try to get an allergy test done or change his food. What is he eating at the moment?


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## BlueJax (Jun 25, 2012)

Did the vet perform a fluorescein stain test? What antibiotics have you tried/are trying?


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## Jennmay (Dec 31, 2011)

It you look i have pics of Holly eyes looked just like that last year. She had allergies that caused her to get infections in her eyes. A few days of Terramycin antibiotic eye ointment cleared hers right up.


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## Jayar (Feb 6, 2012)

Everyone seems to gravitate to allergy so we'll see what is involved with diagnosing that. She got the ZiwiPeak Venison & Fish, but then our store was out so we grabbed the Lamb formula. We switched back to the Venison & Fish when this problem happened, just in case.


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## Jayar (Feb 6, 2012)

BlueJax said:


> Did the vet perform a fluorescein stain test? What antibiotics have you tried/are trying?


Yes, we had a stain done... Nothing at all that prevented her from going onto the steroid ointment. No scratches or infection on the eye itself. This was last week, so may have changed (we go back to the vet tomorrow)

She is on Clavaseptin now, which is amoxicillin and clavulanic acid. We could try a different antibiotic.


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## Jayar (Feb 6, 2012)

She was also on two different eye ointments previously - the typical, some sort of "mycin", sulfate, etc. One had a steroid. One didn't. Neither helped. The steroid one appeared to worsen the eyelids so we stopped it after 2-3 days.


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## Jennmay (Dec 31, 2011)

Yeah here is Holly's eye's back in March. Scroll a bit to see like a reply i did in post with her pic of her eyes. I did Saline rinses as well as Terramycin salve it cleared hers took about a week though. http://www.chihuahua-people.com/chihuahua-questions/67381-swollen-eyelids.html


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## BlueJax (Jun 25, 2012)

Since so many antibiotics haven't worked, maybe you could get a culture done? To me it looks like a conjunctivitis/infection case.


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## LostLakeLua (Sep 6, 2009)

I looked at the pics over and over. I'm afraid I don't have much to suggest; and this is a long shot at that; but is it possible she had a bot fly?? I've seen them in cats at the vet clinic I used to work for. They are not common but as you mentioned the other treatments haven't been working, it's possible that's what it is. Especially with how you described how it initially showed up. On PETMD's site it mentions:

"Opthalmic symptoms:

Lesions (caused by the larvae in the eyeball)"

via: Botflies (Maggots) in Dogs | petMD

Again it's a long shot, but I figured since you're looking for any suggestion it was worth mentioning. Good luck and I hope it improves!


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## Jayar (Feb 6, 2012)

We have a diagnosis!

Puppy strangles.

Lymph nodes became enlarged late last night, and muzzle pustules began to form this morning. We came home from the vet with a steroid protocol.

The vet says we likely caught it in time to prevent any scarring of the muzzle, and there should be minimal if any scarring around her eyes. Let's pray this is the case.


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## Nancy (Feb 4, 2009)

I had to google strangles...I was going to say my dog gets the same things around her eyes...but steriods usually take care of it that and at times injectable antibotics...wow I sure hope the treatment helps...those pics of the strangles are very hard to look at...keep us updated

Nancy


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## Evelyn (Oct 14, 2012)

I googled also never hear of strangles, that is scary, so glad you went back to the vet, hope she heals quick and no scars.


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## woodard2009 (Aug 4, 2010)

Wow!! I've learned something new today!! I thought it was allergies too. Never heard of puppy strangles. So glad you got an answer early enough to fix the problem. Poor baby. Sounds like he's in good hands & will be acting like a puppy again soon.


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## Jmitchell&tiki (Oct 7, 2012)

Aww, your poor baby! I hope it all clears up quickly! Healing thoughts being sent your way.


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## Jennmay (Dec 31, 2011)

Oh wow never heard of that either. Yeah looked like allergies to me as well but i guess since you had tried meds already and it was not helping good thing you you found out.


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## BlueJax (Jun 25, 2012)

Strangles is basically cellulitis. Surprised it look so long for it to start showing on the muzzle! But so glad you finally got a diagnosis! Lots of love to your little girl, hoping she makes a complete recovery.


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## Jayar (Feb 6, 2012)

BlueJax said:


> Strangles is basically cellulitis. Surprised it look so long for it to start showing on the muzzle! But so glad you finally got a diagnosis! Lots of love to your little girl, hoping she makes a complete recovery.


Yeah, it certainly didn't present like a normal case. Heck, the initial "little spot on the eyelid" that seems to start all cases hung around for almost 2 weeks before it started to look even remotely like Juvenile Cellulitis. We were also thrown off because she's outside the typical age range by a couple of months.

She's looking a hundred times better already! The swelling is all but gone from her eyelids, and her lymph nodes are almost back to normal. I hope the follicles around her eyes weren't damaged so much that they can't recover, and I hope her slightly excessive tearing isn't permanent. It has been only 2 full days on Prednisone, though, so,we have hope for a full recovery... Possibly minus a few eyelashes that appear at this point a little too damaged. But we shall see.


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## woodard2009 (Aug 4, 2010)

Jayar said:


> Yeah, it certainly didn't present like a normal case. Heck, the initial "little spot on the eyelid" that seems to start all cases hung around for almost 2 weeks before it started to look even remotely like Juvenile Cellulitis. We were also thrown off because she's outside the typical age range by a couple of months.
> 
> She's looking a hundred times better already! The swelling is all but gone from her eyelids, and her lymph nodes are almost back to normal. I hope the follicles around her eyes weren't damaged so much that they can't recover, and I hope her slightly excessive tearing isn't permanent. It has been only 2 full days on Prednisone, though, so,we have hope for a full recovery... Possibly minus a few eyelashes that appear at this point a little too damaged. But we shall see.


Oh good! So glad to hear improvement!! I've been thinking about you & wondering how she's doing!! Thanks for the update.


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## Cream Chi's (Jan 24, 2011)

Aww get well soon little one x


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## Jayar (Feb 6, 2012)

Here's an updated pic from this morning, after 2 full days on Prednisone. Almost normal!


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## Evelyn (Oct 14, 2012)

Oh how good her eye look so much better. Now you can relax.


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## princess_ella (Jun 4, 2005)

Jayar said:


> Here's an updated pic from this morning, after 2 full days on Prednisone. Almost normal!


i had a chihuahua that got them as a pup since you are feeding a goood food try adding some probiotics


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## nabi (Nov 25, 2004)

Glad to see your little one is responding so well to the treatment...those eye lids looked very sore in the first pics !


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## Angelbaby (Jan 24, 2013)

have you had his tear ducts checked it looks like a blocked tear duct which swells is very itchy and they scratch causing further infection.mira had similar wounds face and body when she was rescued tried everything. use hot compresses to flush eye and than keep it dry.we gave her probiotic yogurt with her food. and rubbed a little aveeno baby rash cream on the sore to keep it dry and warm.


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