**Vet appointment is scheduled for tomorrow, I just want to see if I can possibly find some peace of mind before then so I can sleep tonight!**

Has anyone ever experience a lump under their dog's jaw? Finley developed a huge lump on her neck under her jaw yesterday very suddenly. Left for my birthday dinner and came back home 2 hrs later to find her neck looking really odd. It feels almost like a bubble or balloon, not hard at all and moves a bit. She hasn't seemed bothered at all, eats/drinks/plays just like normal. The vet said it is a cause for concern...anybody have any experience with something similar? I'm freaking out! I would put a picture but its hard to see in photos.

Could it be a tick?

no, its not anything on the skin its more like internal kind of like a cyst :/

I'm not exactly positive, but I think a tick can be like a cyst. If their body breaks off, by like scratching or something, the head stays in the skin and swells up.

I was thinking maybe teeth issues but you say she's eating and drinking fine. Ugh, I'm so sorry I can't be more help, and I really hope she's ok!

oh gosh i hope not! her fur is so dense its hard to find anything on it. Thank you, ill post in here tomorrow if we find out whats going on!

I just searched tick under the skin images, because to be honest, I've never actually seen them, just heard of them, and I don't know...it looks kinda like a wart in a way and that doesn't sound like what you are describing.

how big would you say it is?

its probably golf ball size, maybe a little bigger

i looked it up on google, and most of what im seeing is something in the salivary glands but what do i know

I just did the same thing one I read sounds VERY MUCH like what your pup has, and the vet mentioned a ruptured salivary gland. He/she also mentions foreign bodies such as thorn or an insect bite, and if playing with other dogs, possibly an abcess or something like that from being bitten possibly

That was my initial thought! Because we go to the dog park every day and she plays rough with her best friends, but im a worrier so i just want my baby to be okay!

I want her ok too! Please update us when you find out! One thing positive from what I read was that if the pup is eating/drinking normally and isn't in any obvious discomfort, that it's a good sign! So hopefully that can ease your mind tonite a bit.

Thank you! just dropped her off at our vet while i take a test at school, hopefully when I come back we will know soon after!

Kinda sounds like a swollen lymph node to me but I admit I'm not real up to date on where they fall on dogs. Fatty tumors usually come on a little slower. Curious to hear what it is. Coming on as fast as you say is puzzling. I suspect they will give you antibiotics and say watch it to see if it changes size. I wouldn't worry too terribly much since it's soft. The hard ones are the ones that make me nervous.

I can't add anything. To me it also sounds more like a reaction to a bite /scratch, etc. Its rapid appearance makes it sound less like something medically bad.
I too am curious to see what your vet finds.

update! Vet says its her salivary gland. Swollen and filled with saliva due to "trauma to the area", we are assuming from playing too rough and having her neck grabbed onto by other dogs at the park. she did an aspiration and tested the fluid and prescribed some antibiotics and anti-inflammatory pills. Vet says no more playing rough, so i'm not sure what we're gonna be able to do exercise-wise besides walking.

At least it's not something super serious! Thanks so much for updating, I have personally never even heard of this kind if thing! Hope she feels better soon!

Just came from the vet myself, Mishka hasn't been herself lately. She had a piece of stick lodged in her pooper. Warning to all those that have pups that like to chew on sticks. Mishka must have swallowed a piece.

thank goodness she is okay.
Oh my. Jimmy. hope Mishka get better soon.

@Meg1995 Thanks for the followup, I think you had several of us curious. Maybe you can up the play level as she gets older.  Hopefully this was just a problem of playing with the big kids?

Artic_Wind wrote:

I'm not exactly positive, but I think a tick can be like a cyst. If their body breaks off, by like scratching or something, the head stays in the skin and swells up.

I was thinking maybe teeth issues but you say she's eating and drinking fine. Ugh, I'm so sorry I can't be more help, and I really hope she's ok!

Jimmy - a tick on the skin looks like a watermelon seed, either small if slightly engorged or large if a fully engorged dog tick (as opposed to a deer tick which is smaller) The bodies are sort of squishy and the tick usually is at least at a 30° angle to the skin. Once the tick is removed, a small ( as in slightly less thanb the diameter of a dime) hard spot may develop but it is hard, not soft and nothing like a cyst.

Amy, that is why I followed up by actually looking at images of ticks. It was the ticks that get scratched off, but the head remains, I theorized could look like a cyst, but saw from images it looked more like a wart or something. I had heard they swell up into a bubble! So not the case, lol. Thanks Amy!

Thank you all for the concerns and well wishes! Finley is still feeling fine, we're just waiting for her medicine to start kicking in. we will probably still go to the park but tone down the rough housing for a bit!

update: had our follow up appointment this week...her vets wants her husband (other vet) to look at it before doing a biopsy. They gave me an estimate of the costs and it was a whopping $750...so I think we will be getting a second opinion elsewhere. but has anyone had a biopsy done on their pet before? I'm not sure if this price estimate is standard or if they're overcharging me..let me know!