# Ulcer in mouth



## Vizsla_Luka (Sep 8, 2015)

Our 4.5 month old male vizsla has an ulcer in his mouth. I noticed a lump towards the back of his mouth on the right hand side of his mouth last Saturday (3 days ago). When I inspected inside his mouth, I saw an ulcer with quite a white large head. It doesn't seem to be causing pain. There seems to be a lump about the size of a blueberry. The texture is exactly like what you would get if you bit yourself inside your mouth (but bigger!) 

Today the ulcer has turned more red in the head with what looks like a small laceration at the tip. He is teething at the moment, so I'm hoping it's just that he's bit himself rather than having a foreign object embedded inside in his cheek... I have an appointment with the vet next Tuesday so thinking I'll keep an eye on it and wait to talk to the very until then. Has anyone else had something similar with their dogs? 

Do I need to go to the vet straight away? Or monitor for a few more days?


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## organicthoughts (Oct 9, 2012)

There could be a grass seed in there and it looks like an abcess might form. I would definitely be checking in at the vet.


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## Vizsla_Luka (Sep 8, 2015)

organicthoughts said:


> There could be a grass seed in there and it looks like an abcess might form. I would definitely be checking in at the vet.


Thanks organicthoughts! Have made an appointment this afternoon to see the vet.


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## Vizsla_Luka (Sep 8, 2015)

organicthoughts said:


> There could be a grass seed in there and it looks like an abcess might form. I would definitely be checking in at the vet.


Hi, turns out something was lodged in there, the vet couldn't get it out as the lump was already quite big around the foreign body. Been given antibiotics but he expects that the foreign body won't expel itself, so we'll have to go in for surgery eventually.

Complicated by the fact that Luka has a heart murmur that now needs looking into, as he may not be able to go under anaesthetics due to said heart murmur.

Thanks again for your response Organicthoughts, I think we were late taking Luka to get the mouth looked at, but it would have been even later if it wasn't for your post!


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## organicthoughts (Oct 9, 2012)

No problem. I have seen dogs with similar things and it turns out to be a grass seed or a piece of stick that gets lodged in there and weeks/months later an abcess forms and it breaks open. That would be a better option than surgery. 

I really don't think surgery would be necessary in this situation. Try to coax the foreign body out by putting hot compresses on the outside of his cheek adjacent to the lump.

Hopefully the antibiotics speed that process up. They should! Let us know how it goes and hopefully as the swelling goes down, the lump opens up and the foreign body expels on its own.


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## Vizsla_Luka (Sep 8, 2015)

oh! So in this case it would be a good thing if an abcess forms! OK, I will do a hot compress.
He woke up this morning with his cheek quite swollen, they poked around good in there trying to find the thing! He starts the antibiotics today which should help with the swelling. I think it's most likely a piece of wood, as I recall last Thursday on a walk through the woods he was trying to run with a narly looking branch and yelped. Think a splinter must have got him.

Will keep you updated!


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## Vizsla_Luka (Sep 8, 2015)

organicthoughts said:


> No problem. I have seen dogs with similar things and it turns out to be a grass seed or a piece of stick that gets lodged in there and weeks/months later an abcess forms and it breaks open. That would be a better option than surgery.
> 
> I really don't think surgery would be necessary in this situation. Try to coax the foreign body out by putting hot compresses on the outside of his cheek adjacent to the lump.
> 
> Hopefully the antibiotics speed that process up. They should! Let us know how it goes and hopefully as the swelling goes down, the lump opens up and the foreign body expels on its own.


Hi organicthoughts, Luka finished his course of antibiotics last Thursday and the lump has disappeared. There is some scarring where the vet made the cut inside his cheek, but when he was looked at by the vet today, they thought the foreign body was gone. Given this, and the fact that the scar tissue is going down and not getting bigger, I'm hopeful this means it's resolved itself!

We did a hot compress regularly on him, and it seems it did the trick! Thanks a lot for your advice


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