It seems like I'm always writing about the health problems of one of my females. She's not even 2 years old yet and already she's riddled with problems of one kind or another. Well, this time, I noticed she was real lethargic one Sunday evening. She hadn't been run in a week, so I was pretty sure that she wasn't sore or overheated. Then, I noticed a huge lump on her side (her right side, or, if you're looking down on her, the left.) I took her to the vet, he feels as though it may be an abcess, although we didn't see a point of entry. One of our other females had an abcess a long time ago and that situation seemed very different. He gave her an antibiotic shot, and two-weeks' worth of medication. My husband is upset- he feels as though the vet should have done an X-ray, or tried to lance the lump if he thought it was an abcess. I guess we'll be taking her back in 2 weeks if the lump has not gone away.
To make matters worse, I swear I feel another smaller lump on her back.
I keep feeling as though we'll have problems with this dog's health for the rest of her life. She's odd- even though she is a full-blooded beagle, she has green eyes, pink lips and a gun-metal gray color in her fur where you would expect black to be. Are her health problems in some way related to her genetics? What do we do now?
tennis ball-sized lump
Moderators: Pike Ridge Beagles, Aaron Bartlett
tennis ball-sized lump
Happiness is owning a beagle...or seven.
No, the feeling was even on and around it, kind of like the lump that forms on the upper rear part of your arm, when you straighten it out. The difference in feeling on yours sounds like a abscess/infection, the antibotic should clear it up, we've noticed infected glands shrink to half the size the next day after anitbotics but take the rest of a week or better to go away. We've had hounds lance their own infection pockets by scratching at them. Most foreign objects will try to work themselves out or be encysted by the body which will leave the hard little knot. Hope it clears up for you...Patch
The strange colors don't necessarily explain why this bitch is unhealthy, but they could. There are breeders who breed specifically for certain traits above all else because unique things sell or can be sold for more $$$. When it comes to breeding for rarer traits, they've got a smaller gene pool with which to work with and aren't usually making as much of an effort to weed-out genetically unhealthy breeding stock. So it all goes back to how reputable your breeder was.
They gray you speak of is not unusual. I've seen beagles with this color instead of black called "blue beagles," in which case it's simply a diluted black coat. This page shows a variety of colors...I've heard people complain that it is inaccurate in some ways, but it may answer some questions you have http://clubs.akc.org/NBC/beagle_colors.htm . Check out the section on dilutes.
As for the vet not doing an x-ray...for every person who wishes a vet would've done more, there's someone who complains about their vet charging them for an x-ray that was unnecessary either to make more money or because he "didn't know what he was doing."
They gray you speak of is not unusual. I've seen beagles with this color instead of black called "blue beagles," in which case it's simply a diluted black coat. This page shows a variety of colors...I've heard people complain that it is inaccurate in some ways, but it may answer some questions you have http://clubs.akc.org/NBC/beagle_colors.htm . Check out the section on dilutes.
As for the vet not doing an x-ray...for every person who wishes a vet would've done more, there's someone who complains about their vet charging them for an x-ray that was unnecessary either to make more money or because he "didn't know what he was doing."
Boomer-
The website you directed me to was very interesting. The one shot of the six-week old pup reminds me a lot of Peanut when she was that age.
Our vet is very reasonably priced- I wish my husband would look at it that way. (Not that any price is too large when it comes to our dogs, though.)
Here's another point to ponder- I went to the vet on Tuesday, today is the Tuesday after (one week.) After a week of being on antibiotic pills, the lump doesn't really seem to have gotten any smaller, just a bit more mushy in places. I've been putting hot compresses on her side to try and get it to burst. No luck yet. What do you think?
-Tri
The website you directed me to was very interesting. The one shot of the six-week old pup reminds me a lot of Peanut when she was that age.
Our vet is very reasonably priced- I wish my husband would look at it that way. (Not that any price is too large when it comes to our dogs, though.)
Here's another point to ponder- I went to the vet on Tuesday, today is the Tuesday after (one week.) After a week of being on antibiotic pills, the lump doesn't really seem to have gotten any smaller, just a bit more mushy in places. I've been putting hot compresses on her side to try and get it to burst. No luck yet. What do you think?
-Tri
Happiness is owning a beagle...or seven.
Seems like the lump is "coming to a head." As I mentioned before, I've been putting hot compresses on it, trying to get it to pop.
This female (along with her mom and sister who we also have) makes a really good hunting pack. We've got to get her ready to go! PA rabbit season starts soon!
Also, as a side note- this female was the result of a cross that was made between 2 dogs that we already had. Since this litter was unplanned (which is, in itself, an interesting story,) we kept 3 of the 7 pups and gave the rest to family and close friends. She was the only one with the dilute colors. The rest are tri-color hounds.
This female (along with her mom and sister who we also have) makes a really good hunting pack. We've got to get her ready to go! PA rabbit season starts soon!
Also, as a side note- this female was the result of a cross that was made between 2 dogs that we already had. Since this litter was unplanned (which is, in itself, an interesting story,) we kept 3 of the 7 pups and gave the rest to family and close friends. She was the only one with the dilute colors. The rest are tri-color hounds.
Happiness is owning a beagle...or seven.
Well, the area has definitely gone down in its swelling. There are still some "hard" spots, though. I guess the vet was right- it was an abscess. She even popped it a few times on her own, and lots of reddish fluid came out. She's definitely feeling like her old self, though. My husband took her hunting the other day. Unfortunately, her listening skills weren't that great. Seems as though she had her own agenda.
Any thoughts of whether or not the hair will grow back in that area?
Any way to prevent this in the future, or is it just a common occurance in hunting dogs?
I'm just glad she's o.k. Rabbit season is just underway here in PA!
Any thoughts of whether or not the hair will grow back in that area?
Any way to prevent this in the future, or is it just a common occurance in hunting dogs?
I'm just glad she's o.k. Rabbit season is just underway here in PA!
Happiness is owning a beagle...or seven.