What could be causing this?? :(

[K9soul]

This weekend I noticed the area around one of Tasha's whiskers looked a little irritated, not bleeding or inflamed but just perhaps slightly swollen around one whisker. I thought perhaps in her playing with Tommy she might have gotten nicked there. Today I could definitely notice it from father away, so when I called her over into good lighting and looked really close, this is how it looks now :(

http://www.doordolt.com/jess/Dogs%2015/tashaouch.jpg

It looks like it is irritated around more of the whiskers on that side, and the whole area seems puffy and weepy. What could be causing it? Tommy never grabs her face when they play so I really don't think it's from playing. I think I'm going to call the vet. :(

[GraciesMommy]

Well it sure looks painful!! I would see about having it looked at to be safe..wouldn't want it to get infected..

[greysandmoregreys]

Did her nails get cut recently? Could it be that she was scratching at her face and cause a irritated area?

Just some thoughts :)

[K9soul]

Oh my gosh yes, I just cut her nails Friday. I never thought of that once. I should have filed the edges, I never thought of that :(.

Rather than add another post, I just wanted to edit and add this in:

Greys I'm amazed you thought of that so quickly. I'm the one who clipped her nails and I didn't make the connection even though I clipped her nails Friday afternoon and had the first irritation show up this weekend. :o The only thing that registered was "something's wrong and it's getting worse!" and I was very concerned. Thanks again, now I know what I need to do :)

[ramanth]

Kia does that when her nails get clipped. Anywhere she scratches looks real icky.

Get better soon Tasha! *hugs to Tasha*

[K9soul]

She keeps pawing at her face and licking her lips or rubbing her face on the floor/furniture now. I'm worried she's going to make it get a lot bigger. I wonder if I should clip the whiskers that are in the irritated area? Do you think whenever those whiskers touch something that it irritates it more?

[greysandmoregreys]

The scratches are probably healing up and you know when you have a cut or scratch when they start to heal they get more itchy.

I wouldn't worry about cutting the wiskers I would just make sure that the area stays clean and that it doesn't get infected.

You could try putting on some antibiotic cream or some Neosporin.

My guess by the end of the week it will be all better and maybe even gone by then :)

Just glad I can help :)

[K9soul]

It is already looking better now, but at the time I posted this she wouldn't leave it alone and had scraped the scab off plus made a couple other tiny nicks in her muzzle. I can't figure out why because I took a file and really made sure her nails were blunted. I put some bacitracin ointment I have on it though, and after that other horrible incident tonight (posted about in DG) she has left it be and it looks better again.

This was how it looked earlier though :(

http://www.doordolt.com/jess/Dogs%2015/tashaouch2.jpg

[greysandmoregreys]

Looking better already :)

[Giselle]

I had the same problem with Lucky (peke). Except his were in his wrinkles and bled all the time. They scabbed and opened and look just like yours. He also rubbed his face and scratched at it and everything. Eventually, we went to the vet and he ruled out allergies, mites, fleas, and came to Hotspots! He prescribed us a cream to apply on the affected area every day for a week or so. I literally had to fight Lucky, but the cream worked! I also changed Lucky's food (from Professional Adult to Wysong), and we've never had hot spots since. I also clean that area and try to keep moisture to a minimum by swabbing the wrinkles with a cottonball. Good Luck, and you might want to ask your vet about hotspots.

[RottiMommy49]

You could try putting on some antibiotic cream or some Neosporin.

Gee it looks sore and open and there looks like a few more tiny ones in the one pic you posted. I would clean it with saline solution and apply some neosporin also. I hope it heals quickly!

(((Healing Hugs)))

Deb, Monty and Kiki
http://ibelieveinangels.mypicgallery.com/rottiangels/debrotts_large.jpg

[K9soul]

I just wanted to thank everyone again for the concern and responses. At this point I'm keeping a close eye on her, keeping the areas cleaned and some neosporin applied. It looked better this morning but then later today she was rubbing her face on the floor (she rubs her face on things a lot, sore or no sore) and scraped the scab off again. This evening it is looking closer to what it did this morning. Hopefully we can get it to healing, but if she keeps reinjuring it or if it won't heal I'll take her in to the vet.

[micki76]

Do you have a cone she could wear? That would allow it time to heal without her re-injuring it.

It looks painful. :(

[K9soul]

I'm actually hoping we can get it healed without resorting to a cone for her because she hates the cone with a passion and I'm afraid she'll hurt it more in her efforts to get it off. When we got her spayed, she would NOT give up on trying to get the cone off, She actually managed once to get it unfastened by just rubbing her head/neck back and forth over anything and everything. I will use one if it needs to be done but I want to see if we can avoid it first.

It's definitely looking improved today. Here is how it looks now:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/k9soul/Tasha%20and%20Tommy/Misc/tashaouch3.jpg

[tatsxxx11]

Looking lots better Jess:):):) I'm still wondering though what the source of irritation might have been? It almost sounds like a hot spot area or a response to some sort of allergen. Has your vet ever prescribed Benadryl for either of the pups? My Lab Jing used to suffer from hives and itching and the Benadryl helped a lot to relieve the itch/irritaion/inflammation. But hopefully in a day or two she'll be almost good as new:) Give dear Tasha Baby a big hug for me and please keep us updated:)

[Logan]

I can't see the picture, but I'm so glad she's better, Jessica! :)

I have Honey and Lilly on Benadryl, right now. Lilly is scratching and itching on her belly and has some angry looking areas. Honey's eyes are runny and she seems to be itchy too. I'm hoping to get it under control with the Benadryl before I have to take them to the vet.

Logan

[K9soul]

It's hard for me to believe that it could be allergies, as she is nearly 6 years old and has never in her life had hotspots or allergy problems of any kind. Also once greys brought up nail clipping I realized it had shown up 1-2 days after I clipped her nails, so I still feel that is the most likely cause, that she scratched her face with a newly clipped nail and made a raw spot, and then made it worse by either scratching it more or rubbing her face on the floor/couch. Would Benadryl help itching from any cause such as the normal itching of a healing wound, or does it just help with allergic type itching?

[tatsxxx11]

Yes, it would still help Jess. But since you're pretty sure it's not an allergic reaction, I'd probably hold off; it will make her sleepy:( But if she continues to be itchy, you might try some mild cortisone cream:) Get better soon Tasha!

[greysandmoregreys]

WOW, looking great just after a couple of days. I still hold to that by this weekend you won't even know it was there :)