Swelling on side of dogs neck, near jaw

[longtompot]

I will be calling the vets in the morning

Just petting my cocker spaniel, almost 12, when I noticed she has quite a large lump/swelling on one side of her face. It's sort of below her jaw and about 8cm in diameter. Not hard but I daren't press it too hard in case it hurts her. She has yelped a few times when fussed around one of her ears, which might be this side, so could it be a swelling in her ear? Or do you think it's more likely to be her jaw and a tooth issue? I don't even want to think it could be something more sinister.
She is so scared of going to the vets, so I just want to prepare myself for what they might do? If it's aspirated do they do that there and then or would she need to stay in and be sedated or under a GA?
I know it's asking how long is a piece of string, but any advice would be really appreciated.

My springer has the same, it’s soft & mobile but huge. I was worried it hurt him or may affect his hearing. But no, it’s just a large fatty lump, they aspirated it on the day & that’s what the results showed.
I guess if she’s yelped though it could be an abscess?

@Offredismysister Thank you. She does have a fatty lump on her side, I hope it's the same thing. I guess it just surprised me to feel it there, as it feels like it's suddenly appeared but maybe it hasn't.
She didn't yelp when I touched it, it was just when she was getting ear scritches from my dh and our niece the other day.

Hi vet nurse here , swellings in lower jaw area can sometimes be connected to the salivary glands , they can get cysts/infections.
Could be a tooth problem but obviously there can be sinister reasons for a swelling.
The vet may do a fine needle aspirate at the time of the consult if the dog will allow ,it is quick and often they don't feel a thing, the vet may be able to tell what the cause is from the fna or may send to lab for hisology.
Alternatively they may advise sedation or ga to do a thorough exam/investigation of the swelling and take any samples or perform any surgical procedures at the same time .

My lurcher had a salivary gland infection which sounds similar. It was washed out under a sedative and she was given antibiotics. Please see the vet.

My dog had a huge lipoma appear over the course of a weekend on his chest , it wasn’t there on Sunday morning when he went for his walk and was by bedtime . On the Monday when we went to the vets the vet thought it was going to be something else because of the speed of growth but we biopsied it and that’s all it is . It doesn’t bother him , would be very difficult to remove due to where it is and because of his age and other co morbidities we’ve left well alone . It doesn’t seem to bother him .

@tsmainsqueeze thank you. I think she'd have to be asleep for them to do it, but we shall see.
I wonder if this is linked to recent changes in her behaviour. We thought she was being naughty on walks as she wouldn't come when called. My dh had to take over earlier this year when I was away for a week and then had an operation so couldn't walk her, but it seems she has lost some of her hearing. She is also sleeping a lot more and is noisy with it, where she has never made snoring noises.

@Floralnomad that must have been concerning but glad it was nothing to worry about.

@Freysimo I did say at the start of my post I would be contacting the vet

Went to the vets and he thinks it an infection as she has a raging temp of 39.5. She has had antibiotic and anti inflammatory injections and we will take her back on the morning to check to see if they have helped. If not, then she will be sedated so they can have a proper look and clean out. The next step would be a ct scan. He doesn't however think it's a cancer which is a relief, but obviously he can be 100% on that.
It was a really tough time to be there this morning as there were two sets of owners saying goodbye to their pets. The reception had a lit candle, and I was just sat there sobbing for pets I don't even know.

That sounds like quite a positive outcome and hopefully the antibiotics will work . Sounds like a depressing morning for your vet , ours has a little lantern that they light on these occasions mainly to indicate to others in the waiting room that there is likely to be a delay . I’m planning on having mine done at home when the time comes .

I think we will too if we can @Floralnomad as the vets is at the back of Pets at Home, and I don't fancy coming out bawling to face the general public shopping for new puppies etc
The vet is a new one but he seems really good, and honest. He said the gold service is ct scan but if it were his dog he'd do medication, then sedation for investigation and cleaning, and he wouldn't put his through a ct scan.
I've already said due to her age, if it was cancer I'd have it removed if possible but wouldn't put her through chemo. I'd rather a few weeks of her happy as she can be, than months or years of feeling poorly because of medication.

We are fortunate as the pet crematorium that we’ve used for all our pets for the last 30 yrs ( horses to Guinea pigs) has an end of life vet that does home visits for dogs and domestic pets .

Her temperature is up to 40.1 this morning and the swelling has spread. She has had two more injections of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory and we also have antibiotics to give her twice a day at home for 10 days. Back tomorrow to check her temperature, hopefully it'll start to come back down. The vet thinks it's cellulitis, which, when chatting in the car after the first visit and remembering the cat swiped at her on Friday, might explain it.
Bought some tinned food as she is struggling with her kibble, even when soaked in hot water. Just need to think about what to give her instead of her bedtime Bonio as they do not soften well.

Probably is the cats fault 😀. Some of the dental type bones like the Lilys kitchen ones are quite soft as a Bonio replacement .Hope the antibiotics start to work and it doesn’t spread further .

Another vet visit today and her temp is while still high, has come down. She is now on a second antibiotic to really get on top of the infection. The lump has gone from being squishy to now much firmer and it hasn't spread. It is on her neck so is making her breathing noisy especially when asleep and she is snoring more. I don't think the vet was concerned where it is affecting her in any way badly.
She is feeling better in herself, and for the first time in a few days got out of bed without prompting and jumped onto my bed to say hello. She has also back to being my shadow instead of sleeping or lying in doorways.
So now we wait and see and keep a close eye to make sure she continues getting better, doesn't relapse and see what the abscess does. He said it should just go, it might burst or just weep, or she might still need sedation to drain it.

It’s good that her temp is coming down