Swollen throat.

Dr. Marie replied:

Sorry to hear that Rocky is having problems.

There are a few things that can cause a dog's throat to swell like this.

The first is an allergic reaction to an insect sting. This can cause swelling in the face, neck, nose or eyes. If it is an allergic reaction he may get some benefit from Benadryl. You can give 1 mg per pound. Each tablet is 25 mg. So, if your dog weighed 75 pounds, this would be 3 tablets. However, if this is an allergic reaction severe enough to cause breathing issues then he may need to have antihistamine and steroid injections given by the vet.

The next possibility is if the lymph nodes are swelling. Hopefully this is not the case. Swollen lymph nodes are often a sign of cancer. It may seem strange to have them swell all of a sudden, but I have seen some dogs that do this.

An abscess is also a possibility. An abscess would have started with some sort of wound (but often the cause is not known.) If this is an abscess then it's going to need to be treated with oral antibiotics and possibly even some surgery.

Whatever the problem is, it sounds like something that shouldn't wait. Hopefully Rocky can see a vet really soon

---This question was asked in our Ask A Vet For Free section.---


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