Lump in Neck

[KLJcowgirl]

Hello!

I found a lump last night while grooming May. It's on the front of her neck, about 3 inches down from her jaw. It's hard and about ping pong ball size. My first thought was maybe a lump of something stuck, so I tried massaging it and moving it along, but nothing. Then my very next thought was OH MY GOSH IT'S STRANGLES. I know it's super contagious, but I can not think of where she could have got it. We do have a Donk living with us right now, and she's been to the vet's for a tooth check, but that's the only outside contact.

Could it be an abscess or a cyst? Swelling? Spring allergies? She's just as perky as ever, breathing well and hasn't got any discharge from eyes or nose. Is this a wait and see thing? Or do I need to call the vet ASAP? THANKS! Pic of location below just because. (Don't mind her horrible haircut right now, I just missed her cute face under all that hair...)

 

[Cayuse]

She does have a cute face .
Does she have a temp? I would try and get a temp on her and if she has one, I'd be inclined to call the vet. Even without a temp, you could call the vet and maybe email them a picture to get an idea of what they think might be going on. Sometimes a phone call is worth the peace of mind.
My other thought is that she looks plumpish in the picture, could it be a fat deposit? Peanut gets lumps on his neck and bum when he gets a bit chubby.

 

[KLJcowgirl]

Haha she's not plumpish, she's PLUMP!

Thank you! I do kind of hate calling the vet, I always feel like I'm bugging them about trivial things (it's always been nothing when I call haha). Mines so good about everything so I don't know why I feel that way.

I think I'll get a temp, honestly hadn't thought of that, and give them a call.

She did so kindly let herself out yesterday while I was at work and was out on a lush pasture till I came home and that ran through my mind for some reason as some sort of correlation... gah.

 

[chandab]

With all the hair, really can't see much of anything. Strangles bumps are typically under the jaw, not on the neck.
Could she have poked herself on something? you wouldn't see a mark for all the hair.

 

[KLJcowgirl]

Yeah, even when I tried parting her hair I couldn't see it. Just could feel it.

I did finally talk myself out of the strangles scare haha. But that is good to know about the placement of the bumps.

Oooh she certainly could have poked herself. Maybe I'll wander tonight and see it anything jumps out at me.

 

[Marsha Cassada]

Could be something with the teeth. How long since she had her teeth done?
It's amazing what is under all that fur.

 

[KLJcowgirl]

Hmmmm... She actually hasn't had them done. I did have the vet check them out a couple weeks ago and he didn't think she needed them done just yet, said they felt good and thinks she has a good bite.

Their hair really is amazing haha

 

[Ryan Johnson]

My Tb had a lump like this and it ended up being a grass seed and an abscess had formed.

That is one cresty neck

 

[KLJcowgirl]

I know... she gained quite a bit this last fall before winter and it's been a struggle to get her weight down... it was way easier to get weight off my QH. Some of that is her mane, but it's definitely not good.

That's interesting. Did that go away on it's own or did it need to be removed?

 

[Ryan Johnson]

It needed to be drained as it became quite big and an antibiotic to get rid of the infection.

I would honestly ( and please take no offence i mean this in a friendly way) take your mare off pasture for a bit ( especially until the grass dies off and isnt as rich), I've had a mare with a neck like that founder and once it happens , theres no going back.

 

[KLJcowgirl]

Oh I take no offence to that! I always am happy for feedback. I got lazy last year honestly with the horses and am seriously regretting it this year, I promised myself when I got her I wasn't going to let her get fat, and, well... you see. I haven't let her on pasture at all this year.... but I forgot to clip her stall door shut the other day and she flipped the latch and got out, my stomach seriously flipped when I saw her out there. She's been in her stall that does have a small dry run she can go out to, and I've been working on getting her out and exercising her at least twice a week. I plan on bumping that up when everything isn't so muddy and yuck.

Temp is normal, and I tried to get pictures of the actual lump and just cannot see it! I will be giving my vet a quick call today.

 

[madmax]

If you clipped the hair over the lump you might see if their is a "hole" where she pricked it on something and it abscessed. Hot compresses would help it come to a head. It seems too low to be tooth related or strangles as you said on second thought. Hope all is well today.

 

[LuvMyBabies]

I'm kind of thinking it is an abcess perhaps. I'd let the vet look at it. Have you had shots lately? My Scooter gets a bump from shots sometimes. Another idea is a spider bite or some kind of sting?

 

[KLJcowgirl]

I sent my vet a message, so we'll see what he thinks.

I'm going to clip her neck tonight there and look for anything weird. She hasn't had her shots yet this year, so I'm sure it's not that. All is still well so far. No changes in mood or reaction to touching and squeezing the lump.

 

[KLJcowgirl]

Vet got back to me. He's thinking it's an abscess or swelling of some sort. We'll keep an eye on it for now.

I did clip it and did find a scrape and small cut near it. We're not sure if that has anything to do with it, but is interesting.

 

[Cayuse]

Do you live in an area where there are ticks? Tick bites can sometimes cause a reaction like that and that area is a prime target for tick bites because they have their heads down in the grass to graze so much. My old gelding would get them in the throatlatch area, up in the hollow right between the cheek bones. When the tick falls out or is removed it leaves a small area like you describe.

 

[Ryan Johnson]

How is she ? Hoping the lump is going down

 

[KLJcowgirl]

Hey! Thanks for checking in. She's still fat and sassy and the lump has gone down a touch, but still there and still hard. We've just been watching it to see, and I'm thinking I'll be making an appointment in the next couple days to get it examined.

And I have only seen one tick in my life... so I would really say they're an issue here. But an interesting thought.

 

[KLJcowgirl]

Fewh, I've been away a while. Just wanted to let everyone know the vet still thought it was maybe an abscess or swelling of some sort. Was still advised to keep an eye on it and if it didn't leave we'd look deeper and possibly drain or remove it.

It is nearly gone, just a tiny bump I have to press to feel. I have been putting Coat Defense mixed into a paste on it, not sure if that helped at all (made me feel like I was doing something at least). Either way, it's pretty well gone.