Hard lump under jaw

[CanteringCarrot]

Last night after finishing some groundwork I was giving my horse a vigorous rub on the underside of his head and he seemed to be enjoying it, and then I found a large lump. It’s only on the left side, it’s hard, and kind of flat on the surface, if that makes sense.

Naturally I panicked, as one does, and took his temperature, which was 99°F. He had no nasal discharge and was acting normal. He was last off of the property 2 weeks ago, if that matters.

I don’t think it’s strangles, but I’m not an expert had I’ve taken the necessary precautions. I dealt with many strangles cases ages ago when I worked at a very large sales barn, but it’s been like, 20 years since then.

I know that lymph nodes or even salivary glands can swell for a variety of reasons, but I can’t get to a vet until tomorrow at the earliest. So naturally this is making me anxious any bets on what it could be?

[SusanO]

Tooth erupting perhaps?

[LCDR]

By “it’s hard” do you mean bony hard and fixed in place?

[CanteringCarrot]

If squeeze it, then it maintains it’s shape. It’s not like a fluid filled sack where the fluid can move around if you squeeze or poke it. I can move the skin around it, but I think it’s pretty fixed in place. I’m going to poke around a bit more later. I’m so paranoid about Strangles, but this isn’t an emergency, so I’ll be on edge until tomorrow when I speak with the vet during normal business hours.

[NaturallyHappy]

We had one that looked very similar. Three different vets…3 opinions. Salivary gland and lymph node vets said leave it alone. Third vet wanted to biopsy it-the owner did not want to do that. I clipped it and put ichthamol (sp) on it. A week later, some pus popped out. The supposition was that he got a thorn in there.

[dmveventer]

My horse had something similar last year. I was also obviously concerned about strangles but my vet said with no other symptoms that wasn’t actually high on his list of concerns. He wasn’t totally sure what it was but best guess was an infected lymph node, we treated it with daily ichthammol and it went away in about a week.

[CanteringCarrot]

Whatever it is, it is ITCHY.

[FjordBCRF]

That’s a prime tick spot from my experience. They are back out in full force in my area; any chance of that?

[luvmyhackney]

Check for a tick bite.
Sometimes if grass comes in, they can get a little swollen there but usually its ticks/bugs.

[Demerara_Stables]

I’m going to go with insect bite. I had a horse come in with something almost exactly the same a few weeks ago. Normal temp, called the vet and they said to monitor for temp or nasal discharge which are signs of strangles. Thankfully there were other swellings on her as well that indicated an allergic reaction to an insect bite.

[CanteringCarrot]

I hope it’s “just” a bite. I’m just not sure if it’s a gland or lymph node issue. My anatomy skills are lacking in that department, apparently. Still itchy and hard today, no fever. Horse was his usual self.

Could be a wait and see type of situation for a bit.

[SolarFlare]

I pulled a tick off a horse at my barn from that spot last week. He had a big lump too - about the size of a golf ball, with a similar feel to what you’re describing.

[Horsegirl71]

My bet is lymph nodes or bug bite. My vet was out here last week for vaccines and I made him look at my mare in exactly the same spot. He was confused as to why I was alarmed. Apparently it was just her lymph nodes.

[CanteringCarrot]

It’s been there for a week now and hasn’t changed. So I’m not sure what’s up. I don’t know how long it would last if it were from an insect. I shaved the hair down to see if I could see anything, and I couldn’t. I thought about applying ichthammol, but my vet was mortified when I mentioned that on the phone. Maybe my knowledge is out of date, but it seemed like the right application for it?

Anyway, my vet wasn’t so concerned and said that he’d take a look when he’s in the area next week if it’s still there.

I just want to confirm that it’s not tooth related or some sort of infection I should be taking care of. Tempted to stab the thing and see what comes out, but I know that’s what I shouldn’t do

[GreyDes]

My gelding had something similar a few months ago with a hard lump on one side under his jaw. I was also concerned about lymph nodes although it didn’t seem to be in quite the right spot. His did not look like an insect bite and he had no other reactions or swelling.

My vet’s best guess was a thorn or something that worked its way in. He had no fever and felt fine, so we did three days of banamine to reduce inflammation and gave it time. The banamine brought the swelling down a bit and then it slowly went away over the next 3-4 weeks.

My vet said if the swelling didn’t go down the next step would be x-rays.

Hope your guy feels better soon!

[Mcl1]

We have ticks everywhere right now and I have definitely seen tick bites cause a similar lump. We have a few different types of ticks but my horses seem to react particularly badly to the lone star ticks.

[SolarFlare]

@CanteringCarrot

I don’t know how long it would last if it were from an insect.

One fall my horse got a tick bit in the armpit area, and the big lump stayed until the next spring!

[CanteringCarrot]

He’s gotten reactions from ticks before, and usually it’s a smaller raised lump that then scabs, comes off, and leaves a small bald spot. That’s pretty typical.

I did notice a round soft spot on the otherwise hard lump last night.

[CanteringCarrot]

The round soft spot got larger, so I poked it with a sterile needle (also clipped the area, made sure it was clean, etc) and got some good pus drainage yesterday. The lump seemed to be sore to the touch, so I’m hoping that some drainage will help.

Still can’t see how ichthammol/drawing salve could be a bad thing in this situation though.

We’ll still have a vet visit this week for some other stuff. Horses

[NaturallyHappy]

@CanteringCarrot

Still can’t see how ichthammol/drawing salve could be a bad thing in this situation though.

I don’t either. As I mentioned above, we used it in a similar manner. We also used it on one w a hard lump on his back. One vet wanted to do surgery on the horse. We put ichthamol on that one, too. A locust thorn popped out. My DVM late husband used it on a racehorse whose leg had been sliced open w a toe grab. The track vets tried all the fancy stuff to curb the infection including surgical debridement. Nothing worked …,until ichthamol.