Cyst/Tumor and Sneezing

For the past two days, my corgi/Australian shepherd mix has been sneezing a lot. This includes reverse sneezing/wheezing. Now today, we noticed a hard bump on the right side of his face. It’s hard to the touch and moves a little when we touch it. Our vet cannot see him until Thursday morning. Any ideas what it may be??

I appreciate any help. Thank you!

Hello!  - and thankyou for this question.  We're glad you're booked in with a vet, because being able to palpate (feel) the lump will give much more information than looking at it, although frequently eg radiography may be required, which can give an excellent picture because there is a lot of contrast between air and bone in that place.  I wondered first about a tooth-root abscess - these can present as very hard lumps, encased in bone.  However, fungal infections and various tumours could be amongst the other possibilities on the list.

I also wondered about the parotid lymph-node.  Lymph-nodes are bumps of immune activity, located at various different places around the body.  When the body is fighting something, from a local (e.g. tooth) infection to cancer, the local lymph-node often swells with white blood cells / becomes inflamed - which provides a good early-warning system to vets.

I can also see that your collie's (blue) iris has an irregular dark section - has this changed recently?  it may help to compare it to previous photographs.  Either way, this could also be an area of concern, particularly if that's a lymph-node which is swollen, so it's definitely a good thing that you have a booking at the vets'.  Are your vets aware that your dogs' breathing is affected?  Please note that if  breathing is deteriorating, your vet may wish to listen to your dog sooner than 2 days - indeed, they may decide to class it as an emergency.

I hope that something there is helpful.  We would be very interested to know how how your loved one gets on.

Thank you so much for this information, I really appreciate it. The bump on his face has not grown or moved since yesterday. It doesn’t seem to bother him if we touch it, either. The brown spot on his eye has not changed. I checked inside of his mouth, which also didn’t bother him. I can’t feel the bump from the inside. It’s just above his gum line. He does have a tooth below it that looks a little brown, so I will definitely ask them to check that tomorrow morning. So far, he isn’t consistently struggling with breathing. The reverse sneezing has been sporadic. It seems to happen when he gets up suddenly, has a burst of activity, or after eating. If it changes or worsens, we will take him to the ER vet right away. I will post an update after the appointment tomorrow or if anything changes before then. Thanks again for your help!