Dog with pus filled lump on neck

Hi, I am looking for advice, my German wire-haired pointer puppy is 7 months old and has a lump on his throat which fills with pus and has grown to the size of a tennis ball. He has been to the vets twice to have it drained and stayed in the vets for 10 days to have it monitored and resolved but they have not given me any answers, they have no idea.  The first night back home, it filled with pus again within 24 hours. Has anyone experienced anything similar or have any possible answers? We’re at a loss and it has cost a ridiculous and unsustainable amount of money so far.

Hello!  It sounds as though you are talking about some kind of abscess here that is responding but not disappearing with antibiotics.  There could be one of infinite stories underlying such a lump. I thought of a few possibilities, including a foreign body lodged in the tissues (hence the infection resolves, but the FB is still in there), or courses of antibiotics not being finished / not quite wiping out an infection before being stopped, or one of the bugs present not being responsive to that particular antibiotic, or an underlying problem with the immune system,  or infection of the lymphatic system, e.g. "Puppy Strangles" (not always as fearsome as its name). I wonder if there is a communication problem with your vet:  have they told you that they have literally no idea what to do? I have very occasionally said this to clients, but would usually follow it up by offering a referral to someone who does have an idea - after all, we are in the business of solving pets' medical problems. Perhaps if this is needed and not being offered, you could ask whether a such referral is necessary. On the other hand, it is not unusual for me to be unsure what is causing an animal's  condition:  sometimes a diagnosis is not as important as knowing what to do next.  What has your vet proposed as the next step in finding out? Often, when presented with an infection problem, the obvious step is to give antibiotics to get rid of the pus / infection to see what is going on underneath.  At this point, it is important to keep a follow-up appointment in order that the vet can check the wound and feel the local lymph node.  Or if the infection unexpectedly stars to recur (I know that some 'final checks' are not happening d/t Covid), it helps to see the patient at this point rather than right back at stage one again, where the only option is to start from the beginning with antibiotics again. I'm afraid that my best advice would that this infection sounds to need clearing up and that revisiting the vet / getting intensive enough treatment now, potentially including longer antibiotic courses or swabs or investigations to find out more, may work out cheaper than multiple recurrences in the long run. I wonder if you qualify for help from any charities near you such as the PDSA. Best of luck.

Without my 'problem solving' hat on, it all sounds very frustrating and I hope that someone, your vet or a specialist, can find the answer for you.  It always pays to be frank about money with your vet - 'If you were me with this budget what would you do' Or 'what do you expect from this treatment this time around' and I do hope that they can get to the bottom of things for you one way or another.  It may be worth asking to be triaged for an emergency appointment if the problem is returning and getting worse, as your dog is so young.

Without my 'problem solving' hat on, it all sounds very frustrating and I hope that someone, your vet or a specialist, can find the answer for you.  It always pays to be frank about money with your vet - 'If you were me with this budget what would you do' Or 'what do you expect from this treatment this time around' and I do hope that they can get to the bottom of things for you one way or another.  It may be worth asking to be triaged for an emergency appointment if the problem is returning and getting worse, as your dog is so young.

Completely agree with Liz - it's always best to be upfront with vets about money limitations and see what they can suggest that works for what you have to work with. Let us know how you get on with your pup!

Thank you so much for your replies Liz and Robin. They did say that they are at a loss of what is causing the lump. Their next suggestion was to start steroids, but they have not referred us and when asked, they haven’t sent any of the tests run to a separate vets for a second opinion. They were supposed to be a specialist vets but it has cost over £10k so far and it is heartbreaking that we are no better for it in terms of our pups health. I will speak to them as you suggested and update once we have more news!   Thank you again!