# dog got quilled couple months back, not sure about bump/abscess on nose



## Jubjubw (Dec 26, 2012)

So in my angst of waiting for morning, I figured I'd try and ask some animal lovers about their experiences. My dog Trixie got quilled back in late Sept/early Oct. and I did my best to remove the quills right then and there. When she got quilled we were out on my in-laws private land working on a deer stand and she does not wander off very far, I was 15' in the air and could see where she was, and since there was no other noises I should have heard a yelp but there was no sound at all. Well soon she came and laid down by the stand, pawing at her face, so I climbed down to give her water and found her full of quills, only about 30-40 of them max. At the truck I got most out but she had gotten sick of me and I decided the best route to go was to bring her to the vet. Now none of the quills got up her snout, close to her eyes, they were all very concentrated on the front of the nose, some in the soft part, and in her chin, nothing in the tongue, only about 3-4 in the lower gums, none in the throat.

At the vet she decided my wallet could make the choice of me simply holding the dog down while the vet pulled out the remaining 15 or so quills, or use general anesthesia, I chose the latter for the comfort of my pooch. Just to clear things up the vet had no intent on causing the dog further harm, but my dog, a mix between a lab and a boxer, has never once curled her lip at me or my family (surprisingly since we adopted her at 2 years of age and she has numerous scars on her from either abuse or fights with other animals), I am the alpha male to her and she was very submissive to me about pulling the first quills, she just got sick of the pain and decided she couldn't handle it and wouldn't let me get near her. Well the pulling of the quills at the vet only took about five minutes and I took her home as soon as she woke up.

About a week later she started to develop a large bump or abscess on her nose, about midway between her actual nose and eyes. Well I called the vet for an antibiotic and went through the two week course, never missing a dose (maybe it was only a week). Well the bump reduced in size quite considerably, however through the whole thing Trixie never lost her energy (shes four now) and her attitude and temperament has not changed at all! 

Over Christmas weekend here her bump started growing again, and now its back to its original size. It looks painful but Trixie will let me touch it and still her energy and attitude has not changed. Pictures below, just curious what all of you think? I brought her in for a distemper booster and the vet said she looks fine, its probably just a quill that she broke off and the body is working to dissolve it or push it out. There have been no open wounds at all.


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## Fade (Feb 24, 2012)

Probably a broken off quill. you should not take it so lightly though. It gets large like that because of infection generally and that infection can spread I would imagine. I would recommend having it removed and drained. I can not imagine how a Vet could say " a giant lump growing out of my dogs nose looks fine" knowing why it is there.


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

I'd be worried about infection and I agree with Fade in that I can't see how it would be a-okay to a vet to leave as is. 
Worth a second opinion for sure.

I've had to remove cactus spikes before and kept a good eye on the dog's nose after that but those don't have the same ends as quills do. Also, I'd be worried about infection based on what might be on the quills- bacterial or otherwise.


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## rmpsbuttercup (Dec 21, 2012)

It's probably a buried quill. These are next to impossible for a vet to find, even with anesthetic. After all, you can't carve up the poor pet's face trying to find it. It's not unusual for buried quills to be left to fester out of the nose area. Chances are, if you run your fingertip lightly over the area, you can feel the quill. If not now, then probably soon. Once you feel it, you can try to grasp the end with a pair of needlenosed plyers and yank it out. Or, once you feel it, you can take your dog back to the vet to see if they can get it out. You should try to get it out or the swollen area will scar around the quill and form a permanent lump.


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## Jubjubw (Dec 26, 2012)

Well today I called the vet and the receptionist told me to hold while she talked to the vet. While on hold I grabbed her nose to get a closer look at it and ended up popping it. Blood gushed out, actually it shot out quite a good distance. We were sitting on the couch and it almost hit me in the face with her head on my lap. Told the receptionist this after she asked me to set up an appointment and she talked to the vet again and was told to give it a warm compress and some hydrogen peroxide. That was a over ten hours ago. She was fine for my wife while I was at work and examining the wound now its quite a good size hole so I am assuming the tip burst out as well. As reference the hole is about the size of a stick from a tootsie roll pop! Gonna keep up with the compress and what not and in the morning gonna find the old antibiotic bottle and call SAMs Club since they apparently carry animal meds now.


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