Nonhealing sore

Click here to visit the most complete Maltese site on the WWW

Please bear in mind when reading topics pertaining to health issues, that most of these questions were answered by helpful Maltese owners with no formal education in veterinary medicine. When in doubt seek a professionals advise.

Archived Message

Nonhealing sore
by Felicia
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
Nonhealing sore I hope someone can help me. My Maltese is 8 years old. Recently, he developed a bump on his neck. The next thing I know, this bump started to "weep". The weeping would eventually crust over and get dark in color. Bathing removes the crust, but then the bump is reddish and weeps again. He isn't in pain. Our vet thought it was a cut that wouldn't heal and prescribed antibiotics. This helped a little, but did not cure the sore. I have trimmed his hair back, hoping this might help. This is very upsetting for me. I want my precious Maltese to be normal again. What is this "thing" and how can I make it go away?

DISCUSSION:

My preveious Malt got a "bump" that kept gettin bigger..the vet had to remove it. He was 10 years old when he got it. Older dogs tend to get them. I would take him back and have the vet recheck it. If you aren't confident in your vet try another vet. Don't let this go.
Libby & Buster

When I first got Max he had earmites. I took him to the vet and they prescribed some medicine to clear up the mites. In the mean time Max kept on scratching his ears. He eventually dug a sore on his ear. I took him back to the vet because I could not get the sore to heal up. The vet shaved the sore and told me to clean it with peroxide two times a day. He (the vet)gave me some medicine called Otomax. Between the peroxide and the Otomax after about a week Max's ear was just about healed completly.
Maxamillion

Thanks for the advice and info Libby+Buster & Maxamillion. I will go back to the vet and keep trying to get this sore to heal. I was fearing this might be cancer because two NON-Maltese people thought it might be cancer. Yikes! Please, dear God, don't let that happen. We just got on the Internet and one of the first things I did was to find a site where there were understanding, caring Maltese people. I sure hit the jackpot! I LOVE this site. Thank you both again for your input. I will post a message when the sore is healed.
Felicia & Cubbie

There are non-cancerous lumps that can ooze like this, for example abscesses and various warts and sebeceous cysts. Although you do need to go back to the doctor, and he may need to remove or biopsy the lump (or in the case of an abscess drain the lump and maybe leave a drain in for a while), but I just wanted you to know that it is not necessarily cancer. Even if it is, the sooner you start treatment, the more chance of success. Do let us know what your vet says, and in the meantime, keep it as clean as possible.
Aimee