10 day old puppies - some have swollen cheek/neck

by Jennifer
(Maynard)

We had puppies 10 days ago and we've been handling them regularly. This afternoon, when we got home, I noticed that one of them has a really swollen and hard neck/cheek on one side of his head.

Upon further inspection, 4 of them have this and the other 5 (so far) are fine... mother is taking care of them and spending lots of time with them. Any ideas?






Hi Jennifer
It sounds as though your puppies may be suffering from a condition known as 'puppy strangles' (real name puppy pyoderma).

It's an immune system condition and the lumps are caused by severe swelling in the lymph nodes under the jaw and in the neck.

It's something that needs to be treated by your veterinarian as it can be quite a serious condition and shouldn't be ignored or untreated. Usually a combination of antibiotics and corticosteroids can fix the problem, but the sooner they get examined the better.

You can use the Google searchbox at the top of the right-hand column on this page to find out more about this condition. Just type in 'puppy strangles' and it will bring back a page with lots of links to other questions about the same problem.

Of course, I'm not a veterinarian and it could be something else entirely that is causing the swelling in your puppy's necks, but they still need to be examined by a vet right away so that you can get an accurate, and professional, diagnosis.

Hope this helps, I wish you lots of luck and hope your pups are doing much better soon.