Painful Hard Lump after Injection

[Xensgirl]

Hope someone can help.  I'm totally beating myself up about this, I don't know if its my fault or not.

I have to give my boy Blue an injection every other day, in the scruff of his neck.  The last one was 2 nights ago, he's due for another this evening.

He was fine after the injection and up to going to bed.  The next morning he jumped on me at 4 a.m. (common in my house lol)....and got off the bed. I have a ramp at the side of the bed as he has IVDD.

I got out of bed, went to the bathroom...and by the time I did that, he couldn't hold his head up.  Theres a big very painful lump at the side of his neck, around where I gave him the injection.  He was in a great deal of pain with it and seemed really unwell.  He went outside, threw up and had the runs too. Took him to the Vet as soon as they opened, didn't see my usual Vet though.  She didn't really say what the lump was, other than he could have pulled a muscle..but surely there wouldn't be a lump with a pulled muscle?

He's taking Tramadol for the pain, but its still hurting him today, and antibiotics.

I'm taking him down the Vet again this evening, so they can give his usual injection today - I can't put it in the scruff of his neck at the moment.

If I injected into a muscle or something by mistake would it cause this big painful lump?  I get a handful of scruff and put the injection at the indentation at the end of the handful if you know what I mean. 

Any ideas?  I would be really grateful, I feel so guilty thinking this could be my fault!!!!

[sodpot2000]

I don't think you need to worry. Annie gets these after her regular jabs. They go away quite quickly

[Mari]

Don't beat yourself up! It is very unlikely that you did anything wrong

They can get lumps at injections sites, it happens from time to time. The fat under the skin can get inflammed and if this is what happened then it will sort itself out with time. My girl had a lump the size of a plum once after a subcutaneous injection at the vets. It grew bigger before it slowly started to dissappear. Didn't cause any problems and is completely gone now. Hopefully that's all this is

If you accidentally injected into the muscle then the reaction would depend on the drug. Some drugs can cause irritation, some can cause damage, some will not cause any reaction. If you are nervous about it then ask the vet if the injection you gave can cause any harm to muscles.

I have given injections at home too. It is unpleasant to have to do that to our own dogs. So I understand how you feel. Hope it sorts itself out! Luckily there are other places to give injections while his neck heals. My old vet always did it in front of her hip of all places, I guess it's easy to grab some skin there

[bizzylizzy]

My dog developed a large lump after his vaccinations as a puppy, so even when the experts do it it can happen, so don‘t beat yourself up that its your fault. The fact that he was sick and had the runs though would suggest it was a reaction to the medication rather than the physical injection surely? Or its something entirely separate.....?
Its probably not sensible to try and guess what it is though, I think you‘d be better discussing it again with your vet this evening and if you‘re going to have to do it yourself again, ask them to show you again so that you‘re confident that you‘re doing it right.
I think you‘re very brave to do it anyway to be honest, I don‘t think I‘d be very enthusiastic! Be kind to yourself, I‘m sure its nothing you did wrong! 😊

[Darwin]

How's he doing?

Really hoping that it's not realated to his IVDD.  Which part of this spine has previously been a problem? I'm constantly watching Darwin ( to try as much as I can)to make sure he doesn't do anything silly to further damage his spine. ( He was paralysed 2yrs ago and had an MRI and sugergy )

[Xensgirl]

Thanks so much everyone for your support.
We've been to the Vet, saw out usual one who is lovely. It seems this lump is a rare reaction to an injection, Zoey my Vet said its happened to her and not my fault at all. It's knocked my confidence though, I hate giving Blue injections.
I'm taking him back on Friday so Zoey can give him the next one and check him over.

As for his IVDD.....Blue ruptured a disc at the base of his tail in May 2015. I've taken every precaution I can to protect his  spine. Ramps to sofa, my bed and outside the back door to cut high steps out; raised food/water bowls: harness never collar; lift him up keeping his back straight etc. This isn't related to his IVDD at all.

I'm afraid Blue had surgery for Anal Sac Carcinoma a year last November. He's been clear until last December but now the cancer is back.  The surgery and wounds he was left with were horrendous, made me cry looking at them...both anal glands removed and two lymph nodes.
He developed an abscess on one of the lymph node wounds and was very ill, and back at Specialist for 6 days.
He's nearly 10 now and I'm not putting him through that again...it wouldn't be fair and he has to come first, As much as I can't deal with the thought of losing him.

He's distraught when I leave him at the Specialist and always has awful yellow diarrhoea he can't hold when he comes home...which stops immediately he is home. It can only be stress that causes it.
I'm doing every thing I can to keep him well. He's under the care of a Holistic Referral Vet who specialises in dogs with cancer and so far its kept the tumours in check. However I don't know how long for.

It's a dreadful thing to live with, I have no idea how long Blue will be with me, I try to stay positive but it's not easy.

Thanks again...your replies are much appreciated 😊