There are numerous causes of a dog swollen face.
How to Identify Facial Swelling in a Dog
While your dog is standing, examine his face in an area with enough lightning to see everything in detail. Look closely to see if you notice any difference from the normal size of your dog's face, carefully tilting his head to look a good look from every angle. You can also apply gentle pressure over his face to see if you can feel any swelling. There may be certain areas of the face that are swollen and stand out from the rest of it.
Causes of Swollen Faces
There are many factors that can cause your dog's face to swell to an abnormal size.
- Allergies. If your dog is having an allergic reaction, especially in response to an insect bite, this can cause its face to swell. This swelling often extends throughout the entire head and should not be painful to your dog. This sort of swelling will appear quickly.
- Inflamed Muscles. With this problem, the swelling is usually found on the top of the head or the lower sections of the jaw.
- Infection. If your dog has an infection that is causing the swelling, there will oftentimes be some sort of visible wound to accompany it. The swelling itself should feel warm and be painful to the touch for your dog. Often, you will notice that your dog has a fever. This is another cause for swelling that appears suddenly.
- Hematoma. This can occur after a trauma or if your dog has developed a bleeding disorder. It is a blood clot or a bruise. With this, the swelling is localized and can possibly be painful. If you have a light-colored or short-haired dog, then you may notice some discoloration where the swelling is.
- Cancer. There are several types of cancers that can cause swelling, such as lymphosarcoma and chondrosarcoma. This generally results in localized swelling, rather than that of the entire face or head. Swelling that is a result of cancer will appear gradually over time.
- Dental Disease. Chronic dental disease can lead to facial swelling for your dog. The swelling will be around the mouth area and will oftentimes be quite painful.
Treatment for Swollen Faces
Depending on what is causing your dog's face to swell, treatments vary.
For allergies, medicines can be administered as well as removing the allergen from the dog's environment, if you are able to determine what it is.
The same can be said of infections, which also may require lancing and cleaning of the wound. Inflammation, as well, can be treated with medication.
For causes such as hematoma and cancer, treatments will depend on how advanced and serious the illnesses are.
There is no definite way to prevent these things from happening. The most that you can do is try to prevent your dog from receiving any wounds that could lead to infections that cause swelling.