A real pain in the neck

Poor Jana has had some bother recently when a swollen gland in her neck became infected and caused huge swellings from her ear down to her chest. My vet suspects a foreign object was lurking somewhere and her body was trying to expel it. Seeing as she has a very bad habit of pulling twigs off my shrubs and chewing them to bits, it seems very likely that a splinter could be the problem.

Things came to a head last week, literally, and the area under her ear burst. Even though she hadn't appeared too bothered by the whole business, this must have been a great relief, I'm sure the pressure must have been quite painful. The hole became quite large, 10p sized, and continued draining for some days. All swelling has now gone and the photo below shows it healing quite nicely. She is in the middle of a long course of antibiotics and I'm hoping that will be enough to clear everything up. If there is a bit of wood in there and it hasn't come out then it's bound to recur.......keep those fingers crossed!

This is the fourth mishap Jana has had in her short life so far, perhaps insurance would be a good idea.