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Surgery Success Story for Salivary Mucocele
by a VetMed viewer

We have a 14 year old domestic gray hair cat named Cleo. For about a year, she had been pawing at her jaw whenever she would eat. It didn't happen all too often, but often enough for us to notice that something was causing her discomfort.

Her veterinarian looked at her mouth several times over the last year and was unable to determine what was causing her the discomfort. She thought it could just be tartar buildup so she cleaned Cleo's teeth. She then instructed us to look for more pawing. If so, to return and we would look further to see what else, if anything, could be the cause.

Since then, Cleo continued to paw at her jaw every time she ate.

On July 10, 2002, she had just finished eating and was frantically pawing at her jaw. We knew that the problem was far worse than just some tartar buildup. Cleo retreated to the basement, in hiding, and had saliva just dripping from that side of her mouth. She appeared to be very uncomfortable and in pain. She stopped eating and drinking and lost 2 pounds in 2 days! That's a lot for a cat that only weighs 12 pounds to begin with.

We took her to the emergency clinic and the vet there told us that the only way to know for sure was to do surgery and remove the swollen tissue that was on her lower jaw line. The vet thought that maybe a tooth had broken off. The vet at the emergency clinic started Cleo on a 'high' dose of Amoxicillin antibiotic, 2 times a day. We began that immediately.

We made an appointment with Cleo's regular vet and we got in the next day. Cleo's vet confirmed what the vet at the emergency clinic said, that she would have to do surgery in order to look at what was underneath the swollen tissue.

The vet put Cleo under a mild anesthetic, removed the tissue and sent it out for a biopsy. She used disposable stitches and told us they would dissolve in 2 to 3 weeks. We were able to pick Cleo up that same day. She was groggy from the anesthesia and Valium that they gave her. But, by the next morning, she was back to eating and drinking as usual.

The vet phoned us a week later to tell us that what was found was a Salivary Mucocele in the main salivary duct and in adjacent ducts. There were lesions but no cancer cells were seen. We were relived that there were no cancer cells.

Cleo has been feeling back to normal. She is eating and drinking again and does occasionally paw at her mouth. The vet told us that is common when a cat has a foreign substance in their mouth and in this case it is due to the stitches that have yet to dissolve.

Our story has a happy ending. I hope that by providing a 'diary' of events that have happened and symptoms that our cat showed, we can help another pet owner determine if their pet may need medical treatment just like our Cleo did.

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See Also:
Salivary Sialocele Q & A
Salivary Success Story
Salivary Mucocele Diagnostic Methods
By Laura Peruzzo, Veterinarian
Diseases & Conditions - Salivary Sialocele

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