SanTanSnuggles Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 (edited) My Surprise, age 91/2, male-Took my boy to the vet today as we suspected an issue with his Salivary Gland, Cause not yet determined, but suspect that the younger one who likes to face butt in her playfulness, damaged the gland. The vet did an aspiration, an xray and blood work in-house and sent some blood work out and the results for that will be back on Monday noon .The xray does not show any masses in the chest or neck or face area. The blood work looks normal for a greyhound. He does not have a temperature. The aspiration in the swollen chest area, shows saliva. His lips, neck and chest areas are soft with fluid. He has some pain and he is on Tramidol 50mg, 2 pills, morning and night and doxy 100 mg 2 pills, twice a day, We are going to see a general surgeon on Monday/Tuesday to see what we can do. He is eating good, drinks great, and will take short walks with his playmate. He is urinating properly and poops are normal. He is eating a little less. We are trying to get through the weekend as easy as possible. I have read that the swelling can be somewhat reduced by warm compresses and by message. Also by eating something sour (good luck with that). Please share your experience if you could concerning this condition and how it was resolved. Hoping to get some detailed replies, so when I talk to the general surgeon on Monday/Tuesday, I can ask the proper information before going forward. My vet said that he does not have experience with salivary gland damage/blocks and that is why he is sending me to the general. He said he has only treated one in his lifetime and that one went away naturally. It was in an older dog. Your input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Linda Edited June 10, 2017 by SanTanSnuggles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaineysMom Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 (edited) I battled this myself just a few months back (for the first time). Drinking fluids and yes, sucking on sour candy (should have bought stock in Lemonheads) did help but pretty hard to get a greyhound to follow that advice sometimes (with humans, sure it's the same for dogs) they can actually SEE the stone that is blocking the gland opening and pick it out. Not in my case. 10 days of antibiotics (and my first CT scan in 30 years) finally cleared it up. mine was painful on and off but nothing really horrific, thankfully. Just a huge lump under my jawline on that side. the compresses will help. did they prescribe AB's? ETA saw the Doxy. How long has he been on it now? Edited June 10, 2017 by RaineysMom Quote Kim and Bruce - with Rick (Rick Roufus 6/30/16) and missing my sweet greyhound Angels Rainey (LG's Rainey 10/4/2000 - 3/8/2011), Anubis (RJ's Saint Nick 12/25/2001 - 9/12/12) and Zeke (Hey Who Whiz It 4/6/2009 - 7/20/2020) and Larry (PTL Laroach 2/24/2007 - 8/2/2020) -- and Chester (Lab) (8/31/1990 - 5/3/2005), Captain (Schipperke) (10/12/1992 - 6/13/2005) and Remy (GSP) (?/?/1998 - 1/6/2005) at the bridge"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut." -- Ernest Hemmingway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macoduck Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 As an xray tech I assisted radiologists in performing tests to check for blocked salivary glands. With humans, a contrast solution is injected into the suspected blocked gland's outlet. Then we watch it function under fluoroscopy. We also have lemons on hand to check before and after. I don't know how receptive your dog would be to having lemon wedge juice squirted into his mouth. Perhaps lemon juice in a syringe (no needle). If one side of the mouth discharges saliva and the other doesn't, you would at least have an idea of which side is blocked. I defer to any of our GT vets and vet techs though since I don't have any canine experience with this. Goofydog (now Goofydog2) posted about Get Em having a similar problem. http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/276908-get-em-fluid-accumulation-under-his-jaw/ Quote Freshy (Droopys Fresh), NoAh the podenco orito, Howie the portuguese podengo maneto Angels: Rita the podenco maneta, Lila, the podenco, Mr X aka Denali, Lulu the podenco andaluz, Hada the podenco maneta, Georgie Girl (UMR Cordella), Charlie the iggy, Mazy (CBR Crazy Girl), Potato, my mystery ibizan girl, Allen (M's Pretty Boy), Percy (Fast But True), Mikey (Doray's Patuti), Pudge le mutt, Tessa the iggy, Possum (Apostle), Gracie (Dusty Lady), Harold (Slatex Harold), "Cousin" Simon our step-iggy, Little Dude the iggy ,Bandit (Bb Blue Jay), Niña the galgo, Wally (Allen Hogg), Thane (Pog Mo Thoine), Oliver (JJ Special Agent), Comet, & Rosie our original mutt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greysmom Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 One of mine had this happen to her several years ago. One day the whole side of her face just blew up. She looked like a one-sided chipmonk! I had no idea what it was, and of course it was a weekend, so of to the e-vet we went. They pretty quickly diagnosed a blocked salivary gland, but I'm not sure how they did it - there weren't any xrays or other tests that I paid for. Hers actually came to a head in one spot, which allowed them to lance and drain it (very gross), but she got a basically free dental out of the cost since they scaled her teeth while they were waiting for it to drain completely! She had a small drain in overnight at the vet and then came home on anitbiotics with instructions to apply warm compresses every two hours or so. She healed quickly without complications and never had another issue. They told us sometimes it will happen again, but it didn't for her. No idea what caused it, though it certainly could have been a slight trauma from playing. Quote Chris - Mom to: Felicity (DeLand), and Andi (Braska Pandora) siggy by Chris Harper, on Flickr Angels: Libby (Everlast), Dorie (Dog Gone Holly), Dude (TNJ VooDoo), Copper (Kid's Copper), Cash (GSI Payncash), Toni (LPH Cry Baby), Whiskey (KT's Phys Ed), Atom, Lilly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
locket Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 We had a hound at the kennel that had to have his gland removed. It had become humongous and would not drain. Recovery was pretty easy on him ad he never seemed to care. We walked him with a harness instead of a collar. I have a salivary gland that blocks on and off. It is not painful, just annoying. It usually goes away on its own. I didn't get xray, the doc diagnosed it on my swollen gland and tract. We never found the stone. I have none of the risk factors, it just happened. As long as it keeps draining by itself I am keeping it, but if it doesn't I get a round of antibiotical. I could have it removed if it gets worse, but for now I am living happily with it . All that to say, I wouldn't worry unless it does not drain by itself. It can take 2-3 days for mine. If it takes more than a week, I go to the doc (doctor's recommendation) Quote Cynthia, with Charlie (Britishlionheart) & Zorro el GalgoCaptain Jack (Check my Spots), my first love Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest goofydog2 Posted June 10, 2017 Share Posted June 10, 2017 As Ducky mentioned above Get Em, 9.5 y/o at the time, and I wented through this in 2011. His vet aspirated his pouch 3 or 4 times then decided he would need to have the gland removed. His was not a blocked gland, it was ruptured. No idea how it happened. Vet and I speculated about vigorous head shaking or scratching. Who knows. Surgery was scheduled, done and unsuccessful. It was more complicated than his regular vet had anticipated and we were referred to a Board Certified surgeon. Scheduled that surgery and it was indeed ruptured. The surgeon was able to remove the gland and verify that none of the other 7 salivary glands were ruptured. Get Em's recovery was without complication and he lived a happy life for 2.3 more years until passing just 2 weeks short of his 12th birthday. So long story short, if it is a blocked or ruptured gland there is a doable fix once identified. Wishing you and Surprise the best of outcomes. Please keep us updated on how your boy is doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanTanSnuggles Posted June 11, 2017 Author Share Posted June 11, 2017 My Surprise is looking 50 percent better this morning. I continue with the antibiotics and pain pills until I get the written report from the outside labs hopefully tomorrow. Everyone has given me awesome information and events of what happened to them. I will continue to monitor information received as it is very helpful. This evening I will be talking to GFNJ who has some experience with this. This is the adoption agency where we got our last two sweeties. Linda said that she has seen this before in some of the greys when they came from the track. If his swollen areas go down more and depending on the lab report, I will forgo surgery at this time. It is a wait and see right now and a great time for me to gather information from fellow greyhound friends of their experiences. Thank you so much for your information so far. I will keep everyone posted as to the results. He is eating really good and even started to chew his bones. He drinks a lot of water and pees really good. He can hold it for a while, so my husband gave him the nickname of Tank. His throat seems to still be a little sore if touched much. So no chin rubs right now. Yesterday his lips were bulging way out and not so today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest goofydog2 Posted June 11, 2017 Share Posted June 11, 2017 Nice update! I hope Surprise keeps improving and you can avoid surgery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schnookums Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 Interesting that only just this weekend my neices' Whippet "River" developed a tennis-ball sized swelling under her chin. Thought it was an insect bite, but was diagnosed as as being related to the salivery gland. It went down. What a coincidence that it was the same day as Lindas' boy!! I will tell Barbie to check this topic out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EnzaFerrari Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 Ironic I found this as we are pretty sure my girl has the same issue. It swelled up under her tongue yesterday, but it's significantly better today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racindog Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 (edited) My Bobber had a salivary gland become enlarged. I rushed her to the vet because I didn't know what it was and it appeared suddenly. The vet said it would be fine and not to worry about it. Vet said to keep an eye on it just in case it changed but that it would probably be OK. I have learned not to trust vets so I researched it on my own and confirmed this. It never caused her any issues and she had it for several years before she crossed over of something unrelated. [/url] Edited June 12, 2017 by racindog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XTRAWLD Posted June 12, 2017 Share Posted June 12, 2017 This is fascinating to me, I had no idea. Folks here really HAVE been through everything! Quote Proudly owned by:10 year old "Ryder" CR Redman Gotcha May 201012.5 year old Angel "Kasey" Goodbye Kasey Gotcha July 2005-Aug 1, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racindog Posted June 13, 2017 Share Posted June 13, 2017 This is fascinating to me, I had no idea. Folks here really HAVE been through everything! I 2nd that! Just when you think you've seen it all another amazing topic is posted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanTanSnuggles Posted June 15, 2017 Author Share Posted June 15, 2017 Great news/ Surprise appears to be recovered. I spoke to the vet today and he said that the only comments from the outside lab was it appeared to be an inflammation. We will finish his course of Doxy by weaning him off. Total of 12 days The cause is unknown, but he thought that it could have been a bite from a squirrel found in the yard or trauma from my younger dogs head butt. Just so happy to see it went away without surgery. Keeping our fingers crossed there is no return of this. Amen. Thank you for all your great info and advice as it helped even the vet I was able to cancel surgery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SanTanSnuggles Posted June 15, 2017 Author Share Posted June 15, 2017 Hooked Members 859 posts Location:Alexandria, VA I am hoping that your girl has a quick recovery. I will be watching to hear greyt news. Posted 12 June 2017 - 09:10 AM Ironic I found this as we are pretty sure my girl has the same issue. It swelled up under her tongue yesterday, but it's significantly better today. Quote MultiQuote Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racindog Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 Great news/ Surprise appears to be recovered. I spoke to the vet today and he said that the only comments from the outside lab was it appeared to be an inflammation. We will finish his course of Doxy by weaning him off. Total of 12 days The cause is unknown, but he thought that it could have been a bite from a squirrel found in the yard or trauma from my younger dogs head butt. Just so happy to see it went away without surgery. Keeping our fingers crossed there is no return of this. Amen. Thank you for all your great info and advice as it helped even the vet I was able to cancel surgery. Great! I am so glad she didn't have surgery. When I was researching I found a 2nd vet that was highly regarded in the greyhound world that also said surgery was not necessary for it and didn't do it. I am sure your boy will continue to be fine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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