Ruptured Salivary Gland

I brought my cat Nugget to the emergency vet this morning because he couldn't eat or drink (but wanted to), and I noticed something was wrong with his mouth. This happened all of a sudden. He was completely normal Sunday morning and then Sunday night and this morning he wouldn't eat and was just very sad.  The vet confirmed he had a ruptured salivary gland that did not show signs of infection, and he tried to aspirate it with a needle to drain some of the fluid but the left side of his neck is still very swollen. The vet sent me home with Nugget but said if it's still swollen tomorrow and he's still not eating that I need to bring him in for surgery. He would have done the surgery today but Nugget has a grade 3 heart murmur so the vet is hesitant... wants it to be a last resort. I suppose if he's not eating or drinking as a result of this cyst that we don't have a choice.

Has anyone else's cat had this problem which may or may not have resulted in surgery? If so what was the outcome? Surgery sounds like a common solution for this problem from what I'm reading, and the prognosis is good. However I'm concerned about anesthesia with his heart murmur. He's had one surgery for cryptorchid neuter and was fine, but that was done by the shelter before I knew he had the murmur. The vet also told me that salivary gland rupture was fairly common but everything I'm reading says it very rare in cats so I don't know if there's an underlying issue. He currently eats Nature's Variety Frozen Raw beef medallions, and he loves it. I tried mixing that with a lot of water to make it mushy for him so he could lap it up, but he's not interested.

Any information or shared experience would be appreciated. I love this little boy so, so much and he's been through a lot in his short life. I just want him to be healthy and happy. Right now he is hiding under my bed which is completely out of the ordinary for him, and he's very sad.

That's weird and I've never heard of this before.  However, it's VERY important that he eat, so you're going to have to syringe feed him on the opposite side of his mouth.  He needs to eat or he'll develop liver problems, so water down some canned food and get it into him.

Thanks. I'll go to the vet and get syringes for that ASAP. He did eat a couple of small bites this morning but nothing significant so in my opinion he didn't eat. The vet gave him fluid under the skin to help with hydration. I just don't understand how this could have happened. He doesn't go outside and like I said, it literally happened suddenly. I've not noticed any signs of pain or discomfort before last night.

I called the vet this morning and since Nugget started eating again last night and this morning he does not want to do surgery. Which is good news! And also kind of bad news. The swelling has gotten much worse, so I'm not sure exactly how he's eating but he's getting it done. He has a massive lump on the left side of his neck that is very swollen, and he still has a large cyst under his tongue. The doctor said it might drain on its own, but he might end up living with it. Not really satisfied with that answer but I can see why he doesn't want to do surgery because of Nugget's heart. So as of right now, even though he's eating, he's having a hard time and he can't really clean himself. He might not be in acute pain but it's certainly very uncomfortable. He doesn't like us touching the swollen area at all. Next step is a heart checkup to see if he'll be able to stand anesthesia again (he has once already) and then I'll bring him to my holistic vet who also practices allopathic medicine. Hopefully I get better advice from him.

Can you imagine having to live with a 3/4" diameter cyst under your tongue and a massive swollen neck? Poor baby

Hi, how is he doing now? Did you find any new information what causes this, how to treat and how to prevent this in the future?

My cat yesterday developed the same, in one day, now drools all the time, not eating at all (wants, but can't). If it was not a Saturday afternoon, vet would do the surgical draining of the gland immediately, but now it's sheduled for Monday morning. Good for us, he has no heart murmur.

Trying to find more info about it.

Thank you.