Blocked Salivary Gland

So, last night Sadie wouldn't eat her food. Not entirely uncommon, she's been getting a bit pickier as the months go on. Usually swapping the food out with something else would be enough to get her to eat, but I figured she was being especially picky since she still refused to eat. Otherwise she looked and acted normal so I didn't bother with it.

Fast forward to the following morning when I noticed she was drooling quite a bit. I took a look in her mouth and noticed a fairly large lump just right under her tongue. She was still crying for food, but was unable to eat any of it. Obviously I went to the vet right away.

The vet managed to drain the lump and determined that it was a blocked gland.

His words were not very reassuring. Essentially I'm left hoping that the gland heals up and doesn't end up blocked again, because he didn't think surgery was a very viable option due to its location.

Has anyone else dealt with this kind of thing before? How likely is it that this will be a recurring problem? Is there anything special I should be doing to help her heal up her mouth?

She is feeling better at least, I managed to get her to eat some watered down canned cat food. I just hope this heals up and it's the end of it.

I am sorry but I do not have experience of this with any of my cats, or seen discussion about it previously.  I hope that you do manage to find some advice from others who have, but my understanding is that it is not very common in cats.  From information that I have seen on line there does seem to be some justification for your vet not undertaking surgery and approaching the issue with a more immediate relief approach.  Firstly if this is the first time the blockage has occurred there is no clear evidence to say it will recur so the risks of putting a cat through surgery may not be justified.  Secondly, if surgery is undertaken I have read that there can occasionally be a complication with the site healing completely which results in an increased risk of there being a further blockage.

It is a relief that your at is now eating again and fingers crossed this does not recur and her appetite remains good.

Thanks for the reply!

Sadie is doing quite well today. Yesterday the area the lump was in was still slightly swollen and I could see it clearly, and she held her mouth just slightly open. Today I can't even see the evidence of the lump (admittedly, it's not easy to see inside a cat's mouth when they don't want you looking!) and her mouth is fully closed. I hope this is good news! At least it didn't immediately fill back up, in any case.

I just wish I could find a few more first-hand cases of this happening. The few I have seen kind of stop updating after a few posts without a clear ending. Even my sister, who has worked in a lot of vet offices and knows a lot of vets doesn't know much about it at all. So frustrating!

Looking around the internet the few articles I could find all said it was common for dogs but very unusual for cats. Fingers crossed she stays well and no recurrence.

Apparently I was a little too optimistic before. I don't know if I just didn't see it or what, but there is still a sizable lump under Sadie's tongue. I'm really hoping it's just taking awhile to heal up after being poked at and will go down still. It's still way smaller than when I first noticed it, and it isn't hampering her ability to eat or anything. She seems fine, as energetic (and evil!) as always. I'm just going to keep an eye on it for now, the medication is still good for about a week and a half, so if it does get bigger or isn't gone by that time I guess I'll be going back to the vet to find out what my next options are.

Will have my fingers crossed for you.  If she is still on the medication, and possible swelling from the fluid that had collected and the procedure to drain the gland, then it could be what you are seeing is quite normal.  I'm sorry I don't know more.  You are lucky if you are able to get a look from time to time so you can keep track of this.  If you think it starts to look bigger again I would get right back in touch with the vet as if it doesn't go down and seems to be recurring they might feel differently about options like the surgery.  As long as Sadie is eating well and behaving in her usual ways (evil?   ) I don't think you need to panic or rush with anything, but if that changes again I'd be right on the phone to the vet.  Huge vibes that it is the initial blockage still drainging and any remaining inflammation still going down.   

I haven't been able to clearly see the lump the last couple of days. At the very least this means it hasn't grown to astronomical sizes, and may have possibly even gone down! It was very clear the other day, and even trying to move Sadie's tongue a bit out of the way has not made any lump visible. I'm hoping this is a trend that continues onward, and that everything heals up so this nightmare can end.

My experience was different as it was ulcers in Mouse's mouth but I know I felt very anxious for many months (and still a couple of years later I watch for signs).  I guess it is normal for us humans to worry and look for any sign of a serious health issue continuing or returning, and we need to as our cats can't talk to tell us what's happening.  Mouth problems that stop our cats eating are serious and I'm right behind you hoping Sadie's mouth is now healthy and her gland now remains clear.  Cat mouths are not the easiest to look at or check for signs of problems without handling they don't like but maybe look to discretely observe her eating and make sure she eats enough as this will be the most important thing as a consequence if the gland does block again.   May your nightmare be over very soon so you can gradually get back to relaxing with Sadie as she enjoys her food once more.   

So I know it's been about five months, but sadly it happened again. It wasn't quite as dramatic as the first as I've been looking in her mouth at least once a week or so, so I did manage to catch it early before it caused her any serious issues.

We saw a different vet from the same office today and he seemed really confident that surgery would work. He explained everything and said she may have to stay tonight if they feel she isn't quite settled enough to go home with us tonight. I'm really nervous that something might go wrong, but I really do not want to have to drag her to a vet every 4-5 months to have them knock her out and drain the lump. I don't even know how long that would be a feasible solution, so I'm really hoping surgery goes well and it doesn't reoccur.

Wow, poor Sadie.  I'll have my fingers crossed for you and check in when I can tomorrow to see if there's any news.   You are doing great with her to have kept checking her mouth so regularly and catch this early.  This has to help with the vet care and surgery.

Loads of postive vibes being sent your way for everything to go smoothly and Sadie be able to come home tonight so you can be back together soon as possible.    

The surgery went well! Unfortunately, they said it was taking her a bit to recover from the anesthetic so they want to keep her there overnight. I get to pick her up tomorrow morning at around 10AM. It's going to be quite lonely not hearing her howls all night as she attempts to bring me yet another toy mouse.

I'm sorry you haven't got her back home with you yet but good that you know the surgery went well and she is fine.  No doubt it will feel like a very long night for you but just think how much you will enjoy being woken up through the night once she gets home.       Roll on 10 am for you, I hope she is all recovered from the anaesthetic when you collect her and looks comfortable.     

Sadie is home!

Now I get to play the very fun game of trying to figure out what nice soft pate food she will actually eat. So far the answer is none of them! She wants her dry food and super chunky food, sigh.

She also has a bit of a herpes flare up. I haven't seen one of those since the summer!

Very relieved to hear she is back with you.  Hugs for Sadie.  

Did the vet say to you she should eat soft / pate food for now?  hoping you have managed to get her to eat by now but :  If you can't get her to touch anything yet I would go for letting her eat the wet chunky food she is used to and likes but maybe cut it up or mash to a softer texture.  It will be very important that she eats something so she doesn't end up feeling nauseous just because she hasn't eaten and then it can be hard to get a cat to eat anything.  

What a shame about the herpes.  It often happens with Mouse when he's been stressed so I guess vet visits and surgery are a high risk time.  Do you usually give her L Lysine or anything to help her get through it, or has the vet given her anything to help?

They did suggest softer foods for right now, they did just say 'canned' food but I've fed her a bit of the more chunkier food and it seems to irritate her pretty quickly. I have tried a few different brands of pates but so far no luck, she's eaten probably half of a can of Merrick Thanksgiving Day Dinner so far. She's so picky! I may try blending it up a bit, see if that helps. At least she's eating something.

I do give her some L lysine, it's the supposedly good tasting paste you can buy at the vet that she absolutely hates. Normally I use a syringe to give it to her, but she knows that the syringe has disgusting goo in it so she runs away whenever she sees it. I really don't want to bother her too much right after her surgery. So far it's just an ever so slightly pink eye, so I'm hoping some calm time will help for now.

Sounds like a good plan to me.  See how her eye is in a few days.  I'm not always convinved the L Lycine does clear Mouse's runny eye faster than natural calm and rest but I guess it helps me feel I'm doing something.  

I have no idea what I'd do with Mouse if he had to eat wet for a while as he will only take about a teaspoon of something and then it's back to his dry.  It would be a nightmare.  I hope you get Sadie to eat enough to keep her strong until her mouth feels better.  Keep us updated if you can.  

That's basically how Sadie is too! She's incredibly cautious when it comes to food, even when I give her something like chicken that I'm eating at dinner, if I haven't given her that style of chicken lately she won't eat it even if she loved it before. She 'likes' Merrick, I guess, but even that is just maybe a tablespoon at a time before she wants her dry food back. She used to love canned food when I first got her! I had so many different brands and varieties and slowly but surely she stopped eating all of them. So frustrating!

Her mouth was looking a bit swollen last night, and she was poking at it at bit. She slept through the night and ate a teeny bit of food this morning, so I'm really hoping that's normal and the swelling goes down. She isn't drooling or acting strangely (she's currently trying to figure out a way of getting at my gerbils) so I don't know. I really don't want to have to drag her back to the vet so soon, but I'll keep an eye on it and see how it goes. I'm hoping it will look at least a tiny bit better today, they did say it would likely heal up within the week so here's hoping.

  Sadie is sounding like she is feeling OK and up to a bit of a chase if she's plotting a gerbil-fest.       Will she take her food when it is more of a game so you are interacting with her more - so she has to take it from your fingers after a bit of hide and seek or something?  Mouse is definitely more interested in food on the move - though he wouldn't have a clue what to do with a gerbil if he caught one.  LoL   Did blending up her regular food help at all?  Can she eat her kibble OK or is it larger pieces she has to chew?  A lot of kibble cats just pick up in their mouth and swallow.   

Sadie's mouth isn't looking so great. I talked to the vet about it, he said that I didn't need to bring her in yet but if the swelling doesn't start to go down in a couple of days I'll probably need to. He upped her metacam for now, so I hope that'll help make her a bit more comfortable.

I still can't really get her to eat any canned food besides the odd little bit. I gave in and gave her a bit of dry yesterday, which I'm thinking helped to increase the pain in her mouth since she definitely wasn't looking so great afterwards. So that won't be happening again for at least a few days. I've been syringe feeding her a bit of canned when she's especially stubborn, which is about as fun as it sounds.

I don't know what other tricks to try to get her to eat on her own! I've tried mixing in some chicken broth, blending up her dry food into powder and sprinkling it on top (or even on its own), I've tried plain meat baby food on its own and mixed with food, I've tried blending up the chunkier food she will eat a bit more reliably (which apparently makes the food worthless, yay). I've tried getting her various brands of food (even ones I would never feed!). I've tried serving it room temperature, warmed up with both water or the microwave, and cold. So frustrating!

I don't ordinarily think this is a good idea but have you tried moistening the dry food so it is soft.  The main issue with doing that is bacterial growth in the food so you don't want to just leave it down.  I personally would throw away any of it that she doesn't eat within a half hour.  I don't know if it will work because I think food preferences for kitties are often at least in part a texture thing.