My Siamese cat has an infected, swollen salivary gland and is in pain

by BARB
(SARATOGA SPRINGS NY)

Fluffy came to me six yrs ago from a Navy couple who left him and his mom and auntie in two different homes.

They didn’t tell me Fluffy, the champion son Siamese, was ill, but they knew I came from a medical family.

So Fluffy went to the vet, and we were told the previous owner misfed Fluffy, by feeding him only cheap dry cat food. Vet told me to give Fluffy 1/2 can of Fancy Feast in a.m. with a little Purina Urinary Tract Health System dry food.

Fluffy’s teeth were abscessed, and some had to be pulled.

This past spring, Fluffy had 4 teeth or 3 teeth pulled.

Now fluffy has a severely swollen salivary grape-size gland on the left side of his throat. He vomits after he eats as well, which he has been doing occasionally since the surgery. I comb fluffy often, to prevent fur balls, etc.

Fluffy is in pain, and he is on Clindamycin (antibiotic), but it doesn’t seem to be reducing the swollen grapesized salivary gland.

His blood sugar was a little elevated when the vet did his surgery, but not enough he said to worry too much.

Fluffy’s salivary swollen gland is right under the area where fluffy had his teeth pulled. One cause of swollen salivary gland can be trauma.

Another might be a severe mouth bacteria infection. Another might be due to diabetes. Another might be due to obstruction of saliva, due to trauma or tumor or bacteria infection
Or HIV (feline aids) or other things, I read.

What do you think? I’m not sure what to do. The vet who pulled his teeth, was a ”farm vet”, so I am worried about going back to him.

An animal support group sent fluffy to this vet, because he was cheaper for their budget, since fluffy is a rescue Siamese.

He vomits, he’s in pain, he puts his cheek and throat to my body to keep it warm, and to let me know it hurts.

I’m worried.

He is also seemingly I believe to be missing some facial hair right under his two ears, on his face. It seems scaly and white, where the rest of his facial hair and face is black.

This is fluffy’s story .

Help me know what is the cause of his swollen salivary gland, and what can I do to fix it.

He also has been exposed to two nasty motel rooms since October, that the NY state county here has placed us in. I got out of both of them, after many weeks though.

Fluffy would crawl up into the box spring of the nasty room’s bed, to hang out and to sleep. One motel was backed up (toilet and tub) and was mold-infested.

We forced the county to place us at a clean quiet motel, which they finally did. But we suffered from October 5th til January 6th at filthy motels. So I think he may have picked up a motel’s nasty bacteria infection possibly or some disease.

The dental surgery, the horrid county paid motel nightmarish filth, diabetes, trauma from dental surgery last spring, six yrs of dry cat food diet by navy young kid owners who didn’t know better, tumor, calcified blockage of salivary gland on just the dental surgery side of his throat/jaw, ….

And then whatever the cause, what do I do for fluffy now asap?

Thank you ever so kindly.

Fluffy’s owner Barb

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My Siamese cat has an infected, swollen salivary gland and is in pain

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Jan 16, 2012 Upset
by: Michael

Hi Barb I was upset to read your story. I feel for you and Fluffy. I hate to know a cat is in pain. As you say something needs to be done asap.

I’ll just go over what my books tell me. There are 4 main salivary glands. The parotid gland is located below the cat’s ear at the back of the cheek. The scaly white areas you mention could be where the glands are.

Salivary glands can be injured as a result of a trauma to the head or neck. Has the tooth extraction damaged the gland?

Damaged glands can leak salivary fluid into the surrounding tissue to form a cyst called a “muccocele”. If this occurs on the floor of the mouth on one side of the tongue it is called a “ranula” which can interfere with eating/swallowing.

You can also get cancers in salivary glands. This shows as a swelling on the side of the face.

Preferred treatment for cyst and cancer is surgery.

The above is the entire reference to salivary glands in the Cat Owner’s Home Veterinary Handbook, third edition.

As antibiotics are not working this might be because the infection is too great and or it takes longer to take effect. It also might indicate that this is not only a bacterial infection and it may be that the alternatives mentioned above should be checked out asap with a different vet.

Cysts can be painful and cysts can become infected please note.

It seems like Fluffy has a cyst that needs removal. I’d recommend a good vet because a good vet is infinitely better than a poor to average vet.

Good luck.

Michael


2 thoughts on “My Siamese cat has an infected, swollen salivary gland and is in pain”

  1. The author of the best comment will receive an Amazon gift of their choice at Christmas! Please comment as they can add to the article and pass on your valuable experience.
  2. Our kitten was just diagnosed with an enlarged salivary gland – this is an individual rescue kitten and we were having him examed prior to having him fixed due to the mass in his mouth, drooling and foul breath. Otherwise he is a lovable little guy, drinks and eats fine. We cannot afford fees for surgery, bloodwork, etc. Can they out grow something like this? Cali is approximately 6/7 months old.

    Reply
    • Infections don’t usually just go away. You might want to try a home remedy. Virgin Coconut oil and plain pro-biotic yogurt might help. And of course, only very soft food.

      My research shows that no blood work, surgery or x-rays are needed, but it does need to be drained.

      If you can find an empathetic vet, and let them know your financial situation, and that this is a rescue kitty, hopefully they will treat him.

      Reply

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