Chronic salivary mucocele. Had surgery twice. Two necrotic glands removed. Due to scarring, I hate more surgery in the area, but clearly, there’s more leakage. Anything else I could do?

There are limited options with salivary mucocele which include surgical removal, marsupialization or frequent aspiration. Unfortunately there are not many choices available for these types of cases. Regards Dr Callum Turner DVM www.acvs.org/small-animal/salivary-mucocele

Max had a partial mandibulectomy. 4 weeks later he has a sublingual mucocele. He had it surgically unblocked. Does it matter if he eats soft or hard food moving forward?

Thank you for your question. Without knowing more about Max and his condition, it sounds like he has had a fair amount of trauma and surgery around his mouth, and he would probably appreciate soft food until he is fully recovered. Once he has recovered, you should be able to feed whichever food he prefers, but it would be a good idea to ask your veterinarian, as they know more about his health status.

I believe my 15 yr old lab mix has a ranula under tongue. I first noticed a few days ago. Every article says only surgery helpful but with her age, that worries me. Any other alternatives?

Surgery is the only long term treatment of choice, any other option would only be a short term fix (and I mean very short term). Aspiration of the ranula is the only real other alternative and requires aspiration every time it swells up again. Regards Dr Callum Turner DVM www.acvs.org/small-animal/salivary-mucocele

any way of treating Salivary Mucocele other than surgery? He has swollen salivary glands and is having difficulty swallowing. This seems very serious to the point to wear it is fatal. The online resources say that only surgery helps but can an allergy medicine help!! He was fine until 4 oclock so i dont understand. Please help!!

Has the swelling been confirmed by your Veterinarian? Depending on the location of the swelling it may be due to salivary glands or lymph nodes. Some enlargement of salivary glands like sialadenosis may be treated medically, but this would need to be confirmed by your Veterinarian; salivary mucocele would require surgery as medical management is ineffective. The rapid onset of swelling should be seen by your Veterinarian. Regards Dr Callum Turner DVM