Junebug

I want to make clear that whatever is wrong with June is causing her no pain or even discomfort. Based on her behavior both at home and when the vet was prodding the swollen areas, she really doesn’t even realize something is wrong. This is not an emergent or even urgent situation. However, it could lead to an abscess or infection down the road, so we do want to get it taken care of.

Because swollen saliva glands are rare, most vet offices have very little experience removing them. Our normal vet has pretty much none. The vet we went to for a second opinion says they see them maybe once a year. We will likely end up taking June across the state to the veterinary school at Washington State University for the surgery. And that will likely be in late August, as roommie J is going to be in Europe starting next week for 3 weeks.

I though, feel miserable, even though I will not require surgery to get over this miserable cold. Because of that, you now get more pictures, of, who else, the Bug.

Pamela says:

July 26, 2012 at 5:04 am

Glad she's feeling ok and isn't in any immediate danger. You, however, with a summer cold probably feel like dying of crankiness. 🙂

Will losing the saliva gland affect JuneBug's eating?

Erin Shanendoah says:

July 27, 2012 at 5:20 am

Let me see if I can remember the numbers. Dogs have either 6 or 8 saliva glands- so losing one or two should not cause a problem. Or, if it was going to cause a problem, we would have already seen it, and it likely would have been along the lines of excessive drool (as the other glands overproduce).
She eats normally, she drinks normally. Really, the only effect it has is making her look like she's heavier than she is, or making Larry look skinnier than he is.