Belle is a lovely 5 yr old Labrador who was brought in to see us with a lump under her tongue and a swelling in the neck. The lump was aspirated which confirmed that it was filled with saliva.
One of Belle’s salivary glands was damaged and was leaking saliva into surrounding tissues forming what’s called a salivary mucocoele – when this happens under the tongue it’s called a ranula.
The swelling under the tongue meant that Belle found it a little trickier than usual to eat but otherwise she was putting on a brave face. If left untreated, salivary mucocoeles can continue to grow, cause pain and occasionally can become infected.
If the leak doesn’t resolve, the treatment is to remove the damaged salivary gland.
Operating around the neck and throat can be complex due to the large number of vital structures in the area.
This includes major blood vessels and the nerves that control the ability to blink and move the tongue.
Vet Lauren has undergone additional surgical training and was confident to perform this delicate surgery which involved cutting into the skin on the side of the throat before dissecting down to the offending salivary gland and removing it and part of the duct.
The mucocoele swelling was then opened surgically to drain out the fluid which had accumulated.
Belle was a wonderful patient and made a great recovery within a matter of days. She was seen for a couple of rechecks to ensure that the wound was healing without complications and to check that there wasn’t any nerve damage. I’m pleased to report that Belle is thankfully back to her beautiful self, minus the fluid filled swelling which has fully resolved.
Beautiful Bella had been shot!
We are all horrified that someone’s pet cat could be shot like this and are thankful that the pellet stopped short of the chest.
High-tech Anaesthetic Machine at Bicester Vets
We have invested in an advanced anaesthetic machine which will help to make anaesthetising pets even safer
New CT Scanner Installation and Imaging
In February we had our final training ready for any patients needing this amazing form of advanced imaging
