Sialocoele associated with the molar salivary gland in a British Shorthair cat

Abstract

Case summary A 16-year-old neutered female British Shorthair cat presented with a 5-year history of swelling lateral to the left mandible that intermittently discharged viscous, clear fluid from a small defect in the skin. CT, ultrasonography, physical characteristics and cytology of the fluid were suggestive of sialocoele. CT showed a large, cavitary, fluid-filled mass lateral to the left mandible. A ventral approach was used to resect the left mandibular, sublingual and molar salivary glands and sialocoele. Histopathology of the molar and mandibular and sublingual glands showed chronic active sialoadenitis with more severe changes in the molar gland. There were no signs of recurrence of the sialocoele 12 months after surgery. Relevance and novel information This is the first report of a cranial cervical sialocoele potentially involving the molar salivary gland in a cat. Resection of the mandibular, sublingual and molar salivary glands should be considered in cats that present with a cranial cervical sialocoele.

Feline sialocoele: clinical presentation, treatment and outcome in 19 cases

“…3 Although the most common presentation in dogs is a swelling in the cervical region, in cats intraoral or sublingual swelling appears to be more common. 1,3,5,6,[10][11][12] This is in contrast to our results, where the clinical presentation occurred in an equal percentage as cervical or sublingual swelling.…”

“…The treatment options of sialocoele include simple draining of the sialocoele, surgical excision of the affected salivary gland, marsupialisation of the sialocoele or a combination of these techniques. 10,12 In general, draining of the sialocoele or marsupialisation alone is not recommended owing to a high risk of infection and/or frequent recurrence. 1,3,6,7,10,11,14,15…”

“…Feline sialocoeles are uncommon, with only a limited number of cases described in veterinary literature. 1,[3][4][5][6][9][10][11]14 One study reported that dogs had two times the occurrence of sialocoele than cats. 15 To our knowledge this is the largest case series of cats presented and treated for sialocoele.…”

“…Sialocoele can affect cats at any age with no sex or breed predisposition; 1,11,14 this is supported by this study, where the population ranged from 12 to 180 months. Despite sialocoele having been previously reported in the British Shorthair breed, 6,10 only domestic shorthair and domestic longhair cats were represented in this study.…”

“…1,3,7,9 In the veterinary literature, management of sialocoele in cats is limited to single case reports or small case series. [3][4][5][6][9][10][11][12][13] The aim of this study was to describe the clinical presentation, treatments, complications and outcomes in a population of cats diagnosed with sialocoele.…”