[roseslevi]

Originally Posted by 107barney

There is some bad news with Teddy. I found out about an hour ago, and just had to digest it a bit before coming on here to post. Here goes --

The dentist reviewed the CT scan and was strongly suspicious of a problem inside the root where a molar had been removed on Teddy's upper jaw. The proceeded with anesthesia to take dental xrays. They still could not come to any conclusions with the xrays, so the dentist felt it best to reopen the area and see whether there was anything inside. When she got in there, she did not find anything so she chipped away at some nearby bone just to see what the heck was going on.

What they found is a very rare condition that they have seen before in basset hounds. The condition is called Zygomatic Mucocele.

The dog has 5 salivary glands - usually a dog with a mucocele has a cervical (neck) or sublingual (under the tongue) mucocele. You may remember LadyJane's George who had one in his neck this past Fall. The zygomatic arch of the upper jaw in the dog behind the eye contains a salivary gland. This is the salivary gland that is involved and as I said it is very rare. The dentist called the surgeons in during the procedure who confirmed the diagnosis and the team came up with a plan.

The prognosis for Teddy is guarded. In the case of the basset hounds, the zygomatic mucocele resolved spontaneously. This is the hope for Teddy -- that this just resolves on its own. If not, it will need to be surgically removed.

I was told that the surgery is very traumatic and that now is not the time for Teddy. It is better to conservatively approach this and see how it plays out. They removed what they could take out of this thing, but it's a thick jelly like consistency so it's really not the same as draining an infection.

If the problem does not resolve on its own, then Teddy will need the surgery to remove it, which is risky and traumatic. I'll cross that bridge when and if we get there.

For now, please keep Teddy in your prayers. He's been through too much in his short 3.5 year life and quite frankly so have I.

Prayers continue for Teddy. Hoping that this resolves itself and he doesn't need anymore procedures. (Hugs) for you, so you don't need to go through anymore either!