Parotid Duct Transposition

[hoppes7]

What are the problems during and after surgery?

[aemmom]

Hi all,

My 5 yo yorkie was diagnosed with PDT almost a year ago. I debated for that time about whether to have the surgery.  We went ahead last week and the verdict is still out whether it was successful. My little one has many of the same symptoms many of you shared, i.e. still squinting his eye, very sedetary, gunk around the eye, etc...and we're still doing the daily meds (at least 7 for the eyes and two oral).  I go back tomorrow for a recheck, the 3rd in 7 days.  He also developed an ulcer.  I was hoping to see some improvement by now but not yet. I'm trying to stay optimistic but it's been very difficult, as many of you know.

[gale157]

Hi, I'm new to this site but I just wanted to share my experiences with dry eye.  My miniature schnauzer was diagnosed at the age of 1.  
We tried everything in the way of eye drops but his reading was 0 in the left and 3 in the right and nothing seemed to help.  We were told by his opthalmologist that 50% chance the surgery would help.  As the only option was surgery or removing his eyes, we tried the surgery.  It was hell for abnout 6 weeks as he kept having complications, but finally things settled down.  Now I am so glad we had the transposition surgery done.  He is a perfectly normal, happy little boy, playing with his toys.  Before he was a sad little puppy who walked around squinting or with his eyes shut and never wanted to play.  we give him EDTA eye drops once a day but he doesn't seem to form any crystals.  Just have to wash his face every time he eats but it's so worth it.

Gale

[NancieJane]

I ordered the buttermilk powder on line. It has to be pure buttermilk powder. Google it. I'm out of the country and get back Sunday. I'll send the link if you want it
Nancie

[DefKat79]

Hi Mary!
Just a quick question about the buttermilk powder - I went to get her some yesterday and the only type I found said it was made with sweetened cream and sweetened whey. I don't want to cause tooth issues now if there is added sugar in there. I did get it as it was the only one there, but I wanted to know if you had a specific brand that you used that didn't contain sugar. It's not to say that Sophie doesn't like it - she licked the bowl clean at each meal! I just don't want to create another health issue down the road.
Thanks for all your advice so far.

[MaryC24]

My Brandy had PDT surgery in January 2006.  She developed a stone in her duct just over a year ago and had to have it surgically removed.  Ever since then, I have given her 1 tsp. of buttermilk powder with each meal.  She loves it!  I find the buttermilk powder in my grocery, right next to the canned milk section.  For Brandy, PDT surgery was the only answer and I am so glad that she had the surgery.  She was so uncomfortable that she rubbed an ulcer on her eye and had to have a graft done at the same time as the PDT.  Her Opthalmologist's office is just 11 blocks from me and we have been going there many times.  She has to take Simplicef with every meal.   There is a vet opthalmologist who specializes in PDT surgery.  My Opth. vet has been in touch with him regarding Brandy's case.  The stone, etc.  My opth. vet's name is Dr. Teres Tucci and her practice is called Veterinary Specialists Inc. in Homestead, Florida.  She happens to be on Facebook, should you want to get in touch with her.  

[DefKat79]

Well, Sophie (the 2 year old Jack) had her PTD surgery Nov. 22. I'm still extremely glad I went ahead with the surgery, but it hasn't been an easy month. She had complications the day of the surgery and a few hours after the vet called me to tell me everything was OK, they called back to say her face was swelling like crazy and they didn't know why and had to go back in. She basically had the same surgery twice in less than 12 hours! I couldn't go to her as I live 4 hours away from the vet (I'm in Canada, vet is in Michigan - went there for price reasons - Canadian vet wanted $2400 plus tax, US guy did it for $890 including all meds, collar, food, etc - and that includes the dollar conversion). Anyway, I was totally stressed as I was getting updates every 2 hours or so all saying "we have no idea what's going on". Turns out nothing was wrong internally (it is possible for swelling to develop if the duct is damaged during surgery and the cheek can fill up with saliva - that's why they had to put her under again to confirm). I got to pick her up the next day and take her home with me and everything seemed fine, except that she wasn't producing enough saliva (it was supposed to be spilling over her eyelid onto her face and she made just enough to pool at the bottom of the eyelid). It took about 3 weeks for it all to start working and her eye to start looking "normal" when it all went downhill again. I called the US vet and they suspected an eye ulcer, so I had to bring to Canadian vet to get her checked right away and they said, yes, she had one. So back she went on a series of drops and ointments, but her eye didn't get better. She had the same symptoms that Nancie mentioned - the crystals on the lashes and a haze at the centre of the eye. She was keeping the eye shut and squinting again and rubbing at it even though she would produce enough saliva - it wasn't dry eye, it was irritated eye. The US vet made some calls and ordered a new ointment (EDTA - not sure what it stands for) but it's to break up the crystals in her eye. I've had her on that for about 5 days and it seems to be helping. To get rid of the haze, he has me give her another ointment (short form is NPD) every 2 hours for this week. We'll go back Monday to see how it did. He froze her eye too and wiped all the crystals off but there is still a haze in the middle where her eye gets the most exposure to air.
Anyway, I know I'm sounding like there are all these problems, but really, to me, she is a thousand times better than she was pre-surgery. I am still glad I had it done but really do want all the problems to be over. I still see hope with her current condition, I didn't without the surgery. She was on cyclosporin and tacrolimus for months and never went from 0 in the left eye. Her right went from 2 to 25. I hope that now we can control the saliva pH with diet, I just have to find the right food. I haven't tried the buttermilk yet, but definitely will get some. Also, changing her from regular tap water to distilled helped.
Good luck. I will post more later after Monday's appt.