If anyone has had experience with their Lab drulling
from one corner of the mouth I would like to hear all about it. The drulling began about 2 1/2 weeks after my 6 yr. old male got his 3 yr. rabbi shot. The vet seems to think it is a salivary gland problem since a
physical exam produced nothing. My dog has been on antibiotics for 3 days and it seems to be helping. I am still curious and uncertain of the diagnosis. A possible stroke was discussed.
Joan if the antibiotics seem to be helping with the drooling I would say that there may be an abscessed tooth. If he continues to improve and then has a reoccurrence of drooling when he comes off the antibiotics (can take a month for the abscess to build back up again) you may need to have him put under for a tooth exam.
Look under his tongue. Does it look strange or swollen. My lab had a runnola (sp??) and a course of antibiotics worked. My vet said if it didn't work, surgery would have been the next step.
Check for a stick or piece of toy wedged between back teeth -- a couple of my dogs have had this happen and it did cause drooling. The piece of stick stuck between teeth actually took me a few days to figure out as you couldn't see it well. The dog kept drooling on that side and acting like they were trying to chew something.
There is also something called Horner's Syndrome, which causes facial nerve paralysis or paresis on one side. It usually causes a droopy eye and droopy mouth on one side, so can cause drooling. Your vet should be familiar with Horner's though, as it is not at all uncommon in Labrador Retrievers. It is treated with prednisone.
If your dog is responding to the antibiotics, your vet is probably on to the right diagnosis. Maybe a salivary duct or gland got infected due to being punctured or bruised by a hard object he was chewing, who knows?
Just be sure you or the vet checks the roof of the mouth as well-I had a 12 yr old girl do this-(of course on a holiday weekend)-we took her to the ER vet who said tooth problem and put her on anti biotics with the advice if it doesn't clear up in two weeks bring her to the reg vet. It got better but then returned 2 weeks after-reg. vet examined her and found a melanoma on the roof of her mouth-was not a good ending.
