During our stay in Moab, UT, Quark began having episodes of reverse sneezing. We figured that he inhaled something and we thought it would soon pass. It did not. He continued to have episodes and after several days it became apparent that he had lost some weight.
As we made our way east, Quark felt a little warm and the lower lid on his right eye became puffy and the inside of the lid was bright red. I made up my mind to get him to a veterinarian in Dodge City, KS, our next stop. The doctor couldn’t pinpoint the problem and gave him a “two-week” antibiotic. I felt better even if Quark didn’t.
On the final leg of our trip two days later, I still was not happy with his progress. I called our veterinarian from the road to be sure I would get him early Monday, morning (it was Saturday).
By Sunday evening Quark had a walnut-sized swelling under his right ear and his eye was looking worse. Was I glad I made the appointment.
Monday morning we saw the doctor. Quark was running a temp of 103 and had lost almost 2 lbs. The doctor said it was an enflamed salivary gland and it was probably related to the reverse sneezing and the eye problem. He put Quark on oral antibiotic and eye ointment. Quark took the antibiotic for two weeks without significant results for the swelling but his eye did respond to treatment. Back to the doctor and a change of medication and finally the swelling slowly began to diminish.
It has been 1.5 months and he will be finishing up his medication soon. He looks normal—no swelling or bad eye.
This picture was taken on October 16, 23 days after he first became ill.
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