Ava at the dentist

[Stacy]

It’s dental day for Ava! And I feel really comfortable with the veterinary dentist she’s seeing. But I hate hate having to leave her anywhere. She is so obviously scared.  She doesn’t like it when anyone else takes her leash. I told the vet tech, but then I allowed her to try to walk Ava into the back, but she wasn’t having it. She totally put the breaks on. So I walked her back and convinced her to get into the crate. But I still hate it. I know she thinks I’m abandoning her.

 

Back to pet insurance for a minute. I’m sure that Ava was uninsurable as an older rescue/breeding dog. And I’ve never gotten insurance on any of my dogs. But she would be a prime example of why it would be good to have. She’s been here for almost 8 months, and if the vet hadn’t reimbursed me for the emergency surgery she had we would be sitting upwards of $6000 in vet expenses. As it is, the estimate for todays procedure is $1500. That made the dermatologist seem very reasonably priced! I say that number only in the thoughts that it may be of interest to someone. I had no idea what the estimate would be when I took her in. I was imagining everything from 300 – 1500. The cost of a dental at my vet is sub $200. But this vet does preanesthesia lab work, general anesthesia, and pain control among other things, and my vet doesn’t do any of that. In fact, they’re just lightly sedated for the procedure and not intubated.

 

The dentist felt that it was unlikely that the swelling I’m seeing is a dental abscess. I’m still praying for an abscess! Of course he doesn’t know what it is. He will know more after the x-rays but there was talk about a biopsy and then… waiting for the biopsy to come back. And honestly, I’m terrified. There are lots of benign type tumors but there are also worse things. And my mind jumps to all the bad things. I’ve always said that as a personal choice for my dogs I would never do chemo or radiation. I’ve always felt that dogs aren’t afraid of death in the way that people are. And causing them to suffer by prolonging their life is something we do because we need them, and it’s unfair.

 

But sitting here potentially faced with this decision is wholly different. Because I do need her. I love her and Katie the way people love their children. I still think it’s unfair, but what wouldn’t I do to have her with me.

 

So I’m just going to try to think good thoughts until I hear from them. Because otherwise I sit her and totally freak myself out! One of these days I’m going to get Ava all healthy and she’s not going to have to go to the vet all the time, and she’s going to love it!

 

Stacy

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Sending positive thoughts and energy your way, and hoping for good news from the dentist.

JD won't walk into the back of his vet's office (or anywhere else) without me, either. :)

[Stacy]

I just got off the phone with the vet and he said from what he sees it looks encouraging for a benign osgteogenic fibroma - I may have gotten that wrong. But he said that's a fancy name for nothing serious. And then he said some other things that I didn't completely follow... but the summary is that we are going to remove to two incisors on the left side and biopsy it and then pray that it comes back as what he thinks it is and we will be done. 

Oddly enough those two really uglyworn down teeth in the center are fine. He said the root isn't exposed and we can just leave them alone, though he did say that the one on the left could possibly come out with the incisors - he said sometimes they're like dominos and you take the other two and that one just sort of comes with it. But he explained that the teeth have a way of protecting themselves if they're worn down slowly over time. And that seems to be what happened there. 

They also said that they really shouldn't be chewing on antlers - that they're too hard. 

I sometimes wonder if my dogs really love me or if they just love whoever happens to be around. Ava is really my girl. I don't think she would let anyone steal her! 

I feel a little better about everything after hearing from the vet. I will feel a ton better after we get the biopsy results!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

This sounds very positive. I hope you can relax just a little now, and look forward to getting your girl back home. You can all take a nice nap! 

[Stacy]

How did you know? Napping is one of our favorite sports!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

LOL, it's our favorite "post-traumatic-morning-at-the-vet's-office" activity! 

[Stacy]

Sometimes I'm not sure who is more traumatized by these vet visits. She doesn't like it. But neither do I!

[Stacy]

My pretty girl is home. She's still feeling the effects of the dilaudid. (I'm having some pretty funny thoughts in my head about my dog walking around high on that drug that starts with a D) But she seems comfortable and her mouth looks good. When I picked her up the vet said he couldn't tell me anything definitive about the tumor in her mouth. Pathology should take about a week. I hate the word tumor. I'm hoping for a nothing diagnosis. They only had to pull 2 teeth. Overall I can't complain. But I think I did have a little post traumatic stress from our last surgery! She should be good though. This vet takes all possible precautions. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You gotta love the specialists. :)

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

The news sounds really good so far. And it sounds like Ave is bouncing back just fine.  Give her a hug for me. She's a brave girl.

[Stacy]

She is a brave girl. Braver than I am! Thank you.