Another Gracie - The $$$$ Dog Only This Is GRACIE DOODLE

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

Those of you who have been with DK for the past 6 years pretty much know the things that Gracie Doodle either gets into or has had.  Thankfully, up until now, I have had Pet Insurance.  We have had two surgeries to remove Fox Tails from her front mitts paws, one to remove a Mexican Feather Grass seed from a turbine in her nose and a recent surgery to remove what turned out to be a calcium deposit on her hip due to Rattlesnake vaccine.  For the last year we have had our battle with her Masticatory Myositis which is an auto-immune disease.  We finally have that in remission and all of Gracie's lovely hair has come back and her tail is beautiful again.  I never in a million years did I think I would see hair on her legs and tails and those big Doodle mitts again!!!  

So, when she had her last surgery to remove the calcium deposit on her hip I had her teeth cleaned.  The report came back that she had two of her massive three-rooted lower chompers (P4 108 and P4 208) broken down into the gum.  She didn't have these broken teeth a year ago when we had her teeth cleaned so I can only blame this on one thing...ANTLERS!  I posted a warning back in April when we discovered it and there were lots of people who sort brushed it off with a bunch of "yah buts" said "oh, I supervise the chewing and listen to how they are chewing or scraping".  Well, after $3,400.00 which I just paid an hour ago, you might want to rethink your comments!!  Be warned!!!

There was a decision to be made to pull the teeth or have root canals done on them.  There are people who just laugh at us and think it is a no brainer...pull those suckers!  Others who think we have lost our minds when we decided to do the root canals.  Vets are not 100% savy on the tooth situation with canines.  These teeth were the three-rooted ones and the main chewers.  Being void of them would have made it hard to chew.  But, pulling them involves a huge dangerous surgery where need to cut the tooth into pieces and remove the surrounding bone to ease the extraction.  Due to the size of the teeth extractons can be a challenging and time consuming procedure.  In addition, these procedures involve the use of sharp instruments and high speed drills.  It is delicate work as there are numerous critical structures surrounding the oral cavity, including significant nerves and blood vessels, the eyes and the brain.  Worst case, especially with the extraction of the lower canine and first molar teeth, the thin bone in the area may predispose to a jaw fracture.  Therefore, extraction procedures should only be performed by a DVM, BVMS, MRCVS title after their name.  Once I read this and the description of their root canal procedure it was a no brainer for us.  Besides, Gracie was in and out in three hours and that included x-rays, teeth cleaning, exam, nail clipping and then the actual surgery.  Mind you...these big chompers each have three roots...therefore three root canals per tooth so that totaled for her six root canals.  They are done exactly like ours are!  Oh, we also had the option of putting a crown (made of steel) on the teeth afterwards for another $3,000 but we opted out.  It is only necessary if we wanted her to be a chewer which she is not.  Her tennis balls are fine and if she never sees another antler or marrow bone again that is just fine with us all!  

Okay all you DKers...you are forewarned!!  We were lucky enough to have a team of Veterinary Dental Specialists and they only do work related to the jaw and mouth.  Can you believe, root canal, othodontic, prosthetic, crown, jaw fracture repair and oral cancer surgery are their specialties???  Quite a team to have nearby but wow...the price!  Unfortunately, I never bought the Dental portion of our Pet Insurance.  What did I know about dog teeth...all dogs chew on bones!  Well, enough said.  You might want to add dental to your plan if you are continuing to let your Doodles chew on antlers and bones!

So now my NEW Gracie Doodle!!  She is healthy, has a full body of beautiful curls and hair, new teeth, no lumps or bumps and off all medications.  Here she is from yesterday after a face trim before going to the Dentist!!

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

A gorgeous and lucky doodle to have such a wonderful Mom and Dad. So happy that she has made it through and still has her chompers. Looking Good Gracie!!!!

I remember your discussion because I think I commented or even posted one of my own because on the dental dangers of antlers. My Granddog Sophie had to have a tooth pulled because of an antler... that DVM said never ever give them antlers. I was the grandma who gave it to her. I believe her operation was $1300 because it was a front tooth.

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

I have to say I enjoyed our time in San Diego sooo much last summer. I'm sure Auggie would love it out there as well. My DH is flying to SD on Sunday for his son's NAVY ceremonies. I just wish I could pack up the boys and go spend some time at the dog beach again!

[Anne & Mr. Haley]

Nancie, It's so nice to see beautiful Gracie Doodle again. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

I am so glad that Gracie is better and back to her beautiful self.

[Jarka, Monty & Auggie]

I'm so glad that Gracie is back to normal again, even with the root canals. I just don't know how dog owners can really know what's good for their dogs. The stores carry all these bones and antlers.... why in the world would I think that those might break their teeth?  Fortunately, none of my boys are heavy chewers. I bought one antler when Monty was around a year old and it's still sitting in their toy box almost untouched.

[Bonnie and Kona]

I am encouraged to hear that the vet could see the damage by looking in the dog's mouth. Our vet looked at Kona's teeth quite carefully at his appointment. Thank you, Nancie. This just makes me sad to think we could have hurt our doodles in trying to provide something good for them.

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

@Bonnie...Gracie chewed the antlers until they got so small that I took them away.  She has never given any indication to me that her mouth or teeth hurt.  Once the broken teeth were discovered and I knew what I was looking for they were very easy to see.  The vet just pulled back her side lip a bit and there where the first three mounded tooth is you could see in her case the back mound sheared off and down to the gum.  These antlers were given to her months ago and she never flinched in pain the entire time.  

[Bonnie and Kona]

Nancie, Did Gracie stop chewing the antlers on her own because of the pain from her broken teeth? I'm wondering if we will know if our doodles have done damage without having X-rays. Kona was supposed to have his teeth cleaned when they surgically removed most of his tail a couple of weeks ago but they forgot. My guys have had antlers for years but I will no longer provide that option for them. I just hope they are not hurting now.

[Leslie and Halas]

It's nice to see your smiling face again, Gracie Doodle!

[Nancie & Gracie Doodle]

Nancy...when you don't do the crown they seal it up and bond.  That is why we can no longer give Gracie bones and hard stuff.  Kibble is fine and her little bone treats that we give her.  He also said that one of the worst culprits is a Nyalabone!!!!!