Bad Breath - it was a serious health problem

[Meg (Murphy's Mom)]

Some of you may remember that I was concerned about Murphy’s bad breath. It smelled so noticeably bad you could smell his breath from across the room. The only way I can describe it is a bad fishy smell. He was also acting like he didn’t feel well. He just didn’t seem to be himself.

We scanned the internet for remedies for doggy bad breath and did many of the recommended things like brushing his teeth with baking soda.

I also found something that said bad breath may mean something stuck in his teeth so we thoroughly examined his teeth.

It has been about 2 weeks and the smell was still bad so last night we turned him upside down and spread his mouth wide open. Lodged in the roof of his mouth we could see a stick about an inch and a half long by about ¼ inch thick. It made me feel nauseous.

The first thing this morning we took him to the vet. They were able to get it out and clean him up without putting him under. They also gave him antibiotics.

We are so lucky this could have ended up to be a deadly accident.

[Meg (Murphy's Mom)]

The stick caught in Murphy's mouth was also lodged horizontally. It was like a giant sliver. It was so far back that we didn't notice when we examined his teeth. You were lucky that your dog showed signs of something wrong with his mouth. Murphy didn't do that. Our only clue was the bad breath and the fact that he acted sick.

[Lindsey, Lee, Whopper and Simba]

The first full day we had Whopper I took her for a walk and she stopped and started hitting her face with both paws. I checked in her mouth and didn't feel anything. She continued to paw her face and I brought her inside and asked my husband to bring down her water. Every time she tried to drink she would just paw her face. We kept trying to figure out what was going on, checking her teeth, etc. I finally held her mouth wide open and felt around the roof surface. Towards the back there was a significant piece of birch lodged horizontally across. Once out she was fine but it gave us a huge scare. We were also thankful it lodged itself horizontally and didn't end up further down. I am glad Murphy is doing better and that you posted this as well to make people aware of things getting caught up top that are really hard to notice.

[Cam & Oski]

I'm so glad that Murphy is doing well! Now that you mention it, I remember someone over a year ago telling us a similar story with their dog while we were walking Oski (he noticed Oski playing with sticks). Too bad I was too senile to remember it until after you figured it out yourself, LOL

[Steve Drury]

We had a golden retriever (lived to be 15) that used to get sticks stuck in her mouth / jaw.
It took a day to discover it the first time---her behavior was quite bizarre. After that first time, it was the first place we would look when she was acting strange. (This girl was also a rock collector / chewer.)
Glad you found it.

[Missi]

Wow, I never would have thought of that! Glad that you found it!!! Definitely thanks for sharing. Murphy's probably glad to get that out too!

[Carole (*Koda*Monty*Bindi)]

Wow! What a scary thing! Thanks for sharing your experience with us but I'm so sorry you had to go through that. Glad Murphy is ok :)

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I'm glad you found the cause of the problem and Murphy will be okay! Thanks for posting this, I would never have thought of that, either!

[Deena Womack]

Wow, thank goodness you found out the problem when you did!! This is just scarey, I probably would never have thought to look in the roof of the mouth for the issue, thank goodness you did and Murphy is going to be fine.

[Adrianne Matzkin]

the Doodle Gods were listening - I am so happy for you all you saw it!

[Linda and Murphy]

Meg, so glad to hear Murphy is going to be okay. Wow...