Ava and the new problem

[Stacy]

I love her so much. She's such an easy dog. But I just can't seem to get her all well. First it was the botched spay and emergency sugery, then it was her exploding nipple, then the allergies. And now her teeth. 

When she first came I noticed that her bottom front teeth were incredibly worn. I asked my vet (who I now question his judgment) and he said to just leave them alone - they didn't need anything. And that seemed well and good at the time, but now she has what appears to be an abcess. Pictures. I don't want to take her back to the first vet. He wasn't much help with the allergy problem. I'm seeing the wisdom of specialists. So she has an appointment with a vet dentist, but I couldn't get her in until next Friday. But now I'm worried. I think it's an abcess. But what if it's something worse. And what if they need to remove the rest of those worn front teeth. Poor Ava. I just want to rewind her life and take care of her from the very beginning so she never had that prior life. I wish that been more diligent in selecting a breeder who took good care of their dogs. I just want her to be well. I want her to live forever and be the healthy happy dog that she is meant to be. 

Here are her teeth when she first came to live with me. 

Here are her teeth today. The bottom right side is what I'm concerned about.

If anyone has any thoughts or suggestions on what is going on I would appreciate them. 

Stacy

[Kaitee and Orwell]

I know how that is. When Orwell had his obstruction he was wagging his tail and greeting people at the vet who walked up to him like he was totally fine. I told them all that he is completely full of it, lol.

[Stacy]

That's why I work with kids and not adults. Children and dogs don't know they're supposed to feel sorry for themselves. They don't lay around whining when they have a cold. They have balls to chase and toys to play with. It's once the kids stop playing and acting like kids that we know they're really sick. 

[Stacy]

No, not the black spot. I think that's just pigment. But can you see the swelling between the (I wish I knew the names of the individual teeth!) There are the two really worn down ones in the center. Then the next one on the right is moderately worn down. Then there is swelling between that tooth and the next tooth on the right. If you look at the first picture those two teeth are close together and now they are spread apart. And that area is kind of red and raised. 

At first I thought maybe they had always been like that and I was just worrying over nothing, but looking at the first picture there is definitely an area of swelling that wasn't there before. 

But I really do hope it's nothing!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Ah, I do see it now. But I still wouldn't worry. I do think it needs to be checked out but I don;t think it's anything serious or untreatable. (In my life with JD, anything that can be fixed is not serious, so I probably have a skewed viewpoint, but still...) 

[Stacy]

Fixable is good. And you're right, I'm sure it's not life threatening. I just get all excited about everything with her. I just know they're going to put her on antibiotics again - and in less than a year she's been on antibiotics more than a lot of dogs are in their entire lives. I'm just worried that she's going to have to have anesthesia and surgery again. I'm just really good at anticipatory worrying!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Well, they may need to pull the tooth, but if so, they may be able to do it with local. JD had a hemangiosarcoma removed from his third eyelid under local. :) 

[Stacy]

That JD is one tough cookie! She just gets so nervous. And I hate it when she's afraid. That said, there are some really good sedatives they use that don't require intubation or all the scary stuff. I mean, we use ketamine on little kids all the time and they're always fine. I'm just impatient. I really wanted them to get her in tomorrow. That is the advantage to the walk in vet clinic. 

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

My daughter has a rescue Yorkie mix.  She has awful teeth and most of them have been pulled due to abscesses. Of course my daughter doesn't know whether the tooth problems were the result of poor genetics or poor diet, but whatever the cause, the teeth are in  terrible condition.  Todd has no trouble eating without a full set of teeth.  Todd has no trouble with anesthesia so that part hasn't been a problem.  She also has had lots of antibiotics for the abscesses.

[Stacy]

I had a rescue once who had no teeth at all - Avery. He came that way. And he was a happy healthy dog. I'm sure he was healthier without them than with a mouth full of rotting teeth. He didn't have any trouble eating but he did have trouble keeping his tongue in his mouth :) I just want Ava to have a healthy smile. Not so much that I can afford dental implants, but the rest of them look pretty good and I think she will keep the important ones. I just want to mitigate this damage and not have more problems down the road. Poor girl. I feel like she's gone through so much in such a short time. I wish she didn't have to deal with this too. She might wish to go back to where she came from. I'm positive that she didn't go to the vet this many times while she was there. 

[Stacy]

Katie is also part of the possum poop club! I found a second round of possum poop in the same spot in the yard - luckily before they found it again. I may end up getting a live trap for it if it keeps happening. That possum needs to go live somewhere far far away from here.

[Ginny Nightingale]

I noticed that red swelling and definitely have it checked out--but what does everyone think about those two teeth in the center on the bottom? Weird looking if you ask me--it almost looks like her puppy teeth did not come out!?

I am guessing her top teeth are hitting the bottom ones head on when she chews-- be prepared for a big estimate at the doggy dentist--they might want to put braces on the teeth! I am serious--they do that!!

[Stacy]

That's interesting. I had made the assumption that in her past life she had been gnawing on bars or something. But it could be a bite issue. I was trying to look and it does seem like it's kind of tight between the top and bottom. As much as I love her I don't think we're going to be going the route of braces. I was looking at the dentists website and they do root canals and crowns. I think that there might be a circumstance where I would do that - but for the most part pulling a tooth seems like a more reasonable option. I know how well dogs do with missing teeth. I'm interested to hear what they think though.