Toothless Sheltie

Duncan went to the Vet a few weeks ago for a teeth cleaning. I've known he's needed it and got him scheduled for what was sure to be an ordeal for him. Boy was I right! Another effect of a lifetime of poor care for puppy mill dogs...

In addition to having his teeth cleaned, Duncan also needed to have a small growth removed from his right side, so we did that at the same time. He ended up with a small shaved patch on his side, and four or so stitches. I also had a Vet Tech brush out his undercoat and clip his toenails while he was under anesthesia - something I'm sure he appreciated, even if he didn't realize it.

But worst of all was his teeth. This picture is NOT of Duncan's teeth, but his were pretty close to being this bad! Visit Sheltie Nation for a post on Sheltie dental health.

Duncan's teeth were so bad in fact from never having had any dental care from his puppy mill owners that my Vet had no choice but to extract eighteen teeth! That's right, 18! My Vet said that some of his teeth were so bad that he could insert a probe under the tooth from the outside of his mouth and come out on the inside. My poor Duncan!! He was able to keep SOME teeth including 3 of his canines, so his little tongue does not hang out like many dogs who loose teeth. This picture is not of Duncan's teeth either, but the teeth he does have remaining are clean and pretty like these now!
Many of the back teeth you see in this picture are now missing in Duncan's mouth. I wanted to get a picture of Duncan's teeth (or lack thereof) to post here, but he didn't want me pulling on his lip to get the pic. In retrospect I wish I had asked the Vet to take before and after pictures for me, but I didn't expect him to loose so many teeth!

Duncan received a nice pain injection before we left the Vet to help him get through the next several hours. My Vet said that Dunc would probably not eat for the next day or so, but that if he wasn't eating again by Monday (this was a Friday) to give him a call. He also gave me antibiotics and pain pills for him. To my surprise later that evening I offered Duncan a small amount of soft canned food and he ate immediately. Maybe his mouth was blessedly still numb from the pain injection, or maybe the fact that he'd not eaten since the night before in preparation for the anesthesia caused his hunger to overcome his pain. In any case, I was surprised that he ate so quickly. A little later I could tell that the injection was starting to wear off so I gave him his first pain pill - which he ate without issue. Thankfully he takes his heart worm and any other pills willingly. It would be a serious strain on his progress if I had to force a pill down his throat every month!

We had no bleeding issues, no eating issues, no stitches issues (he didn't mess with the stitches from where his growth was removed once!) About a week and a half later I noticed that he was eating some of Little Debbie's hard food, so I started mixing his soft food with some hard food. I gradually switched to only hard food which I sprayed down with a little water to soften it a little for him. Now, 4 weeks later he is back to eating hard food again - something I thought may never happen considering the number of teeth he lost! As usual, Duncan has impressed me with how amazingly well he overcame this ordeal. It could have been much worse. (Although I think he's developed the normal fear of the Vet's office. I promised him that if he stayed healthy, we wouldn't have to go back for 12 months!)