My dog is sick :(

[Luna Baby]

I know others have problems right now much bigger than this, but I am a worried fur kid mom right now. Just over 3 weeks ago, we began to notice an unpleasant odor emanating from my dog's mouth. After finally prying him open a bit, we could see what appears to be infection so I scheduled him in with our local vet who is also a good friend of ours. Doc proceeded to pull out what appeared to be a possible string or yarn that may have wrapped around one of his teeth and caused an infection. He gave me some pain tablets and antibiotic drops for my boy and asked that we call back if no better within a week. Puppers seemed to be doing better although I did find and clean out a small piece of further infection (solid, gross, I know, but that's how it was) and his smell seemed to improve greatly.

Fast forward to this week and I noticed that same smell again, except, it wasn't all the time. I got tired of it (I have a super sniffer and smells affect me greatly) so I had hubby open up the dog's mouth again last night and this time I looked in with a flashlight. Oh HOLY MOTHER OF GOD !!! I nearly lost my cookies. This time, another round of infection on the other side of his mouth, many times larger. I got in touch with Doc this morning and hubby dropped off the dog to be looked at so we didn't allow this to get any worse.

Long story short, he's going to have to be sedated to have this mess cleaned out and Doc recommended some pre-anesthesia blood work prior to the sedation so it will still be Saturday before his mouth is cleaned up. I loaded him up in the car to head home and I had to literally roll down the windows to make the 3 mile drive home. The smell is awful! I thought I might be able to lessen it just a bit by wiping off any infection around his mouth, just where I could see. Good golly, it was bad and I gagged.

My pup was about 4 years old when we adopted him nearly 6 years ago. He had apparently had a rough start in life and the vet at the shelter pulled all but about 5 or 6 teeth then. He has managed well with the few teeth he has up til now, even eating dry kibble. I'm hoping just an abscess that can be cleaned up surgically and repaired but I'm worried it could be something more (google search is not always your friend). Kind thoughts for my fur kid, please.

[csquared]

I know others have problems right now much bigger than this, but I am a worried fur kid mom right now.

We each have to take care of our own problems. You can't just ignore this because someone else has a bigger problem. That would make you a bad fur parent.

Hugs and scritches for the fur kid.

[Pixelated]

I am in an increasingly discouraging job hunt, Luna Baby, but I have two kitties, and whatever my problems, the kitties are an unending source of joy and support (even last night, when I had a bad coughing jag and one of them sat up and glared at me as if to say, "D'you mind? Some of us are trying to sleep!!" Yeah, thanks for the sympathy!! )

Best wishes and a fast recovery for the pupkin. I've been told that even completely toothless cats (not sure about dogs) can eat kibble ... since they don't usually chew their food anyway.

And yeah, stay away from Google. It can be helpful sometimes. Other times, it can just scare you half to death.

[Luna Baby]

Thanks for the kind words, folks. Pup went back to the vet this morning for his procedure and all went well. I had prepared myself for him having to lose what few remaining teeth he has but Doc only had to pull the one that had abscessed. He mentioned that there was another that was loose, but not ready to pull and to just keep an eye on it. He said that most of the infection had actually cleared up with just the 2 days of antibiotics he'd been on (still continuing them to clear it up fully). So, with a loopy dog in hand, I headed back home well before 10 am.

Pup has had breakfast now, scritches behind the ear from Dad and all is well again. He's already back to begging for people foods (we share the good stuff-lean meats and veggies/fruits).

[MoonCat]

Good luck on a fast recovery! Give him a hug from me! And here's one for you! {{{hug!}}}

[RootedPhoenix]

Hope he keeps feeling better. *scritches him, hugs you* <3 I will be praying.

[Pixelated]

Glad to hear things went well and the pupkin is back to doing the "But I'm STAAARRRRVINNNNG" routine. Hope his recovery continues and he doesn't need anything more than routine vet visits for a long time to come!

The same cat that snubbed me is now lying here with his little fuzzy head partially blocking the monitor ... apparently watching the same movie I am.

[Akasa]

I'm glad puppkin is doing better! Don't apologize because your problems aren't as bad as someone else's. Your problems are big to you and causing you worry. You need support and head pats? Let us know!

[Luna Baby]

So the pup has been back to our vet for a second time since my original post above. Last time, he had another tooth pulled. Today, one fell out while he was examining his mouth. I think he is down to 2 or 3 now. Doc is concerned that it could be an oral cancer and we'll look at further testing next week when he follows up. If it is, we'll have some hard discussions and choices to make. Right now, he's back on antibiotics (3rd or 4th round, I forget).

[Pixelated]

Oh no. I was hoping it was just lousy teeth.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you ...