Ruby's Dental

[rascalsmom]

So yesterday was Ruby's dental, on the heels of Buddy's passing on Monday.

 

She had one tooth pulled, one of the very back ones. I picked her up around 5:30 last night. She was still pretty loopy...they did her LAST, never finished her till probably 2:00. That ticked me off, since I dropped her off at 8:45!! Nothing like letting her sit there, stressed out, the entire day....When I went to get her, they were really busy there...I walked around the desk (a big U-shape) where I could partially see into the back, and I saw her there, tied to something, pacing, panting, back end sinking, obviously not really completely out of the effects of the anesthesia. Finally I said, "Is there somebody back there with Ruby??", and the girl went to check.

 

Turns out she had had an "accident" in her cage, and the one tech was cleaning that up, that's why they had her tied. Having her tied was NOT OK with me, and at that point all I wanted to do was pay for her dental--and Buddy's euthanasia --take her, and leave.

 

Anyway, I digress. It's been one awful week.

 

So they bring her out to me, and tell me she's been drooling a lot and they had just rinsed her mouth out again. OK, I load her up, and bring her home. In the first 1/2 hour or so that she was home, I wiped her mouth four or five times, there was a lot of thick, ropey, almost gluey stuff....tinged with blood (OK, I expect that, she did have a tooth pulled and her gums are bad). I tried to get her to take tramadol in Velveeta, thinking maybe she would be in pain, but of course she wasn't interested. We did not want to force her mouth open, since it's probably kind of sore, so we didn't give her any pain pills.

 

At some point during the evening or night, she peed in the living room. She hasn't done that in YEARS....and she did drink a lot of water last evening, once she got her tongue working again so I can't fault her for that....

 

This morning she is certainly getting around better, but she did not eat a thing for breakfast. This is not AT ALL like my Ruby.

 

Is this typical behavior after a dental? I don't remember her not wanting to eat at all the next morning...she had NOTHING to eat yesterday, so I thought she would be hungry! And what I offered her was soft....moistened kibble (just a little) and a lot of canned food.

 

Is all that gluey drooling normal, too? I remember she had that last year, too....

Edited March 12, 2009 by rascalsmom

[patricia]

Our vets always say due to anesthesia an accident in the house may happen...and if they don't eat after 24 hours to contact them. Hug Ruby for me...and hugs for you too!

Edited March 12, 2009 by patricia

[AngelWhispers]

The drooling is normal and the needing to pee in the middle of the night is normal. Most of mine will wake me up, but some don't after they've had a dental.

 

If Ruby is normally a good eater but still isn't eating after 24 hrs, then you might want to talk to your vet about your concerns. Sometimes a tasty treat will get the appetite going again.

 

I'm so sorry you're going thru all this. It seems like when it rains, it pours...but usually a rainbow follows the storm.

 

Hugs.

[Guest Che_mar_Cody]

 

Hoping Ruby heals quickly!!

[Jiffer]

Sounds exactly like Orion. The bloody drool, the panting, the pacing.. the whole lot.

He didn't eat a full meal for one day. I did find that he had no problem consuming scrambled eggs, though, so that was what he had for breakfast and dinner the next day. I figured they were soft and didn't hurt him, plus it's not something they get very often so it was extra appetizing.

 

Whenever ours undergo anaesthesia for any painful procedure, our vet gives them a pain shot before they go home so you don't need to give any meds that night, especially with dentals when their mouths are tender. Did they not do that for Ruby?

 

Hugs to the sweet girl.. she'll feel right as rain very soon!

[rascalsmom]

The only medication listed on my invoice is penicillin. Nothing for pain. I had the tramadol here (from Buddy) and they told me to use that if needed....but it doesn't look like they gave her anything.

[macoduck]

Does your invoice show what meds were given during the dental?

The first time my vet did Gracie's dental she came home much the way your Ruby did. After that I learned more about dentals and insisted on them using Propofol. Now she comes home as if nothing even happened.

Hope Ruby is her old self again real soon.

 

[CaliforniaGreys]

Misty's last dental last month was a rough one. Not wanting to eat is fairly normal, the blood (as long as it's clotting) and drooling is all normal.

I was concerned about getting a pain pill in her as well, but I managed to get her to take a scoop of ice cream and it just slid right down.

 

When I went to pick Misty up, they handed me her soul blanket in a plastic bag because she had wet it 3 times(they washed it the first 2 times)

When they're under anesthesia, they pump a lot of fluids in them so they naturally have to pee a lot.

Hoping Ruby has a much more comfortable day today and is comfortable eating

Edited March 12, 2009 by cbudshome

[Guest Greensleeves]

(very slight hijack...)

 

I wonder if it would be OK to give pain meds *before* the dental, like my dentist tells *me* to do...? I think we did that with Rusty's dental abscess, but it's hard to remember exactly b/c he was on pain meds for that anyway....

 

Anyway, hope your girl feels better soon! Anaesthesia was always *very* hard on Whistler.

[MaryJane]

Try feeding hamburger and rice or scrambled eggs and yogurt. The wet kibble may be tough to eat if teeth were removed.

[Guest ss556]

I'm sorry you are having such a bad time/week. I hope that Ruby heals quickly.

Hugs.

[Guest Spencers_Greyt]

Poor Ruby! Give her a gentle hug for me!

 

What you describe is pretty much what happened after Spencer's dental in 2007. I think it's because he didn't react well to the anesthesia and like Ruby they did him last. This January, he had another dental and had to have his 2 back teeth pulled. I was very meticulous to talk to the vet tech about his reaction last time and that the IV tube had hurt his leg. So Spencer went first and was done by his own vet so when I picked him up around 5pm he was almost completely back to normal. Next time, tell the vet's office you want Ruby done first because it takes her so long to recover.

 

[Rustyroo]

Rusty was like that too. He didn't eat a thing for about 24 hours. He took a long time to come "out of it". He also had 6 teeth pulled, so I'm sure he was in no mood to eat, and he had drool with blood in it until the next morning. It took him about three days to get back to normal.

[Guest fatesrelease]

Poor Ruby sweetie. I hope that she feels better soon.

[rascalsmom]

I just tried a scrambled egg. Apparently Ruby and Rascal neither one like scrambled eggs.

 

She did, however, eat almost a whole can of ProPlan beef and rice dog food! Whew, she's finally feeling a little better!!

Edited March 12, 2009 by rascalsmom

[Guest Spencers_Greyt]

I just tried a scrambled egg. Apparently Ruby and Rascal neither one like scrambled eggs.

 

She did, however, eat almost a whole can of ProPlan beef and rice dog food! Whew, she's finally feeling a little better!!

 

Oh good! I'm glad she's feeling better! Funny about the egg. My dogs LOVe eggs!

 

[Guest greytgrandma]

glad to see Ruby is feeling a bit better and ate something. Give her some kisses for me

Edited March 12, 2009 by greytgrandma

[GreyKarma]

Glad she is feeling better. Drooling is very common after dentals. What you don't know is the anesthesia protocol they use. My angel Molly could not tolerate Torb, which is sometimes given for pain pre-surgical. She always paced, panted for hours. Once we stopped using Torb never had the problem again.

[queenwinniesmom]

I'm glad she ate for you. I'm sure that's the start of her steady improvement.

Could they have done a pain injection? Of course, if they did, they would charge you for it, since most vets are doing it and charging. But it just seems like she would have had something for the pain.

I'm so sorry you're having such a rough time.

[Guest Che_mar_Cody]

:yay :yay :yay

[Guest greytkidsmom]

What an awful week you have had. Sorry Ruby is having such a rough time. In our experience, it takes about 48 hours for them to seem "right" after a dental.

 

Lucas says the stringy drool is normal.

 

 

Kebo had two back teeth pulled last week. He seemed a little more lethargic the next day than I expected. I think the back teeth just hurt more because the roots are bigger. The vet actually gave us 4 days' worth of Rimadyl to go with his antibiotic - something she didn't do when he had front teeth pulled.

 

Hugs to you and Ruby - may you both feel better soon.

[KF_in_Georgia]

About Ruby's lack of interest in food... My vet usually advises no food and only small amounts of water after a dental (or other anesthesia) because of potential nausea after the gas. It's entirely possible Ruby looked at the food, her stomach flipped over in protest, and she turned her nose up at the delicacies you offered.

 

And about your vet postponing her dental until late in the day: My vet does this, too. He does his "tricky" cases early in the day, his nice, healthy dogs (like my pair) at the end of the day. But the dogs still get dropped off early in the morning, and are NPO all day while they wait.

 

Actually, my vet would like them dropped off the night before because he gets to work about 5 am. I've drawn the line at this. I can't sleep without my babies in my bed with me. So I drop at 8 am, pick up about 5.