Dental Questions - Really Bad Teeth

[Charlies_Dad]

Some of you know we adopted Shelby yesterday who is 11 years old. She has terrible teeth and we will schedule a dental ASAP Monday morning. I have smelt some bad doggy breath before but this is by far the worst. She has holes in her teeth and based on her checkup with the vet we were told 20+ teeth will likely go. Our questions are, what should one expect post dental? What can they eat right after? How long does it take to heal? Is there anything we can do in the meantime to help her? We do know her bloodwork was good, again based on the checkup she had recently. She will be going to Grey savvy vet who has done many dentals in the past.

 

Thanks,

Kyle

[CaliforniaGreys]

Your vet will advise you well I'm sure. If they want to eat after being home a bit, I always feed soft canned food, even scrambled eggs if that's what they like. I've also used baby food

 

My vet always tells me I can return to their regular diet after 10 days, which is still canned, but mixed with dry.

 

If you feed strickly dry, you can let it soak in a little warm water to soften if that's what you prefer.

 

We'll keep your girl in our thoughts for tomorrow morning, Ekko is going in for her first dental Friday and will likely lose a few teeth as well.

Edited June 20, 2010 by cbudshome

[Guest Energy11]

Your vet will advise you well I'm sure. If they want to eat after being home a bit, I always feed soft canned food, even scrambled eggs if that's what they like. I've also used baby food

 

My vet always tells me I can return to their regular diet after 10 days, which is still canned, but mixed with dry.

 

If you feed strickly dry, you can let it soak in a little warm water to soften if that's what you prefer.

 

We'll keep your girl in our thoughts for tomorrow morning, Ekko is going in for her first dental Friday and will likely lose a few teeth as well.

 

Great advice here!

 

Sending lots of love and prayers for your girl tomorrow. My friend's 11 yr old broodie just lost most of her teeth, and did fine during and after the procedure.

[Guest BooBooMama]

Deeni lost about 12 teeth a month ago. She ate soft ground meat (but I feed raw) for 5 days then I started to add a feeding of moistened kibble once a day. She did quite well- I was surprised. I was very worried at first but she has been handling it all in stride.

[Guest KennelMom]

Scrambled eggs is a brilliant idea...I've never thought of that. We always went wet food or really soaked/mushy kibble route.

 

some will want to eat a normal dinner, some won't. I offer it and let them decide. Usually by breakfast the next day they're back to eating. The vet will give you pain meds, so make sure you give it as instructed. We've used tramadol and rimadyl in the past for the first few days.

 

Your girl should heal up just fine. If they have to pull a canine, you can sometimes run into issues with the hole in the gum not closing up, but even if it doesn't it's something you can deal with (just monitor to make sure it doesn't get packed with food). Once they've healed up, our toothless hounds ate the same kibble as everyone else...a little bit of water added but not soaked.

 

Most dogs do just fine without teeth...with kibble, most dogs don't actually chew anyway. For treats we would give our toothless wonders doggy ice cream or kong+peanut butter.

[Burpdog]

Canned food and soak the kibble. Check & see if he carries Amicar in case she bleeds a lot.

 

Sending prayers!

[Guest barkdogs]

The blender is great, too--you can make a nice slurry, easy to eat! Also it's a great way to get moisture in--proper hydration is so important to healing. Best of luck! There will be a day or two of misery and then Shelby will feel SOOOOOOO much better.

[HopeForHounds]

You've been given some good advice Kyle for post dental food. I gave Jet pasta and raw beef for a couple of days, although he only lost 5 teeth.

 

I imagine she will need to be on an antibiotic for a bit before the dental. Get the vet to give you prescription, Jet's meds were $50.00 cheaper at WalMart than at the vet.

 

She'll likely be back on her own diet a week or so after. Shelby will let you know when, I hear she loves to eat.

 

Laura's bridge boy Hoss lost all but his bottome canines. After only a day or two he refused the softer food and demanded his own kibble. I think he just walked away from his bowl and ate someone elses.

[Guest kydie]

Poor baby,,,, will keep her in my thoughts, we gave soft eggs, and jars of meat based baby food

[Guest greytgreys]

My Gianna lost 4 teeth on her last dental. She was the first grey I had that needed teeth pulled. I had no idea what to expect....I thought it would be fine. No one warned me about anything (I guess b/c I had 4 greys they all figured I had been through it before.) As I was walking her out of the vet office, she sneezed. I went running back in hysterical. She had sneezed yellowish, bloody mucus all over the sidewalk. It was just the infection that was so close to her sinus cavity. She continued to have that kind of drainage for the rest of the night. I think every vet puts them on antibiotics after a dental, but just a heads up in case you get freaky drainage. Good luck!

[Guest EmilyandSioux]

We hear Burpdog(I believe it is) has a very good cookie recipe. I think I saw that on the website somewhere. We use anything soft and stinky in the clinic to tempt them to eat again. We have even used canned cat food in the past. I wouldn't rec. this if you have a weak stomach because it can cause some stinky gas!!!

[Guest BlingDogs]

Making the food a little cold might help with the pain.

[Guest Paige12]

We fostered Blaze a senior who had the absolute worst breath in all our history of fosters!! They ended up taking 17 teeth out top and bottom from about halfway around forward, including 3 of his 4 canines. His bleeding and seeping only lasted the first 24 hours we kept him quiet in the kitchen and just kept laying towels over the dog beds. Thankfully he had his favorite two. We also moistened his food, we do anyways, and gave him mashed potatoes, cooked ground chicken, lots of soft foods and he did very well. From the day after his surgery he actually was very interested in eating and had a big appetite. We were just required to keep an eye on his holes and make sure no food got stuck in them, it didn't. You will be amazed at how much perkier she will be when she gets those teeth out. Good luck to you all!! P.S. no matter what the scenario, the BurpDog cookies are awesome!

Edited June 21, 2010 by Paige12

[joejoesmom]

It sounds like you haven't had Shelby long, unless you were fostering her. She has had a lot of changes lately. To avoid stomach upset and diarrhea, I would suggest continuing her current food. For example, don't add scrambled eggs unless that is part of her normal diet. Assuming that she has been getting dry food, I would just soften that with water. If you need to entice her with a bit of something else, that's fine, I would just make the bulk of her food be what she is used to.

 

What I do is after dinner the night before, I put the dry food in the bowl and add enough water so that it will be completely moistened (how much depends on the food, start with 1 1/2 cups of water to 2 cups food -- you may need less but this will make sure the food gets totally softened). Then I put it in the fridge until breakfast the next morning. Mine prefer it slightly warm (helps bring out the "aroma" and encourages them to eat), so I put it in the microwave just long enough to warm it up. After breakfast, I repeat the process so the food is soft for dinner. You will likely need to do this for 10 to 14 days. Your vet will let you know.

 

She will almost certainly need an antibiotic. Find out if she can use a human antibiotic and if so have the vet write a script. In central Ohio, Giant Eagle will fill most generic antibiotic scripts at no charge (even if it is for a dog). Many pharmacies now have a $4 program for generics (including a number of antibiotics). Before your appointment you might want to check your local pharmacies for the list of antibiotics in their free or low cost programs. You can usually do this by checking their websites. All that being said, Antirobe is a very common antibiotic to use with dental infections. It is made only for animals. It is a form of clindamycin, clindamycin hydrochloride. Clindamycin hydrochloride is also used in humans but may be different from antirobe -- I don't know for sure.

 

Lastly, someone mentioned that if a canine needs to be removed, there might be a problem with a pocket forming, potentially forever. You would need to ensure that food doesn't get trapped there. You might talk to your vet about this. My veterinary dentist, who specializes only in dental work, routinely puts a compound in the cavity formed when pulling a large tooth. Of course, I don't remember the name of this, but it bonds to the bone and fills the cavity so you don't have to worry about a pocket forming. There is an extra charge for this. I don't know if general vets know this procedure though.

 

By the way, I also have a dog named Shelby. She is half whippet and absolutely never needs encouragement to eat, even after having teeth pulled.

 

Jane