Dental Questions

My grand pug, Zeke had a dental today. His first dental was in Feb. of 2009. Zeke's regular vet recommended that Zeke be taken there as one of the vets is a dental specialist and Zeke has a bad set of teeth.

Last year about 5 teeth were removed and today about 7 including one canine tooth.

Now my questions?

How soon can I expect Zeke to want some water? Food? What should I offer him for food? Zeke is a bit of a picky eater when it comes to anything other then kibble. I will try that with water but how soon would be common for him to feel like eating?

The poor guy falls asleep with his head up. It must hurt when he puts his head down. When he does finally fall asleep there are a few small bloody brownish spots where his mouth was.

Is it unusual that he was not sent home with any pain meds? I thought there would be some in the packet they sent home with me. I know I should have asked more questions but we were in a hurry to beat the rush hour traffice as the freeway was beginning to glaze over with ice.

Why can't I remember what happened after Zeke's dental last year????

Yes he should have pain meds. My recent foster was spayed and had a dental at the same time and the dental was WAY more painfull for her than the spay. If you have some childrens aspirin for the pain it will help some. It may take 24 hrs or more for him to want to eat kibble, even soaked in water. I gave chicken breast and white rice for 2-3 days to get her to eat something and she easily transitioned to kibble after that.

Try propping him up with pillows as the swelling increases when his head lowers too far. Makes the discomfort worse. He will survive, but I have to insist on pain medds too and that is after he gave them a pain shot when they leave with me.

When Imi had her BIG dental (five teeth left) not long after I got her, I KNOW she was in a lot of pain for the first day and thankfully she had pain meds. Do you have, or can you easily get, any baby aspirin? Easier than getting back to the vet?

With food I thought that would be the end of her eating kibble, but after everything healed she wolfed the kibble down like she had a full set of choppers. I also thought it would be the end of chewies but no; she LOVES them and gets through them quicker than Pearl who has all her teeth! Imi still loves to gnaw a bone! She has just worked out how to do it on the side of her mouth where there are teeth. Nothing will stand in the way of a determined Pug and the food they want. I did soften the kibble at first, but then I saw her steal Pearl's without any trouble so I just left it. it is TINY kibble though - specifically for small dogs.

Hope Zeke heals quickly.

Penny lost 11 teeth last year at her dental, and she ate rice and poached chicken for a couple of days. She didn't want to eat at all the first night, but she did drink some chicken broth. Took her forever to pee, too, but she finally did that. I elevated her head when she slept, too. And yes, you absolutely should have some pain meds! I'd be calling the vet and asking about baby aspirin.

I'm surprised they did'nt send you home with pain meds, usually pending on the amount of teeth extracted some have also been put on clavamox as well. The majority of my fosters have never really cared much for eating that first night their home but by the next day, their back to kibble.

We had one foster lose "22" teeth at her dental.

Hope Zekes feeling better here in the next couple of days.

Thanks everyone.
Zeke did just now eat his water soaked kibble.! He peed and pooped right away when we got home from the vet. I was very happy about that. I have both low dose asprin, which I take, and regular canine asprin but that is larger in size. I will see how Zeke sleeps tonight and what he is like tomorrow. I think my son could also stop at the regular vet and get some pain meds if necessary. We do have Clavamox for seven days.

Good idea about the pillows. I will put a couple at the end of my bed and hope it will help him. I feel so sorry for him with his head weaving up & down as he trys to sleep.

I have a stuffed up head and runny nose and do not feel very good myself.

hooray for him eating and getting better!

Zeke seemeed to be feeling pretty good today. His daddy came to pick him up and take him home. Zeke's tail finally went up. My duty is done! Scott called later and said his other two pugs Toby and Pepper were very, very excited to see Zeke.

Scott calls Zeke his high maintenance pug. All the vet bills that are not for routine check-ups are when something happens to Zeke. Zeke has dry eye, is watched for PK so he is seen by a specialist, ate poisoness mushrooms and ended up in emergency , had a reaction to a vaccination, and had nares surgery. Now the second dental just 11 months apart.