Lacey is home. UPDATE P2 #17

[Freedom]

Lacey spent the day at the vet, as she has had awful pain the past 2 weeks. We've been using Deramaxx for pain, but that wasn't going well either. The vet thought the pain was in her neck area; and as she had some tartar, we combined xrays with a dental, while she was under anesthesia.

The good news: xrays are fine, no issues are showing up.

The bad news: she had "mud mouth!" Extensive gum disease, pus, infection, clumps of tartar and food. She had 8 teeth extracted. In 3 to 5 days, she is going to feel MUCH better even than she felt this morning, when she went in. The vet was amazed, when they actually got in there, how bad it was. Dogs have a sort of wisdom tooth way in the back; it only has one root. Most dogs don't have these; Lacey had both of them. And once the tartar was removed, they came right out. In front of those are another 2 sort of like wisdom teeth as well, again only one root. These also, less than half the dogs have one, Lacey had both. And again, they were just hanging and came right out. She did have one 3-root molar which was very bad with infection. Once cleaned up, the roots were totally exposed; these are responsible for abscessing up into the back of the eye ( a VERY bad thing says the vet) so that one came out too. A few incisors in front also had to come out.

Lacey had a full set of teeth, something the vets very rarely see! All those 'sort of wisdom' teeth, lol. Given the condition of her mouth, and in particular the teeth way in back, vet suspects this was the pain we were seeing this past week, but time will tell as she heals.

I was supposed to bring her home and give her 3 pills -- um, no, please give her a pain injection here and all the others as well. I know my pups, and this girl does NOT take pills well at all, no way she was going to let me get them in her after a dental like this! So I have to start in the morning.

She started spinning around in the kennel in excitement when she heard Sugar and I walk in (she heard me talking, and Sugar had to bark at a dog in the waiting area).

Once home, she seemed restless and couldn't settle for almost an hour, then she feel asleep on the sofa, where she's been for 2 hours or more. We are off to bed now. In the morning I'll have to start with her pills. She was OK'd for small amounts of water and food tonight but she had absolutely no interest.

[chocolatepuppy]

Oh my! Poor Lacey got the works done today! I hope she's feeling better soon!:)

[Karen]

Poor thing! Yeah, after any anesthesia, it can take a while for one's appetite to return, so I'm not surprised she wasn't interested in dinner!

[Scooter's Mom]

Goodness, that sounds like extensive work. I hope she feels better when it's all said and done.

[pomtzu]

Poor Lacey - she sure did go thru a lot. Here's hoping that she will feel better real soon.

Both of the Fuzzbuttz have bad teeth, but can't go under anesthesia for a cleaning because of their heart murmurs - and Sparky is even worse than Myndi. He had a real bad time about a year ago and even had some teeth fall out, and his gums were a mess, and now he is on an antibiotic for 5 days each month, to keep any further infections at bay. In an x-ray he had in December because he was coughing a lot (to rule out anything undetected that was going on), it showed his heart was very enlarged. He is now on a heart med and Lasix, and unless there be a need for emergency surgery for whatever reason, then going under is out of the question. Doc just manually removes tarter on both of them whenever they have to go in for a visit. They don't appear to be in any pain tho - thank goodness.

Kisses to Lacey - and of course the rest of the Fluffs, too! :love:

[cassiesmom]

Miss Lacey, oh my goodness! Big (((HUGS))) and I hope you will feel better today.

[lizbud]

Oh poor girl, I'm glad it's over with now. It hurts me just to think about
the pain she must have felt.:( Hope she feels much better each day and
bounces back to her old self.:)

[Freedom]

Lacey had a good night, slept soundly right through.

This morning, I got about 1/4 cup of moist food in her, byt smearing a bit on her upper lip and letting her lick it; other than that she would not take it.

So then I tried to get the 3 pills in her; got her so worked up and nervous she threw up. Sigh, so I gave up.

I gave her a bowl of moist food when I fed the others, and she ate about half, so about a quarter cup again. She isn't settling down, restless, but she won't come NEAR me now, so not sure I can get any meds in her. :(

[lizbud]

Usually it's only the cats I have trouble getting pills into.I mask any pill in a small bit of wet food
and they take them easily.I'm sure you have tried just about everything by now, but hope you
can get Lacey to take her meds next time. Heal up soon Lacey.:)

[pomtzu]

Does she like cheese? The only way I can get pills into Sparky is to hide them in a little Velveta cheese ball, or dissolve them in a little water and squirt that in with an eye dropper. Both these guys are impossible to pill, and cooperation is not in their vocabulary. :(

[Freedom]

Lacey just ate about half a cup of canned food, plus half a "shake n bake" chicken breast - MY SUPPER! LOL

She is definitely doing better, and she is not having any part of her pills, silly girl!

[Freedom]

Went to the vet this evening so Lacey could have 2 shots - penicillin as she has not taken any antibiotic, and a shot for pain relief. She refused to take any of her meds all day long. I felt awful carrying her in there, she was shaking like a leaf in a hurricane, and cried when we first went in the door. Came home and she threw up.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Poor girl.:( I hope she heals up quickly. Would your vet be able to give you the medication she needs with extra syringes so you don't have to keep bringing her back to him? I've had to do this before with my cats and as long as you feel comfortable with giving injections, it's so much easier to do them at home. Good luck.:)

[Randi]

Oh poor Lacey, she really has been through a lot... all those teeth coming out. She needs a few relaxed days. If only the medicine would taste of nothing, it would be so much easier - I hope you'll be able to give them to her, somehow. I like KAK's idea. Can you do that?

Gentle scritches to Lacey. :love: Feel better soon, girl!

[Bonny]

Hope Lacey is feeling better today. She has been through a lot with her dental surgery. The penicillin shot should be long lasting more so then the pills. She ate you chicken besides she has to be feeling better. LOL!

[lizbud]

Do you think she would be more likely to take the med in
a liquid form? You could mix in any food that she likes. It would
be better than nothing. Hope Lacey gets to feeling better soon.

[Freedom]

SUCCESS!

I haven't been on here all day, been working at trying to find a solution for Lacey. As of an hour ago, I think I have one!

Lacey had nothing to eat or drink since Wed at 6 PM (it is now Sunday at 8 PM). I did get a small bit of food in her twice, but that was vomited up. She has been miserable, in pain, won't take any meds, afraid to get near me, and not eating or drinking. NOT GOOD. This morning, she was so hungry she forgot and grabbed a hard biscuit from Marlin. The scream of pain as she bit down will ring in my ears for years. Just a horrible sound. Marlin got his cookie after all.

I found someone in Florida who works with dogs with health issues, and uses natural medicines, herbs and such, to heal them. Spent almost 2 hours on the phone with her, then went to The Vitamin Shoppe to buy what I needed (some stuff was for Sugar and her liver tests).

I made up a cup of chamomile tea, and another cup of slippery elm. Put both in the fridge for half an hour to cool down. Used a baby syringe (long story, WILLY ATE THE FIRST ONE! ) and gave her a full syringe of the chamomile on each side of her mouth, then the slippery elm on each side. Then, Halo canned dog food, also cold from the fridge, on a PLASTIC spoon. She has had about half a cup of food! I will wait at least an hour, and repeat the entire process. That will see her through the night.

Now I've done it once, it will go easier. This first time, Lacey was lying in her bed shaking the entire time. She is convinced she can never eat again because it hurts, and she can't trust me (I made a few mistakes along the way, like taking her to the vet in the first place! ) So I am slowly rebuilding her trust in me.

I am quite relieved.

[cassiesmom]

Awww, Lacey! You can trust your mum to help you eat :love: Fingers and paws crossed for you, sweet girl.

[chocolatepuppy]

I hope that does the trick! Please eat Lacey!

[krazyaboutkatz]

I hope that she'll continue to improve and to regain your trust. Good luck.:)

[cassiesmom]

Miss Lacey, I hope you are doing better!

[Freedom]

Lacey is doing much better! Today I have not given her any chamomile or slippery elm. This morning she ate, licking canned food off a plate. At lunch - which is when I normally feed the dogs - she ate chicken and orzo (I made a chicken soup for Dad and I, gave her some) again licking it up from the plate. She is bright eyed and smiling, and did her bounce twice today. On our afternoon walk, when I was doling out pieces of cheese, she took one! She was very cautious with it, but it went down!

Tomorrow morning she has her post surgery recheck. I know she will be nervous going in the vet's and I plan to take treats with us for the staff and vet to give to her. I will have to give the vet all the info as to what happened.

[pomtzu]

Yay Lacey - that's such good news to read that you're starting to feel better. Kisses XXXX :love: to you, and of course for the other 4 sibs! :love::love::love::love:

[Freedom]

WOOF! Thank you, Auntie Ellie!

[cassiesmom]

Freedom and Lacey, how did the dentist visit go?


Kisses XXXX to you, and of course for the other 4 sibs!

Some from me too, please :love: and for the kitties too, please

[Freedom]

Lacey saw her vet for the post op visit this morning. Healing is WELL on the way! She can eat moistened kibble now.

I explained all the problems we had, and the chamomile and slippery elm we used. Vet has noted NOT to give her buprenephrine again. They can use Metacam as an injectable in future.

I took along a baggie of cheese and had the vet give her 2; vet did see how stressed Lacey was just being there, and understands we need to work on that.

After, we went to a park and Lacey and I had a lovely walk. Been ages since it was just the 2 of us! Then this afternoon she came with me for the usual walk with Sugar, Tasha and Willy. I know one little doggie girl who is going to sleep well tonight ha haaa.

[lizbud]

Glad that Lacey is healing up well. It's also good to know you have a Vet you
can work with & listens to any concerns you have. I like that in a Vet.:)

[kaycountrygal]

So glad your Lacey is getting better. You are a good mom!

[robinh]

Just checking to see how Lacey is doing?

[Freedom]

Hi Robin, Lacey is fully recovered and back to her normal self. I hadn't realized, she was not acting right even before the first vet visit which led to all this. WOO HOO she is BA-ACK! He heee. Lacey sends her thanks to you and to everyone on PT who prayed for her and sent her healing wishes. So strange that the seeming neck pain was all related to the bad teeth.

[robinh]

Poor baby. Molly had a cracked tooth one time and she almost quit eating. I was so scared she was fading. We had the tooth removed and she was herself within a few days. Nothing worse than not knowing what is wrong with our little furbabies. So glad to hear that Lacy is back to her sweet little self. :D