Dog with no teeth. Help!!

[minkydog]

I talked to my husband if we should keep calling and asking what happened. We decided that they can't put his teeth back in and we didn't get billed for anything. We will be looking for a new vet though. We live in a small town so we will have to travel, but we will!

No kidding! I can't believe that this dog went into the vet with all his teeth and now they've just disappeared? Somebody knows something. I think I would consider taking this up with an attorney.

 

[DizBelle]

No kidding! I can't believe that this dog went into the vet with all his teeth and now they've just disappeared? Somebody knows something. I think I would consider taking this up with an attorney.

Yeah, I'm wondering if you have some legal recourse here.

 

[DizBelle]

Is it possible he chewed on something that injured his gums and they are just so swollen right now you can't see his teeth? A maltese is an itty bitty dog with, I imagine, itty bitty teeth.

 

[DizBelle]

Can the vet tell you if ANY dog was suppposed to have their teeth removed? And does that dog still have their teeth.

Didn't the bonehead who did the removing notice that there was nothing wrong with the teeth?

 

[dakcp2001]

This needs to be reported to the state. If the vet did make a mistake and is not taking repsonsibilty, imagine what other kinds of mistakes they are making. Poor little doggy! Maybe they just did fall out, but SOMETHING must have happened and someone who works there knows something.

 

[LindaR]

OP, you need to open his mouth and take a look! This is a small dog! Put him in a "football" hold with one arm and use your fingers to pry open his mouth. If you MUST have help and wait til someone can help you, the other person can look with a flashlight while you hold open!

You NEED to look into his mouth!!!!!

 

[LindaR]

It's not a matter of whether he will "let" you.......this is a tiny dog, not a 100 pound german shepherd!

In 14 years you have never had to pry open his mouth for any reason?


Something does not sound right!

 

[itchin2go]

Yup, I have the right dog. I've had him for 14 years and I know it's Simon.

He won't let me look into his mouth, he will let me feel around for a little. It's not bloody but very swollen.

He is acting like a puppy again and eating dry food just fine. I think I will give him some wet food in the mornings though.

I talked to my husband if we should keep calling and asking what happened. We decided that they can't put his teeth back in and we didn't get billed for anything. We will be looking for a new vet though. We live in a small town so we will have to travel, but we will!

Thanks again for all your help!

I would REQUIRE the vet's office to give me an explanation. If you don't trust them to examine the dog (and I wouldn't), I'd take the poor thing to a new vet's office and have them examine him. They will know if the teeth were surgically removed or something else happened. Regardless, there must be some after-procedure protocol and you need to know where to go from here.

If the crummy vet's office removed your dog's teeth, there must be some kind of regulatory agency to report him to. I would hate to see this happen to some unsuspecting little dog.

There are lots of things you can feed your dog other than hard dry dog food. Lots of people advocate a more natural diet for dogs and say that it is much better for dogs. My little buddy just tried Halo's Spot's Stew and loved it more than any dog food he's ever tried. He went blind at Thanksgiving and didn't want to eat at all for awhile, so we had to try some different foods to get his spirits up.

Good luck!

 

[Jockaroo]

You and your husband may feel that this is not worth pursuing, however, I do encourage you to examine your dog's mouth. Another poster mentioned something about the gums being irritated. If you dog got nervous, he could have chewed at his crate bars while kenneled. This could have broken some teeth or made the gums swell. Given his age, if he has gum irritation you may wish to have him on some antibiotics. The mouth is nasty and these nasties can travel to the heart, kidneys or liver and cause problems. This is one reason that dental care is so important for pets. Your dog will allow you to look in his mouth--it isn't like he can actually bite you at this point. I've pried open huge Scottie dog mouths even when the dog is reluctant.

If you find that the dog had the teeth removed you need to request bloodwork. It is dangerous for a dog his age to be placed under anesthesia. It can affect the body's filtering system (ie kidneys and liver) which for a geriatric dog is fragile. You may wish to take the dog for a consultation with a different vet (not associated with this practice) for an exam of the mouth and a written professional opinion. I'm not one to cry to sue a person, however, as a pet owner who faced kidney failure and liver failure in my dogs I can tell you that it is very costly to treat these conditions. You need to protect yourself. If this was caused by negligence, any future expenses related to this need to be provided to you at the vet's cost or at a drastic discount. Your little guy is an elderly gentleman--this is all about his quality of life. Good luck.

Edit: I think I was posting at the same time as itchin, who has great advice. One wet food we had good luck with was Merrick brand. This stuff is great and my dog with liver cancer would eat it when he would touch nothing else.

 

[celiesky]

Thank you again.

I will have my husband help me look in his mouth. I'm really glad I started this thread, I have learned a lot.

I will call and get him into a new vet asap. We had an ice storm last night so hopefully I can get him in tomorrow.

My dogs eat Natural Balance dry food. What is a good wet food?

 

[mamamary]

If it was my dog I'd be I'd be in their office so fast and wouldn't budge until I found out what happened.

 

[LindaR]

Actually, OP you don't have to switch his food. If you want to make it mushy to help him, then just add some water and let the dry food absorb it. It will "swell" each piece and make it nice and soft.

 

[puffkin]

Thank you again.

I will have my husband help me look in his mouth. I'm really glad I started this thread, I have learned a lot.

I will call and get him into a new vet asap. We had an ice storm last night so hopefully I can get him in tomorrow.

My dogs eat Natural Balance dry food. What is a good wet food?

We have tried most of the premium foods and Natural Balance is the one my beagle eats the best and gives him the least problems (he has pretty bad allergies). He gets both wet and dry. My cats eat Wellness Brand exclusively. I have heard good things about the dog food too but it is a bit pricier and he does so fantastic on Natural Balance that we haven't tried it for him yet. A friend feeds Wellness to her Yorkie and he is doing well on it.

I second getting him rechecked at a vet. When my cat had her teeth removed she was on an antibiotic and pain meds for about a week.

 

[lucas]

If it was my dog I'd be I'd be in their office so fast and wouldn't budge until I found out what happened.

Ditto!

 

[diesel]

I would take him to a vet today (a different vet) to have him looked over to see what is going on. If he injured his teeth himself or if some one removed them. Then I'd go speak with the other vet. Your dog maybe in pain and in need of medication both pain and antibiotics. Please don't let this matter drop. I'd want to know how my dog ended up in this position.

 

[lucas]

I would take him to a vet today (a different vet) to have him looked over to see what is going on. If he injured his teeth himself or if some one removed them. Then I'd go speak with the other vet. Your dog maybe in pain and in need of medication both pain and antibiotics. Please don't let this matter drop. I'd want to know how my dog ended up in this position.

Great advice.

 

[Green Tea]

You seem pretty laid back about the whole thing, honestly. That is a pretty major surgical error, if it really happened. No, they can't put teeth back in. But, that doesn't mean the dog should be suffering with no rimidyl or other pain meds, no medication to treat infection, no advise on how to suddenly treat a dog whose went to the vet with no condition other than needing to be brushed and being old.

 

[pixiewings71]

Yikes!!! I can't even imagine!! Your poor doggie. I hope you get it figured out.

 

[bumbershoot]

Yeah, I'm wondering if you have some legal recourse here.

Seriously.

This isn't even my dog and I want to sue and report this vet!

It's frightening to me. When we had a cat, we boarded her with her vet for 18 days over our wedding and honeymoon. I never EVER gave thought to whether or not she might have something done to her while we were away. We actually had a week when we were back home in between wedding and honeymoon, but the vet said it would be disruptive to take her home then back again, so we didn't. I'm now scared for the what ifs, and it was almost 7 years ago!

I can't even imagine leaving that office with the doggie without a big long explanation of what exactly happened. They would have had to call the cops or something....


No bill and not able to put the teeth back in, true. But your little dog has likely been through something big and nasty, and that little face deserves a moment by moment explanation.

 

[AKL_Megs]

You seem pretty laid back about the whole thing, honestly. That is a pretty major surgical error, if it really happened. No, they can't put teeth back in. But, that doesn't mean the dog should be suffering with no rimidyl or other pain meds, no medication to treat infection, no advise on how to suddenly treat a dog whose went to the vet with no condition other than needing to be brushed and being old.

Yeah, I agree... if it even happened. 41 posts and I have never seen you on the Dis before, but whatever.

How would YOU feel if all but one of YOUR teeth were just pulled? You'd be in some pain! I am sure your dog is, too! Aren't you at all worried about that? Or how such a mistake happened?