10-Year-Old Miniature Dachshund with a Swollen Face

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Manny’s Face is Suddenly Swollen

This swelling showed up overnight!

“Doc, I swear he looked fine yesterday!” said the 10-year-old Miniature Dachshund’s dad.

The right side of Manny’s face above the upper jaw and next to the bridge of his nose looked swollen like a golf ball.  It felt firm but not hard.  A little spot of blood and yellow-green liquid eked out of a hole under the fur by the bridge of his nose.

“Manny ate breakfast and everything else seems fine,” said Manny’s dad.

At this point, Doc Truli knows that pessimistic people ask if it’s cancer and optimistic people ask if it is an insect bite.  Almost nobody thinks of the obvious, most likely diagnosis.

“Manny has a tooth root abscess,” said Doc Truli.

A Carnassial Tooth Root Abscess

When the upper side of the face swells suddenly like this, it usually involves an abscess that has festered at the tip of the root of the carnassial (aka fourth premolar, aka 108) that finally tries to break out through a path of least resistance.  In Manny’s case (and many dogs), the pus swells up between the cheek muscles and breaks out through the skin under the eye.  Sometimes it even breaks out through the conjunctiva (the white connective tissue around the eye).  When this happens it looks like pus coming out of the eye.

Periodontal Disease Carnassial Tooth

The Diseased Carnassial Tooth

The fourth premolar, otherwise known as carnassial tooth, looks terrible when it is infected and loose. A thorough annual physical exam would have predicted this outcome. Probably Manny’s regular veterinarian recommended a “dental” in the past. Probably Manny’s family thought it cost too dearly to find the space in the family budget.

The other main reason families put off dental surgery in their Dachshunds in a heart murmur.  Fear of the anesthesia hurting the heart makes people delay treatment.  Ironically, the longer you delay, the worse the teeth and the heart become.

A heart murmur seems an inevitable result of severe dental disease. The tartar holds the plaque biofilm.  The plaque attracts and protects very harmful bacteria.  This bacteria eats away at the roots of the teeth and the tiny ligaments that hold the teeth in the socket.  The bacteria also easily travels through the blood the tiny, filmy heart valves.

Lodging on the heart valves, especially the mitral valve, the bacteria make the valves thick and nodular.  Then the little valves do not close tightly.  Think of a window with little rocks and grit and dirt on the window sill.  The window will not close tightly, right?  Same with the heart valves.  Then your veterinarian hears a heart murmur, an abnormal sound caused by blood not moving smoothly through the heart.  Now you are worried about heart disease.

Suddenly, anesthesia and tooth cleaning becomes much riskier.  Now you must have the heart checked out to increase the confidence in the safety of the anesthesia.  Many families cannot afford these tests and stop at this point and “wait and see” with the teeth. Instead, they should talk candidly with their veterinarian about risks and affordability.  It may be worthwhile to take care of the teeth without a full cardiac work-up, as long as everyone understands the risks.

Delaying Proper Oral Care for Your Dog Shortens His or Her Life by at Least 2 Years

Poor tooth care and dental disease shortens our lifespan and our pets’ lifespans by years.  Years.

What’s a better way?  Start tooth care early.  Start brushing your puppy’s teeth when he or she is very young.  Go to the veterinarian’s for a check up at least yearly.  75% of cats and dogs have periodontal disease by the age of three.  That means it started at 1-2 years old!  So those check-ups you thought you did not need because your pet was young?  Not so fast!  Make an appointment!

If your older pet or foster or adopted pet already has dental disease, get it taken care of as a high priority as soon as you can.  Once a tooth root abscess becomes a swelling on the face, you have an emergency.

Manny weathered his emergency tooth root surgery well.  His heart murmur was not associated with heart failure, so with careful anesthetic monitoring and luck, he recovered perfectly well.  Manny needed 10 more teeth extracted that would have become another abscess in the future.

“Labradors and other large chewing type dogs often fracture a carnassial tooth and so the tooth root abscess may be the singular oral pathology they suffer.  Dogs like Miniature Dachshunds often suffer progressive long-term periodontal disease and the abscessed tooth is one of many,” says Doc Truli.

Continue Reading VirtuaVet Dental Stories

German Shepherd Needs 9 Teeth Removed

Top Five Ways Dogs Fracture Their Teeth

Help! My Dog’s Breath Smells Bad!

and many more under the Dental Success Stories Category in the right Sidebar.

Dachshund with a Swollen Face

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What’s Wrong With My Dog’s Face?

Allergic reaction!

“Doc, Gertrude’s face looks wrong. She was just sitting on her dog bed in the living room and now this,” said the darlin’ dapple dachshund’s worried dad.

Gertrude is a ball of energy.  So, immediately something sounds “off.”  Why would this little spitfire sit quietly on her bed in the middle of the afternoon?

“Where was she a half hour before this happened?” asked Doc Truli.

“She was out back in the yard, chasing a squirrel,” said Gertrude’s dad.

“Looks like she was either bitten by a bee or insect or had an allergic reaction,” said Doc Truli, flicking a syringe full of clear liquid allergy relief medication. Gertrude needed two shots of medicine to get her face to stop swelling up.

“If you look closely, her left side looks bigger than the right side.  I’ll bet an insect bit her,” said Doc Truli.

What to Expect as an Allergic Swelling Goes Away

Tooth Root Abscess

First, we stop the allergic reaction with medication.  The swelling is caused by edema (pronounced eh-dee-ma).  If you understand that edema is fluid build-up within the tissues of the body, not between the layers like an abscess pocket, then you understand how the body has to absorb the fluid back into the bloodstream over time.

(With a pocket of fluid, like pus, we can surgically drain the fluid and relieve the uncomfortable pressure.)

The swollen allergic muzzle will begin to go back to normal, but not before gravity starts pulling some of the edema fluid through the tissue layers and under the chin.

“It is perfectly normal for a soft swelling to form under the chin after a swollen allergic face on a dog.  It is not a new symptom, it’s just the effect of gravity on the extra fluid,” says Doc Truli.

Follow-up Care for a Swollen Face Allergic Reaction

If your dog starts having breathing problems, that means the edema swelling could be around the throat, or in the lungs.  Get to a veterinarian right away; breathing problems can be life-threatening.

Your dog might be very tired from the allergic reaction, the healing process, and the medications.  Let him or her rest in a dark, quiet room.

Ask your veterinarian how long the medications will last.  Many meds we use for allergic reactions wear off before the reaction is done.  Your vet will let you know if your pet needs to stay under observation in the hospital, go home, or needs repeated doses of oral medication at home until the reaction is safely passed.

Gretchen must have been bitten in the yard.  She felt “funny,” so she can into the house and rested on her bed.  Her dad could not see anything wrong until her face looked swollen.  Then he knew he had to do something for her and came to see Doc Truli.

Thirty minutes after the medication injections, Gretchen’s face swelling was smaller.  Her dad repeated her medications at home in 6 hours and she recovered fully.  We still do not know who (or what) bit her, but life is like that!

 

Step-by-Step Dog Food Allergy Elimination Diet

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Allergy Elimination Diet Instructions

Fat Allergic Shih Tzu

It’s a diet to figure out food allergies by process of elimination.  This process takes a total of 17 weeks, at a minimum.  This means you and your family will commit to the plan for at least 4 months.  That’s 4 months of feeding a “safe” diet like an expensive hydrolyzed protein diet or a novel protein diet.  (You can consult your veterinarian regarding local options for your country.)

Allergy Elimination Diet Goal

The goal of your allergy elimination diet is to only feed special diet and special treats in order to help the body clear out it’s reactivity.  Allergies are unforgiving.  Therefore,  you must even replace flavored heartworm preventatives with alternatives per your veterinarians instructions.

Classic Lymphoma Diagnosis in a Dog

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Fuzzy Does Not Feel Well

“Doc, Fuzzy just doesn’t seem right.  He’s been sleeping a lot lately and he doesn’t walk as far as he should when we go out.  He just sits down and refuses to go further until I turn around and face home, then he miraculously has enough energy to go the direction he wants to go!  I can’t imagine what could be wrong with him,” said Antoinette, Fuzzy’s human mom.  Antoinette is no dummy.  She brings her pets yearly for check-ups, asks smart questions, like, “Do we really need all of these vaccines,” and her dogs are always happy and well-adjusted.

What’s This Hole in My Dog’s Elbow?

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“Bear Has a Lump on His Elbow”

Senior Chow Chow

A stately, stiff-legged, arthritic 14-year-old golden-colored Chow Chow stared at Doc Truli and wagged the tip of his medium-length, slightly curled tail. Bear had his doubts about a visit to the vet’s.

“Bear, honey, go say hi to the Doctor,” said Bear’s well-meaning mom. Bear stood in the open exam room doorway, his shoulders in the room, his hind end strategically positioned in the hallway leading back to the truck. Bear was hoping he was getting a dog cookie and that would be the end of it.

“You want a cookie, Bear?” said Doc Truli.

“Lies, all lies,” thought Bear the Chow Chow, “Do they think I’m stupid?”

Doc Truli held out a cookie.

“Oh, a cookie,” Bear walked over, took the cookie with his front incisors only, careful not to touch the veterinarian with his delicate lips.  bear threw the cookie down on the tile floor in front of himself and looked up at the Doc to see what her next move would be.

“He’s shy,” said Bear’s mom.

No, he’s smart, thought Doc Truli. Smart dogs are much harder to examine than silly, happy dogs.

“Okay Bear, we’re going to have you stand still while I examine you and especially take a look at that elbow,” said Doc Truli, hoping to recruit Bear through voluntary cooperation.  A trapped, cornered Chow Chow is impossible to open negotiations with, Bear and the Doc needed to be on good terms from the start.  Hence, the cookie bribe.

Bears mom started with her story. “Bear has a lump on his elbow for a long time.  It didn’t seem to hurt him, so I didn’t bring him in for a physical.  Then one day, it just looked like that.”

Relief for Dog Hip Dysplasia

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14-Year-Old German Shepherd has Trouble Getting Up

“Bilbo has been slowing down for a few years, but now it seems to really bother him,” said the sweet, gentle shepherd-mix’s mom.

Sweet, patient Bilbo's hips hurt

Hind Leg Muscle Atrophy is a Classic Sign of Disuse

Doc Truli examined the 14-year-old hips. Bilbo’s leg muscles looked sunken and small. The muscles over the femurs felt mushy and weak. By contrast, Bilbo’s shoulders were developed and thickened from years of carrying his weight on the front.

“Dogs naturally carry more than 50% of their body weight over their shoulders,” said Doc Truli, but when dysplasia and arthritis attack the hips, the shoulders take most of the weight and the hind leg muscles atrophy from lack of use.”

Because Bilbo’s hind legs were very skinny, we could tell he had been compensating for hip pain and/or dysfunction for a long time.

5-Year-Old Ginger Cat Grows Alarming Black Spots

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“What Are Those Black Spots on My Cat’s Gums?”

Heavenly Ginger Cat

“Doc, Prince Harry never used to have these black spots in his mouth, did he?” asked Harry’s concerned mom.

“I know what you are thinking.  You’re wondering if your cat has melanoma,” said Doc Truli.

Harry’s worried mom bit her lip and nodded her head.  Her red hair bounced up and down from the force of her nodding.  Her freckled nose flushed redder than normal.  Harry’s mom was incredibly worried.

Cat’s Chest Tap Proves Invaluable

Castiel After Treatment

Castiel’s Thoracocentesis Proves Therapeutic and Diagnostic

Cas, the one-year-old domestic short-haired black cat could not breathe.  In order to diagnose the fluid seen on his chest x-rays he needed an urgent thoracocentesis.

How Does the Veterinarian Diagnose Fluid in a Cat’s Chest?

Castiel After Treatment

Castiel’s Future Depended on a Fast, Accurate Diagnosis

Castiel, the one-year-old domestic short-haired black cat came to Doc Truli in a state of severe respiratory distress.  He was panting and his elbows stuck out to his sides in order to spread his chest wider to get air in.  He did not have long to live and needed risky chest x-rays to guide his treatment plan. Unfortunately, a stethoscope cannot distinguish the causes of the panting, and thus the cure for the problem.  Castiel needed stat radiographs of his chest (X-Rays).

Kitty Cat Angel Saves 1-Year-Old Black Cat Panting and Desperate

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 A Cat Who Cannot Breathe

Castiel After Treatment

Castiel, a one-year-old male neutered domestic short-haired cat with big round orange eyes panted at Doc Truli.  He sat hunched on the stainless steel exam table with his little kitty elbows abducted out away from the sides of his body and his tongue virtually folded in half and flicking in and out of his mouth in a fast, desperate panting motion.  A panting cat is a dead cat unless immediate action fixes his problem.

 ”A panting cat is a dead cat,” says Doc Truli, “unless immediate action fixes his problem.”