Emergency Surgery

Kastle collided with Ike today while playing at a field with Jason. I was at work. He hit Ikie hard enough to make Ike yelp and drop to the ground. Kastle, on the other hand, just picked up his frisbee and brought it back to Jason. Bleeding profusely.

Kastle collided so hard and at such speed he did serious damage to his mouth. One tooth was apparently knocked completely out, a central, small incisor. The other was a much larger incisor, right next to the canine tooth, that was knocked loose from the root and at a terrible angle. Jason rushed him into the local emergency vet. They had no info to offer other than Kastle needed dental surgery to remove the tooth left behind. He got a lot of compliments for being so sweet-natured while clearly in pain.

I opted out of the immediate surgery and did quick research at work, with the awesome help of my coworkers, for a dental vet to do x-rays and the surgery. I didn't want to put my 9 month old puppy under anesthetic multiple times if I could help it. We got clearance to bring him to the emergency clinic on Michigan State University's campus, at their teaching veterinary hospital. I contacted several show/SchH friends on the way and was given (thanks Lies!) the information that was necessary to make sure I could still show and compete with him.

We arrived there just over an hour after Kastle and Jason left the emergency vet, I took a half day off of work. We had to wait a bit to fill out paperwork, Kastle was a dream the whole time. He walked in nicely on his leash, waited patiently at the reception desk, accepted pets and hugs from strangers who complimented his "pretty coat" and was taken from me to a back room where they poked and prodded his teeth/mouth; all without complaint. His tail was gently wagging, he didn't try to get away and he came and went from me with strangers, with no issues. I was so proud of him! It really helped my sense of panic and heartbreak that he clearly was not stressed or worried at all.

After the consult, they gave me two options. I could have the angled incisor removed (after x-rays) entirely and the two holes stitched up; or I could opt to have the missing tooth hole stitched up and the angled incisor pushed back into the space that it was originally in, then held with stitches. After a bit of heeling, he could go back in for a root canal and possibly save that incisor. Aesthetically, it would look a lot better since the incisor left is so big, almost as big as his canine teeth. However, he doesn't need that tooth for showing (as long as I could prove that it was there originally and not a genetic defect) or protection work. I decided to just have the tooth removed and the holes stitched up since that would be the least painful for him and would involve the least amount of anesthetic. We left Kastle in their capable hands and went to get something to eat while we waited.

For the last month, I've had it written down to get pictures of Kastle's adult teeth and bite to show next to his puppy pictures when his adult teeth were coming in and looked terrible. I procrastinated. Now, I'll never be able to get those photos - hard lesson learned :-( . These are pictures of his incisors. Yes, plural. The incisor we thought was knocked out was actually jammed up higher into his gums.

X-rays. This first one shows where the smaller incisor is still at, but buried deep. It also shows the bent (larger) incisor.

The bent incisor.

The holes where his teeth used to be.

She also took a couple of shots of his (completely fine) canine tooth. It has a very large canal and with how young he is, the tooth is actually relatively weak. She recommended that I wait awhile longer before even starting to do protection, to give his teeth more time to mature. The thicker white outline is the part that is filled in, the lighter inside is the empty space that still needs time to fill in.

They brought me his teeth afterwards, in case I needed them as proof that he did have them (for showing).

He came out groggy but with many compliments on his good behavior. We loaded up and went home. He will be on antibiotics and pain meds for a few days. No crunchy food, only softened kibble, and no toys/playing/tug or anything like that for 1-2 weeks.

The after shots.

Poor drugged up puppy...