The beastie's liver test came back high last week, and the vet recommended her teeth be cleaned as a possible treatment. No, I don't understand why that might work, but anyway...
Off I went to the vet with her this morning. I should point out that she really doesn't like riding in the car (see here), so I was prepared for some trauma.
Getting her into the car wasn't so bad, but in the process of her getting comfortable, she twisted herself into some odd positions. She ended up lying on her belly facing backwards between the bucket seats, and she rode that way the entire 13 miles to the vet's office.
Fine, yeah? Except that while she was getting settled her backside bumped the on-floor gearshift from drive into neutral, just as I was entering the freeway. Suddenly I found myself slowing down with four or five cars behind me accelerating up to highway speed.
Took me a few seconds to figure out what the hell was going on, but I managed to shift into drive with no harm done, other than my heart rate tripling.
Fun fact: while waiting at the vet I noticed a pile of frisbees in a pile labeled "Take One -- they're free."
Posted by Linkmeister at November 16, 2007 11:46 AM | TrackBackMy sweet doggie, Maui, just got back from having his teeth done. He has a heart murmur, so we have to be more aggressive about getting his teeth cleaned than I would ordinarily be. (My rule of thumb is that less anesthesia = better.)
As it was explained to me, bad teeth lead to pockets of nasty bacteria in the mouth. These travel into the digestive system in the food and the circulatory system in the blood. Both of these routes lead to bacteria attacking weak spots in the animal's system - Maui's heart, and I would guess Tigger's liver, qualify as weak spots.
Did the vet talk to you about Orajel? All my dog loving friends swear by it, and I started Maui on it now that his teeth are shiny clean. He isn't wild about it, but it isn't too bad.
Also, watch for digestive side-effects of the antibiotics. I don't want to go into details here, but let her sleep where the clean up really isn't an issue. Let my mistakes be a learning opportunity for you.
Posted by: Juli Thompson at November 17, 2007 12:35 PMJuli, they gave us OraVet, which I imagine is the same thing.
They did warn us about antibiotic side effects; at this stage I'm having trouble persuading her to go out at all. She's always been a camel, though.
As it turned out, her teeth were fine. The technician was marvelling at how good they were, particularly in light of her age (15). She kept saying "I've seen dogs one-third her age whose teeth were horrible."
That's a sensible explanation of why teeth could be a problem, too; thanks.
Posted by: Linkmeister at November 17, 2007 01:27 PMWhen I took my first kittie home from the SPCA, she "hid" under the accelerator pedal. If it wasn't for my fast-as-lightning reflexes (???!!!) it would have been squashed kittie before I reached home base.
As it was, she sat on the top of my head for the rest of the trip-and she was the best kittie! Smart, physic, and loving for the rest of her life!!!!
{sigh} Yes, Oravet is what I meant. My sister tells me that Oragel is used for humans, but is otherwise the same product.
In any case, I'm glad Tigger seems to be doing well.
Posted by: Juli Thompson at November 19, 2007 07:20 PM