Typist: Bethany
In mid-December the pug who inspired Wilhelm had surgery to extract a few teeth. Without asking my friend about her dogs circumstances, I assumed the pug needed the surgery due to poor dental hygiene. Yet last Friday, when Jason took Wilhelm to the vet to get the recurring swelling just below his left eye examined, we learned that tooth root abscesses can occur from unavoidable damage to teeth as well. Wilhelm's teeth are very clean and healthy for a dachshund his age. We never allow him to chew on anything hard. But at some point he cracked the crown of one of his molars and bacteria seeped in to cause a tooth root abscess. Normally tooth root abscesses like his come from cracks at the gum line due to poor dental hygiene. So, per par, Romeo's Simple Twist of Fate lives up to his name.
In mid-December the pug who inspired Wilhelm had surgery to extract a few teeth. Without asking my friend about her dogs circumstances, I assumed the pug needed the surgery due to poor dental hygiene. Yet last Friday, when Jason took Wilhelm to the vet to get the recurring swelling just below his left eye examined, we learned that tooth root abscesses can occur from unavoidable damage to teeth as well. Wilhelm's teeth are very clean and healthy for a dachshund his age. We never allow him to chew on anything hard. But at some point he cracked the crown of one of his molars and bacteria seeped in to cause a tooth root abscess. Normally tooth root abscesses like his come from cracks at the gum line due to poor dental hygiene. So, per par, Romeo's Simple Twist of Fate lives up to his name.
 I posted this picture last week. While I was editing Jason asked when it was taken because he noticed the slight swelling under Wilhelm's eye... it was taken December 14th, twelve days before I noticed the lump and became concerned. I am trying to blame holiday exhaustion for my terrible neglect. The vet and practically everyone else have told me that I am not negligent; Wilhelm was likely not even in any pain. | Sometimes, no matter how hard we try to care for our pets perfectly, fate happens. I first noticed the large lump on Wilhelm's face the day after Christmas. I wanted to take him immediately to the vet- I always want to take any of the pets immediately to the vet if anything seems off but Jason balances me out by never wanting to take the pets to the vet. We usually agree on a 24-48 hour wait-it-out. We did this the last week of December. The swelling under Wilhelm's eye, which didn't seem to hurt or bother him at all, went mostly away. in less than 48 hours. But last Thursday afternoon, the lump returned. Even never-go-to-the-vet Jason agreed that something recurring was bad. Jason and Wilhelm were at the vet first thing Friday morning. My first thought upon first noticing the lump was that something was wrong with a tooth. I thoroughly examined his mouth but all of Wilhelm's teeth and his gums and cheeks looked fine. At Wilhelm's last check-up, the vet said his teeth looked very healthy for a dachshund his age. She reiterated how healthy his mouth is when I spoke with her about the blood test results and we scheduled Wilhelm's tooth extraction surgery. Sometimes things like this just happen. |
Everything in the blood panel looked good; the infection had not spread into his blood stream. Jason and I dropped him off for his surgery this morning and we will pick him up this evening. Even with the antibiotics Wilhelm started last Friday, the gums around the infected tooth were starting to get red and inflamed. I am so glad that we caught this! I know that once recovered, Wilhelm will be pain free. He will also be free of a molar or two, but he'll definitely still be able to vacuum up all things edible (and some not) and certainly he'll soon be back to tugging like a pro. I will continue to be on constant doggie lump alert equipped with my new knowledge of canine dental hygiene and even more leery of the crazy things fate is capable of tossing our way.
Last nights final tooth-full tug.
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