Vincent Needs Tooth Extraction

Vincent ate his meals during the time when I was in Japan, but it took a lot of coaxing and persuading. I know his gums probably hurt very much.

We’ve tried the supplements, the antibiotics, turmeric and the pet gel. The first vet did say that there is no cure, only maintenance. Vincent might need repeated steroid injections, which will not be good for his kidneys.

Yesterday after I came home, Vincent came back for meal times but he simply refused to eat all day. I sensed he was trying to tell me that his gums hurt a lot. I had already planned on taking him to the vet upon my return from the Japan trip.

So, I brought Vincent to the vet again this morning, for the next course of action.

Here are some photos taken at the vet’s today:

The gum inflammation is still bad. I guess the effect of all the supplements and medicine have worn off and it’s back to square one again. The redness shows the inflamed parts while the white parts is pus, due to bacteria infection.

The vet explained that in some animals, the body develops tolerance and can somehow overcome the problem and it disappears after some time. But in others, the inflammation recurs, over and over. If supplements and medicines have been used and yet the problem recurs, perhaps it’s better to do the next step – extraction of teeth.

While it sounds “drastic”, it may well be a good course of action for animals. Unlike us, animals are not vain. The vet reminded me that yes, we all need our teeth, but we won’t die from not having teeth (as we can still eat without teeth) but we can die from not being able to eat. That’s so true.

The vet said that 80% of time, the animals recover very well after tooth extraction. The other danger of allowing the problem to recur is the accumulation of bacteria in the mouth. There is a heavy price to pay for this. From the mouth, the bacteria goes into the rest of the body and bacterial infection can damage the heart, the kidneys and the liver. While the liver can regenerate itself, there is no repair once the heart and kidneys are damaged.

That sounds serious – damage to the heart and kidneys. I particularly understand this because my mitral valve (the main heart valve) is also damaged and I was told to pay careful attention to avoid gum disease for the same reason as the above. If my gums bleed often and there is bacteria in my mouth, the bacteria could attack my heart and make me really, really sick.

For Vincent’s case, how does removing teeth help? Most of the infection is in the area around the teeth, so once the bad teeth are removed, the chances of infection happening is significantly reduced.

The vet said there are three options for Vincent:

1. Sedate, remove only the bad teeth, inject the gums.

2. Sedate, remove all teeth, inject the gums. The problem should be gone once all teeth are removed.

3. Sedate, only inject the gums. The problem might recur because the bad teeth are still there.

The vet strongly recommended option (1) and I agree.

Option (3) might need to be repeated every few weeks or months, and it’s not wise to put an animal under sedation so many times. I’ve heard of cases where Option (3) is used, but the problem keeps coming back.

The canine in the photo above has already receded. The vet suspects that some of Vincent’s teeth may already be loose.

The vet also showed me many extracted teeth whereby the visible part of the teeth looks good yet the root was already bad. While under sedation, the vet will be able to identify the bad teeth (or seemingly good teeth with bad roots) and these will be removed.

I guess this is the best option for Vincent at this point. It may be better he loses some teeth than he being unable to eat. Or worse, the bacteria damages his heart and kidneys.

The vet said normally even in very bad cases, the cat or dog will feel so much better after tooth extraction that they can immediately eat most heartily upon waking up from sedation. I hope this happens with Vincent.

The appointment is set for tomorrow.

Please do say a prayer for Vincent, dear friends. Thank you.

Back from the vet’s.

I will send him tomorrow morning and he should be able to return home by the end of the day.

Source: https://myanimalcare.org/2016/04/06/vincent-needs-tooth-extr..

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