Lilly’s breathy whine buckled my ears, then my heart.
Her’s was the sigh I made when a high school girlfriend said goodbye. How I might sound later this week if the Dow tumbles another 12%.
“We just got back from the vet,” my wife, Susan, said, referring to our Boston terrier’s teeth cleaning appointment. “She’s curled up next to me. Poor thing can’t keep her eyes open.”
Reflections upon my workday were dashed on my drive home as Lilly whined again — the same high-pitched flutter made by the damaged idle control valve of my doomed 1975 Chevy Vega.
Ten minutes later, I walked into the den where my wife and our fur-child were resting. Lilly’s eyes were half rolled back in her head, but she managed to lift her chin high enough to kiss daddy’s cheek. After two licks, Lilly’s head sank back into her fleece blanket and she bleated like a calf for her mother’s teat. Susan furrowed her brow.
“Sounds like she’s in agony,” she said. “I hope we did the right thing.”
I assured her we did.
Periodontal disease is the most common dental condition in dogs and cats and can be as debilitating to pet health as it can in humans. Essentially, the mouth is a gateway to the bloodstream because blood vessels in oral mucosa are close to the surface. Thus, oral infections may spread rapidly throughout the body including the heart, liver and kidneys.
The first signs usually surface by age three. Plaque formed at the gum line can harden into tartar. Tartar extending below the gum line can result in serious infection and destruction of teeth, the jawbone and connective tissue. Joyful mealtimes can become a painful ordeal, even with the softest foods, resulting in reduced intake and malnutrition. Further bacteria may seed open lesions in the mouth causing further infection.
The American Veterinary Association recommends annual dental checkups by a licensed vet or board-certified veterinary dentist. We should visit our vet sooner if we notice any one of the following symptoms in our pet:
Bad breath
Loose, discolored or broken teeth
Poor appetite or refusal to eat
Abnormal chewing
Bleeding, swelling or signs of pain around the mouth
Irritability
Following an oral exam, the vet may recommend x-rays to visualize the jaw and tooth roots. A blood panel may be drawn. Since most dental disease lurks below the gum line, dental care involves deep scaling of the teeth under anesthesia to remove plaque and tartar. Seriously decayed teeth may require extraction.
Many pet parents have expressed concern about anesthetizing their pets for dental care. However, trying to perform invasive dental care on a sober pet is not practical — or compassionate. They could lash out in fear or pain or make sudden movements causing injury. Given advances in anesthesia, the risk-to-benefit ratio speaks in favor of “lights out” for cleaning.
As the fog of anesthesia clears, our pet may remain disorientated and experience a spike in pain. Some dogs and cats whine or cry. Chat rooms across the web reassure distressed fellow pet parents that their pet’s cries usually subside in a few hours to a couple days. Age, weight and breed are potential factors in how a pet reacts to anesthesia. Our Lilly’s naturally squashed nose may have contributed to difficulty breathing after anesthesia, causing her to whine.
Hmmm . . . we weren’t told that this could be a factor.
Twelve hours after her teeth cleaning, Lilly munched on turkey-laced kibble then clamped down on “Sharky” for some tug-of-war before peppering my face with sweet kisses.
She hadn’t forgotten how to take a bite out of life.