Caring for a Pup with no teeth

[ChristineL]

Hello All,

My recent senior rescue will soon undergo dental surgery to have most (97%) of her teeth removed due to severe periodontal disease (poor girl). I have never taken care of dogs with no teeth. Besides the obvious (i.e., no big bones to chew), is there anything else I need to watch out for?

Would you still recommend adding sea kelp to her diet, @Dr. Jeff ?
I will be brushing the remaining teeth daily.
She's on Answers food which is soft and she gets goat milk and bone broth.

Anything I can do to help her recovery pre and post surgery? Homeopathically?
She gets Assisi pad treatment and ozone therapy at home.

Thank you all for your help

 

[Dr. Jeff]

1. No. Most dogs with few/no teeth do just fine.

2. Yes. However, the minerals in kelp are also in the Green Min so you don't need both.

3. Post dental: Arnica (highest potency you have), Arnica, and more Arnica.

 

[ChristineL]

Arnica (highest potency you have), Arnica, and more Arnica.

I have 30c on hand. Q-Tip Dose and How often?
Give as soon as we get home?

She will be prescribed pain meds and antibiotics. Okay to give both while on Arnica or Arnica would be a replacement for pain meds and antibiotics?

 

[ChristineL]

@Dr. Jeff

I just checked my remedy kits and found that the highest potency I have for Arnica is 6c. I want to get one of higher potency from Hahnemannlabs.com - May I trouble you to direct me on getting the right potency for Hope's post dental surgery? Please see attached. They have it in 15 potencies!

Thank you so much!

 

[Dr. Jeff]

10M is great!

You're welcome Christine, and good luck today.

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Are you back from the vet Christine?

If so, how'd it go?

 

[ChristineL]

Are you back from the vet Christine?

If so, how'd it go?

Hi Dr. Jeff - no vet visit today. Hope's dental surgery is scheduled for 4/6...I just wanted to get the remedy ready I tried to purchase Arnica 10M but all they offer are in the "LM" potencies. (Select Potency) I think I had asked this before (sorry) but are "Ms" the same as "LMs"?

 

[Dr. Jeff]

The LM (or more accurately Q) remedies are not the same as M remedies. They are different potencies altogether with one considered to be low and deep-acting, and the other to be high and also deep-acting.

 

[GinnyW]

Arnica 10M is a terrific first aid remedy - for severe traumas, concussion - anything with lots of bruising and bleeding. One rarely needs more than one or two doses, but after any surgery it is just amazing how quickly it resolves tissue trauma. I checked, and you can get it from Hahnemann Labs. Don't know where you are, but I just got something from them in two days. I'm not prescribing, just reporting - hope this is OK.

 

[ChristineL]

Thank you, @Dr. Jeff for the explanation (again!).

Thank you, @GinnyW - I don't see 10M on their website though...https://hahnemannlabs.com/cgi-bin/htmlos.cgi/007881.2.422235797572938695/hahnemannlabs
I had purchased from them in the past and they do ship fast. I am located in California, same as Hahnemann Labs

 

[GinnyW]

ARNICA MONTANA

50M​

LM 23​

6C 12C 100C 500C 1M 2M 3M 5M 9M 10M 15M 20M 40M​

HL​

Out of their "Remedy List"

 

[ChristineL]

ARNICA MONTANA

50M​

LM 23​

6C 12C 100C 500C 1M 2M 3M 5M 9M 10M 15M 20M 40M​

HL​

Out of their "Remedy List"

I saw that too. Thank you! ?
To place an order via their drop-down list, they only offer LM potencies. I have already reached out to them and hopefully will get their response tomorrow. Thanks so much again!

 

[Dr. Jeff]

Hahnemann stocks Arnica 10M, so a call to them would work well. They may not be great with email but please let us know Christine.

 

[ChristineL]

Puzzle solved....The 10M is under the C list ?

 

[Julie W.]

I have a dog that at 13 1/2 had 12 teeth removed. I was very concerned about the dental but it turned out to be a good thing. (So much so that I had my 11 year old dog's teeth cleaned a few months after.) The surgery was 5 hours long (!!!!). It took him a few days to recover from the procedure ... maybe his age, anesthesia plus the surgery/trauma. His muzzle was very swollen for a couple days. He is much happier and has a better quality of life post dental surgery. He eats blended raw food for meals but he has no issue chomping away on chunks of raw carrots or jerky.

My experience with him was post surgery, when I picked him up at 6pm, he was very dysphoric. He normally rides in the back seat of the car and I had to pull over and put him in the dog crate because he was out of his mind and it was distracting. That night was also challenging. He was very restless and dysphoric and leaking lots of urine. They pump the dog full of liquids during the procedure.

My 11 year old dog was a completely different experience. His surgery was 3 hours, they removed 2 teeth and he recovered very quickly. Post surgery he was dopey and just relaxed on the sofa. Leaking tons of liquid and with no interest in getting up to go out to pee until the next day. I put the dog on washable incontinent pads so it was a non issue.

Good luck with your dog.

 

[ChristineL]

I have a dog that at 13 1/2 had 12 teeth removed. I was very concerned about the dental but it turned out to be a good thing. (So much so that I had my 11 year old dog's teeth cleaned a few months after.) The surgery was 5 hours long (!!!!). It took him a few days to recover from the procedure ... maybe his age, anesthesia plus the surgery/trauma. His muzzle was very swollen for a couple days. He is much happier and has a better quality of life post dental surgery. He eats blended raw food for meals but he has no issue chomping away on chunks of raw carrots or jerky.

My experience with him was post surgery, when I picked him up at 6pm, he was very dysphoric. He normally rides in the back seat of the car and I had to pull over and put him in the dog crate because he was out of his mind and it was distracting. That night was also challenging. He was very restless and dysphoric and leaking lots of urine. They pump the dog full of liquids during the procedure.

My 11 year old dog was a completely different experience. His surgery was 3 hours, they removed 2 teeth and he recovered very quickly. Post surgery he was dopey and just relaxed on the sofa. Leaking tons of liquid and with no interest in getting up to go out to pee until the next day. I put the dog on washable incontinent pads so it was a non issue.

Good luck with your dog.

Thank you for sharing your valuable experiences. So glad both are doing so well after the surgeries. Did you do any supportive care post surgery? Did you also give any homeopathic remedies such as Arnica?

 

[Julie W.]

Arnica 1M and rest. The dog took it easy for a few days.
I waited 2 weeks before I feed anything crunchy because of stitches.
I added a probiotic.
The vet dentist recommended Welcome to Healthy Mouth LLC | the healthy choice for your dog, cat, horse but I did not try it.

 

[ChristineL]

Arnica 1M and rest. The dog took it easy for a few days.
I waited 2 weeks before I feed anything crunchy because of stitches.
I added a probiotic.
The vet dentist recommended Welcome to Healthy Mouth LLC | the healthy choice for your dog, cat, horse but I did not try it.

Hi Julie, did you give your pups pain meds and/or antibiotics? Were they prescribed? Did they eat anything on the same day?

 

[Julie W.]

Hi Christine

I have 2 dogs that had dentals in 2020.
For both dog's the procedure was on a Friday and the pick up time to get the dog was 5-6pm.
The night before the surgery they asked me to give the dog Trazodone and Cerenia.

The 13 1/2 year old dog had 12 teeth removed. He had an abscessed premolar that I was unaware of. It was something that the Vet was unaware of until they were able to X-ray. I am not a Vet or a dentist but I understand that the premolar has multiply roots and is a bigger procedure than pulling out a tooth with a single root. The premolar extraction had stitches where the other teeth did not. Post surgery, his muzzle/jowls were very swollen and I am guessing it was from removing the premolar tooth and the cleaning the abscess. He was prescribed Gabapentin and Clavamox. I gave him Antibiotics. I believe at some point post surgery I offered him a small handful of soft blended raw food and he ate. They recommend a very light meal. (It is possible that I offered food one time and he was not interested and then I offered it later and he ate. His surgery was May 2020) I can not remember if he drank any water. He was very medicated and disphoric when he came home and it took him a few days to recover. His procedure was supposed to be 3 hours but it turned into a 5 hours long surgery due to the premolar and abscess/infection. I kept him on a leash that night and slept on the floor with him because he was pacing and whining and having a hard time settling. The next day he was peeing outside but it may have taken a day for him to poop. It's not uncommon for them to not have a bowel movement for a day or so after surgery. He spent a few days resting and recovering.

My dog that was 11 years old at the time of surgery, had 2 teeth removed. It was a totally different experience. Easy peasy. The surgery was 3 hours long and they pulled 2 tiny teeth. They sent him home with Gabapentin but I did not use it. He was very medicated when he came home. He basically just rested and was not very active. His procedure was in August 2020 and I do not really remember the details but I would guess at some point, just to see if he was interested, I offered him a small handful of raw blended food which he ate. By the next morning he was pretty much himself. I continued to feed him raw blended food/soft food for 2 weeks as instructed by the dentist.

Hope that helps!

 

[GinnyW]

Gosh, all I can think is that giving Arnica would obviate the need for any and all of those drugs. This means fast healing, but also fast recovery mentally and physically from the procedure itself. I wish more vets could see their way to it....that's why we have to be there for our guys.