New Health Issues

*sigh* It never rains but it pours with my pair.

We were at the vet last week because Prince seemed to have hurt his back, turned out to be nothing too serious anyway, just a strain but while the vet was giving him a look over one of his teeth fell out so he had a look and said he needed a couple of teeth out and also a scale and polish just to get them nice.

His heart murmur seems to be getting more noticeable as well so I guess it wont be too long before he will be on treatment for that.

Also during the same visit he noticed that Belle seemed to have luxating patellas. He said the fact that she is so small and light is in her favour with this one but she may need surgery / x-rays etc if she presents with any further symptoms.

Does anyone have any words of wisdom especially regarding the teeth and patellas? They are new to me so any tips / advice would be much appreciated.

Ahhh I am sorry Shivers It always seems that things happen in clusters :x

How old are your two?

Kosmo needs his teeth cleaned this year - he just turned 4. I called my vet and they wanted nearly $500 without blood work and minimal periodontal/gingivitis so I'm going to wait until spring and drive a few hours up north to get it done cheaper. I think it's important to do teeth regularly as you don't want any infection getting into their blood stream that affects their heart. That being said though, my mom's dog, Hope, has a bad enough heart that she is getting a "non-anaesthetic dental cleaning."


As for patellas, I had Kosmo's done and Faith might need surgery for them too. It really depends on how affected she is and in my opinion what her age is. This year I'm going to ask that Faith be sent to an orthopaedic specialist as although she doesn't show many signs of lux pats, I know she has them and she's started dragging behind on walks which concerns me. I had a really good experience with Kos who got them done at the same time. He's now 4 and hops around like a little bunny rabbit. Did your vet mention chondroitin/glucosamine?? It's a supplement that's supposed to be really good for helping strengthen the joints for patellas. There are also exercises you can do that are supposed to help with that.

Good luck

Really sorry to hear that, Shivers. Did the vet mention what grade he thought her luxation was? Sara has good advice and experience with patellas. Usually they get picked up as potentially problematical by around age 1.

Teeth do need doing now and then -- some seem to be disposed to bad gums and teeth. I have half brothers, same father, where one has great teeth (Jaspar) and one is prone to bad teeth (Leo) and obviously they get the same meals etc. On the other hand I know Terrierman (the blogger) has stated there is no proof that scaling has any preventative role. I went and looked for published work in the area but a quick glance found nothing -- I'd be interested in knowing more if others know what studies have been done in this area. To me it would seem that if tartar buildup leads to tooth and gum problems, then descaling and cleaning helps avoid problems. But as scaling requires anesthetic, I'd be less likely to do it unless needed, personally. teeth falling out though def. indicates some work probably needs to be done! At least to make sure there aren't other bad teeth as those could be a bit painful for Prince and won't be good for his heart.

My Ebony was diagnosed with patella’s in both knees about 18 month ago. They don’t give her any trouble so at the moment I am leaving the operation. I do give two of my dog’s glucosamine, Ebony for her patella’s and Harley because he does agility and flyball. I take it myself for my bad knees.

Sabby said:

. I do give two of my dog’s glucosamine, Ebony for her patella’s and Harley because he does agility and flyball. I take it myself for my bad knees.

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Hi Sabby,
I have been thinking of giving Trapper glucosamine, as he seems to be a bit on the stiff side these days, how much do you give your dogs?
Thanks
Charli