Doggie blues.

Our dog, a 9 year old rescued beagle, had a really stinky mouth and it was about time we did something about it. Two years ago, the vet recommended a dental cleaning and it sounded like a great idea at the time because her mouth stank and she apparently never had any dental care before. It was an expensive treatment (around $700), but we thought it'd be worth it because dental problems can lead to more serious health problems in pets. Well, it was definitely an experience to remember. We dropped her off at the vet first thing in the morning and were told that we could pick her up around 2pm. I guess something happened (we'll never know) and we couldn't pick her up until around 6pm. She was still extremely groggy and walking like a drunk sailor. She slept it off and seemed somewhat normal the next day. I was off to a trade show and my husband was left to aid in doggie's recovery. Starting around 8 pm or so, doggie started to feel sick. For the next 12 hours, she was vomiting and crapping blood every 30 minutes or so and my husband took no less than 12 trips up and down the elevator by dawn. (We live in an apartment building). By that time, a trip to the emergency room was needed.

Our city has one of the best animal hospitals in the country. It's amazing what paying cash for services gets you. A gleaming facility, top notch doctors, and free parking. None of the human medical facilities that we go to have free parking. Anyway, upon arriving at the animal hospital, doggie was admitted right away for observation. Needless to say, the emergency visit, a day and an overnight stay ended up totaling around $2500. So, add the original dental cleaning to that... I immediately vowed to brush doggie's teeth every single day for the rest of her life. I went to CVS and purchased an electric toothbrush and went to the pet store and got dog toothpaste. I did pretty good the first couple of weeks...then I brushed, oh, every other day...then maybe once a week... then, maybe once a month... to I don't remember the last time I brushed them.

So here we are today. We brought her in yesterday to have her mouth looked at. This time we didn't take her to the vet. We went directly to the animal hospital. The dental surgeon could not have been more friendly and thorough in explaining the anatomy of the teeth and gums and the ins and outs of the procedure etc etc etc. He happened to have an opening for today, so we booked the appointment. His initial assessment of her mouth was that she had mild to moderate periodontal disease. X-rays would be the only way to tell how bad things were. Well, turns out that she needed 4 teeth pulled and an infected pocket cleaned out and filled with some antibacterial gel. The visit yesterday was $250 and we paid a $450 deposit when we dropped her off this morning. Upon picking her up today, the balance came to an additional $540. Ouch. And that's not describing the state of doggie's mouth. What we do for our pets. All we can ask of her is non-stinky kisses and the hope that she stays with us a bit longer.