SoCalGalcas wrote:And now Annie’s Joe is ill. Keeping my fingers crossed it is not serious.
Nothing much new in my life. Going to a “drive by” bityhday party for eldest Great today. She is 10 years old.
Lyn
Sincere thanks for your concern, Lyn.
I am in a kind of "holding pattern" with Joe. I brush his teeth regularly, so I was quick to notice that he had a suddenly discolored upper canine tooth. This was not due to plaque, but due to some kind of injury. I, of course, Googled what it might be when I first noticed it, and succeeded in giving myself a complete panic attack.
I am still pretty upset that I may have been the cause of it. He tripped and fell on the back steps - two steps down from the back door to the back patio - due to my inattention (lucky I didn't fall on top of him). Basically, my fault
This may or may not have have been the cause - I don't remember him hitting the side of his face - but there you are.
I took him to my vet on Thursday, July 16. This was the first time I had been out of my house since March 18. I am quite concerned about the virus - it is spreading rapidly in my rural area, but not so rapidly as it is in the big cities here in Northern California. I was pretty much dressed like a space cadet
- long sleeves, long pants, hair covering, mask, gloves, goggles - basically the works.
The vet said what I already knew by now - that there was some kind of injury to the tooth (it is lack of blood flow to the tooth that causes the sudden discoloration). The vet did not seem too concerned. He said that this was a fairly common thing to happen with dogs (although I have never had this happen to one of my dogs in my life) and that if the tooth gets loose, or seems to cause him pain, the tooth can then be pulled. He said there was nothing that needed to be done "right now".
He said that I just "need to keep an eye on it". Also, that sometimes this happens (a tooth discolors) and there isn't a further problem.
Although I am still worried, the vet has allayed my fears a bit. Joe will soon be eight years old, and I don't like the thought of tooth pulls and the attendant anesthesia on an older dog. It freaks me out. I like even less the thought of an emergency visit to U.C. Davis during a pandemic for canine oral surgery. Thus far, knock wood, the tooth doesn't seem to bother him.
I don't know whether to continue to toss the Kong for him in the backyard or not - he LOVES to chase his Kong (just now, his only source of exercise since long walks around the neighborhood are out -
NO ONE here wears a mask), and always carries it around with him in the house (and gets very anxious when he sometimes misplaces it).
Will Kong-tossing (he will jump into the air to chomp and catch it) exacerbate the tooth problem? Or not? I dunno. Should I eliminate all instances of Kong-toss? I dunno.
I try to tell myself "it is what it is" and just hope for the best. That really is all that I can do.
As of today, it has been four months at home for me. I really have done fairly well up until now (surprised myself, even) but my sleep cycles are beginning to severely degrade, and, no doubt due to this, I am beginning to suffer from frequent bouts of "the weepies". Which, of course, are the absolute and utter pits.
I need to find some new things to do to keep myself sane. But all I really want to do is sit on the couch. And I have never been a couch-sitter. The tv is
not my friend.
LOL. That's the cheerful news from Northern California!
Lyn, have fun on your "drive-by"!
I'll bet there will be a lot of these kinds of events going forward.
Anne