Day 206
Last night I did something terrible. While trying to scrape off some encrusted tartar off Gertie’s back molar, I broke off part of her tooth.
Great.
What could be worse than saying, “Come here, baby, sit on my lap and think I’m going to pet you but I’ll really be extracting your tooth.” Well, perhaps, “Come here, baby, sit on my lap and think I’m going to pet you but I’ll really be extracting PART of your tooth.” Nothing like instilling trust!
She seems none the worse for wear – amazingly. However, I am seeing visions of doggie dentures in her future or high doggie dental bills in mine … if I don’t do something NOW.
If you’ve never looked into (or opened up) a Pug’s mouth it is very akin to that of a shark. Wide and shallow (having no nose does that) and full of rows of teeth … unlike sharks, however, Pug teeth are not necessarily in any sort of order. They just kind of jut out of any gum tissue, at random, all over the outer rim of the mouth.
Sharks have 7 rows of teeth and when they lose one, another replaces it. Pugs, whose teeth only feel like sharp shark teeth, should have that feature because they are prone to bad teeth and gums and dental issues of all sorts.
Four years ago, last weekend, I made an emergency pick-up for Colorado Pug Rescue and took into custody 2 badly neglected, old-lady Pugs. After flunking foster-hood (by falling in love with them), I adopted those poor babies. Dori is still with me, but sadly Yosh had to be put down last May – a week after she turned 14.
When I took them to the vet, that first time, both dogs’ teeth were so severely decayed that nearly half of the teeth in each dog’s mouth had to be removed. Not a good day for anyone in that office that day – except maybe the vet!
It’s amazing that either one of them could still eat – but they were and are little chow hounds and eat anything they can get their few teeny teeth (and mostly gums) into!
In any case … I’m feeling like a neglectful mother to Gert but I know that is just the nature of this breed due to their bone structure. I vow to get those teeth cleaned, one way or another, and much to her happiness, I will give out more hard, crunchy snacks … to help clean off the plaque that tends to cling onto and around those itty, bitty Pug teeth.
There is an Arm & Hammer product (Complete Care) which is a seaweed enzyme that is supposed to “do the trick” of removing plaque and build-up … so, we are going to give it a try.
It’s either that, high dental cleaning bills or … doggie dentures.