Today I did something that I have put off for over eight months- I finally forged ahead with a dentistry procedure on my oldest dachshund, Anya. I have always been very proactive taking care of Anya, especially with her teeth because I know first hand that untreated dental disease can shorten their lives, usually by damaging the kidneys.
I cleaned her teeth (yes with anesthesia) every year until she was around seven years, then every six months. I made sure I took dental xrays yearly and took every precaution to protect her from periodontal disease. In 2010, when she was fifteen, her dental xrays still looked like those of a young dog, her bone support around her teeth still healthy. As a result of all my good work, her labwork, her kidney values are still perfect normal. So why was I such a procrastinator?
Like many people, life got in the way. We have a baby, Anya had a bout of gall bladder disease, and of course work, work , work. But I still did her labwork regulary- every 3-6 months. I still brought her to work everyday. I am a veterinarian, I own my practice, and dentistry is one of my special interests, but still I delayed her anesthesia and dentistry. Why- fear of the unknown.
Like many clients, I began to convince myself that a sixteen/seventeen year old dog was so elderly that, as my husband put it, every day is a gift. It didn't matter that she was healthy, it didn't matter that I anesthetize elderly dogs and cats every day with a high success rate. It didn't matter that I knew that by not treating her teeth, I risked her kidneys. Her teeth were dirty, but looked normal on the outside. She was my baby and professional sense and yes, common sense went out the door.
It wasn't until she started loosing weight that I noticed that she was hungry but not picking up her food well. She was painful with her mouth, and I , a veterinarian, was too blinded by my own fear to pick up on it. I then snapped out of my denial, and made a treatment plan for her as I would any patient. Her dental xrays today showed that Anya had an abscessed tooth. It looked perfectly normal on the outside, but the abscess was clearly visible on the xray film. I tell clients every day that we cannot treat what we cannot see. I extractd her tooth today and she is doing wonderful. This little seventeen year old girl came through her anesthesia with flying colors and continues to have a bright future.
Fear of anesthesia prevents many pet owners from getting their babies needed care. This fear leads people into postponing dentistries and other procedures until it is too late for me to help their pets. Anesthesia is what I do for a living. I am trained, experienced, and our team does things the right way. Very few pets die under anethesia, and when they do, it is usually an unknown heart problem or other disease. Yes, every anesthesia procedure has some risk, but proper work ups to detect preexisting problems before anesthesia help us decrease that risk.
There is much more risk in doing nothing, more certainty that doing nothing will result in your pet being in pain or dying from a treatable problem. I understand the fear, but I overcame it when I saw that my fear was hurting my precious doxie. I know now that I gave my old girl a gift of not one day, but maybe a few more years if I can keep her healthy. I saw a twenty one year old poodle this week, so anything is possible.
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