Class This Week and Stuff Like That

SUMMARY: Boost: Bars. Tika: What the heck?

Tika is on two weeks' rest per the vet's instructions. No running, no tug of war. Walks are OK. She, of course, wants to run and play and is starting to look dispirited when once again I'm throwing the toy for Boost to chase while distracting Tika with treats tossed into the lawn. Oh, she likes the food, but it's so clear when we go outside and she bounds into position, ears up, eyes bright, and then instead of running, all I'll do is nudge the toy around while she's hanging onto it--she likes that, but not as much as running and tug and is just kind of giving up on me.

Last night was class, so Boost ran all the exercises. Had several bars down. Of course, usually Tika does half the exercises, so Boost had more opportunities to knock bars. After knocking hardly any last weekend.

Maybe the lawn was too damp.

AND she still can't do that entry bearing left into the weaves--you know, the entry that's supposed to be easy because the dog wraps around the first pole? This is the same entry she's always had trouble with. I don't think she ever really got that "the first pole is to your left," but instead thinks it's "go between the first two poles." Well, we have 3 months in which to practice. If I feel like it.

Tried to keep Tika feeling not attention deprived during class. Between runs, did some tricks for treats, trotted her out to the backfield to go over an 8-inch jump a couple of times, practiced some downs on the table. And gave her a lot of rubbing. Still, she went from looking excited about being there to "ok, whatever."

This will be hard on both of us, another week still to go. I'll be glad when we get the ultrasound done on Monday to find out what her heart's strength really is right now.

And my knee suddenly started hurting last night after a few weeks of wonderfulness. Seems OK today so far. Just weird.

Thinking about how/when i want to have a retirement cake for Tika. Well... for me, anyway. I'm sure she'd get some, too. Any excuse for frosting, though.

The emergency vet last weekend said she was busy admiring what great teeth Tika has. Guess we've done something right--and/or she had pretty good teeth genes. Except for that one cracked/abscessed tooth that had to come out a couple of years ago, and a few tips that look like they've broken off (versus worn down), they look pretty good to me, too.

Planning on going for a 4-6 mile walk on the level tomorrow with a friend. Normally I'd take the dogs, but I'm thinking that might not be what the vets had in mind when they talked about a walk to the end of the street. (Actually we've been doing about a mile and a quarter a day, which is less than our "normal" walk, and doing it somewhat more leisurely than usual.) Hm. Maybe I'll just leave them home this time. :-(

Still, generally, I've been pretty lucky with my dogs. Tika has done very well until a pretty good age. And Boost *likes* doing agility, even if we have some issues out there on the field.

Anyway, I think I'm rambling. Off to bed early tonight and hope for another sunrise like yesterday's:

All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Side Teeth

SUMMARY: Vanity, thy name is Money.

TWO years ago, right around New Year's Day, I broke an upper-left molar. (Actually, the first premolar, if you want to be technical.) Broke it good, too, right down into the root, so there was no way to repair it. Had to have the root pieces extracted. Asked the dentist with great trepidation about whether this is my future, breaking my teeth and becoming a toothless wonder by the time I'm ready to retire (whenever that may be). He assured me that it was an oddball occurrence; the tooth was already damaged with at least a couple of fillings through the years.

Looked into implants: Very expensive and the expert guy said this one wasn't a good candidate for it anyway. Looked into bridges: Fairly expensive, and you have to replace them every few years with equal expense, and they have to ream down the teeth on either side of it, which I just hate to do. Looked into removable plates--well, just uck, did one of those in high school (a "retainer") which sucked. Rejected that, too.

And, after a year, when no one anywhere had commented about me suddenly missing a tooth, it occurred to me that maybe no one noticed. Or could be they were being polite, but really good friends would say something, right? So I decided I didn't need to do anything at all.

So, fast forward to right around New Year's Day ONE year ago, when I broke a lower-right molar. (Actually, the first premolar, if you want to be technical.) Broke it good, too, right down to the base of the gum, so there was no way to repair it. Asked the dentist with great trepidation etc. etc., and he reassured me that this was an oddball occurrence; this was an old baby tooth that never had an adult tooth come in behind it, and it was also previously damaged, and baby teeth when left behind get kind of brittle anyway because the roots are so tiny (or something along those lines).

I didn't have it dug out because there were no jagged edges, and it kind of acted like a placeholder while I decided what to do with two gaps--which didn't seem to actually bother anyone except my tongue, which keeps looking for the missing toothers.

It's been almost a year now. Maybe I should wait until the New Year just to be sure we're not in some kind of tooth-breaking pattern here. BUT. This one, I think, is noticeable. Sometimes. Or, at least, with 2 teeth missing, if my mouth is open enough, people are going to start noticing.

Teeth seem fine--

Teeth seem fine--

--uh -- hmm, what's that big gap?!

Dentist says it's OK to leave them like that for a while, but eventually I should have *something* done because (a) the teeth on either side will start drifting in, and (b) the opposing molars (actually premolars) will start drifting up, and it could screw up my bite.

So, today, I had the baby roots (not to be confused with Baby Ruths) extracted as a first step towards getting an implant in the lower right. I have no dental insurance, and it most likely wouldn't be covered (or not much of it) anyway. We're talking $2000-3000 for the implant and another $1000-2000 for the crown to sit on top of the implant.

Do you know what I could do with that kind of money? My want list is huge; my baglog of repairs and upgrades for home and car is huge. But, OK, for 30% practicality and 70% vanity, I am going to spend it on a new tooth.

Progress will be reported in future months. Implant minus 2 months and counting.

Good News/Bad News

SUMMARY: To start the year running, I've got good news and bad news. And more good news. Etc.

Gratuitous dog photo: Dogs love riding in the car around the neighborhood when they don't have to be in crates.

• Good news: My house appraised for much more than I thought it might in this market.
• Bad news: That means my property taxes will keep going up, not down like so many other people's.
• Good news: That might mean that it's a shoo-in for my refi application to go through. Just waiting to hear when closing should be--I think--

• Good news: Paid off the last 73 cents on MUTT MVR last week!
• Bad news: It's wayyyy overdue for its xxx,000 mile check-up.
• Good news: Passed its smog check again.

• Good news: Tika has been running around like a lunatic without her bootie and no signs of a sore foot. Ran her two runs (jumpers courses with weaves) and she was fine. Haven't tried contacts again yet.
  
• Bad news: She continues to look, every once in a while, like she's sore for a few minutes or more.
• Good news: It goes away again. But I wish I knew--our next trial is in just under 2 weeks, and she's signed up for a day of agility.

• Good news: Boost loves doing agility.
• Bad news: In class last week, after we've done virtually no agility for 3 weeks, she popped out of the weaves EVERY time at the 10th pole as I moved away from her. Instructor said, well, I had to support in in N following ways, and I was maybe rude and said, no, I don't have to, this is why we practice weave distractions down to the bone at home until I can't get her to pop for any reason.
• Good news: When I finally just picked her up, carried her off the field, and put her away until the next run--then the next time, she did the weaves all the way through.

• Bad news: Shattered tooth down into the root. Happy New Year! The dental surgeon I had to go to to get it excavated said I didn't *quite* win the prize for the most pieces of tooth to be dug out.
• Good news: Didn't hurt before, hurt afterward more than I had hoped but less than I had feared, and only for that first evening, and it's been fine ever since.
• Bad news: I dread finding out how much an implant is going to cost. No dental insurance.

• Good news: Doctor says, Those things? They're harmless. They're called ruby spots (cherry angiomas).
• Bad news: Yeah, you'll probably keep getting more. Yeah, they can get bigger.
• Good news: Can burn them off with liquid nitrogen. [Like warts, I guess.]
• Bad news: THAT's not a fun procedure. And it can scar. Either way, I'm going to end up looking like a giant polkadot by the time I'm 100.
• Good news: Remind myself: they're harmless.
  

Tika sees another dog while on leash:

The Vet Bill

SUMMARY: Ouch. There goes the tax refund--and more.

Tika's total bill for the tooth thang: $913, plus $389 for additional requested services. I'm guessing that there are less-expensive vets, but I really like mine and have been going to that facility for nearly 30 years; not inclined to try to find another. Maybe I'm foolish about that.

• Exam/consultation: $62
• Pills (10 days antibiotics, 7 days Rimadyl): $61
• Half a day hospitalization: $63
• Meds at hospital, injected (antibiotics, anti-inflammatory): $50
• Tech assistance: $45
• sedative: $37.50
• anesthetic procedure: $220
• surgery: $90
• surgical pack/etc.: $15.50
• Heart/oxygen/etc. monitors: $50
• Toxic waste/env. fee: $4
• Venipuncture: $14
• Lab fees for blood test: $124
• X-ray of tooth: $77

(I'll have to double-check on lab fees--blood test was presurgery to be sure she was healthy enough, but I don't know what all the test entailed for that $124!)

Additional services at the same time:

• X-ray consultation: $60
• 3 Xrays of neck, back, hips: $249
• Teeth cleaning: $80

(X-ray consultation--not sure whether that would've been charged for just the tooth, or whether that was only for the additional x-rays.)

Got Call From the Vet and Tika's Fine

SUMMARY: Lots to report.

Tika's awake and sitting up. One of the roots of the suspect tooth was "badly abscessed" but they were able to clean it out and don't think that I'll need to do any nursing care on it, just antibiotics and Rimadyl for pain & swelling.

Other damaged tooth looks fine at the moment. All her teeth looked pretty clean, although they found a couple little pockets of tartar to clean out.

She has about a 4" gash on her inner thigh (! I'm so observant--but she doesn't roll over all that often except on the bed, and then I'm lying down next to her) but it's not deep and they think it'll be fine; looks like it has been there for a few days. Who knows what she hit and when?!

Her ears look good. Her nails didn't need much trimming, but they topped them off anyway.

X-rays showed many interesting things. And they're a good baseline for later. Her neck looks fine (back to the suspicion that the most-recent complaint wasn't the left side of the neck but the tooth).

Her hips "aren't perfect." The right one has some pinhead-sized bone spurs that probably aren't affecting her now. The left hip is slightly shallow and could have some problems eventually (I think I remember that the on-site vet a year or two ago thought that her soreness was her left hip--if so, maybe it just popped a little out of place--luxated--and then popped back again and was fine. Jake's knee used to do this all the time as he got older).

She has some teeny bits of arthritis in her midback that also probably aren't bothering her now, but there is one disk space that's a bit narrow and has some calcification inside the spinal area--probably not normally a problem but just twisting the wrong way or hitting something the wrong way could give her a lot of (probably) brief pain. It actually sounds very much like my own problem back.

Vet wants me to come in next week to talk about all of this in more detail.

So--she's OK! And things are hunky dory. I'll go get her in about 3 hours.

Waiting For The Call

SUMMARY: While Tika's at the vet, we have to do something to keep our mind off it.

I get scared about my dogs going under anesthesia. Especially when we don't know 100% what the problem is. I've talked myself into being reasonably calm while a teeeeny wee voice in the back of my head is screeching "panic! panic!" It didn't help that Boost was up about every hour from 9:30 until 3:30 with diarrhea. Seems OK this morning; no obvious cause.

Funny, got email this morning from a friend whose agility dog was under anesthesia YESTERDAY to have the same tooth removed for the same reason (but no swelling in their case). The tooth is a "carnasial tooth"--the largest upper premolar closest to the molars. I've heard twice today that that's the most commonly broken tooth in dogs and that it is commonly removed due to such damage.


(Image from this site.)

Still, as I emailed another friend this morning: After Remington, every little thing now makes me think "cancer!" and then I find myself thinking, "why doesn't everyone just get cancer and die and then I don't have to worry about it any more!" and then I could just kick myself and this morning I was hugging Tika and bawling about I didn't mean it don't leave me, that sort of pathetic thing. She thought I was a little over the top and didn't want to have anything to do with it.

I'm fine now.

Really.

Just waiting for the vet to call.

So Boost and I went for a long, not-too-leisurely stroll along the Guadalupe River. She whuffed briefly at another dog, but by George, I was able to stop and actually chat with another dog owner--something that I cannot do with Tika along and it's so discouraging.

	My vet's pyracantha shrub. Those little tulip ears--surely it's a border collie?!
	Big white bird thing (my mother would be ashamed of me) standing in the Guadalupe. Even swollen with the recent rains, it's not much of a river any more. But it is dammed in a couple of places. The one we walked past shortly thereafter (maybe 20 feet high?) has a salmon ladder.
	Workers need to keep the blackberries cut back to allow flow and prevent flooding. It's a nice urban stroll along here.
	So pretty, so calming. Such a nice morning (but cold--my earlobes were developing icicles as I jogged). Maybe we'll actually have class tonight.
	--Or maybe not. (Back to the real world, waiting for the light rail to cross.)

And of course, where would we be without Mr. Chia Head, who has had a hair-raising experience!

Tika Tooth Update

SUMMARY: Tooth removal tomorrow.

The whole side of her face is swollen today. OK, I'm less convinced that it's been this all along, with the rapid progression of the swelling. I suppose it could have been working for a while, but there were an awful lot of signs that it was her back or neck. So we've got 2 problems working at once?!

Vet pointed out that she has broken off a point on each of her upper rear molars, but her teeth otherwise are healthy. He thinks it's possible that she damaged a root in that one tooth and that's what's happening now. He'll xray it before taking out the tooth to be sure it really is the tooth and really is the correct one.

He also said that it's unusual (but not unheard of) for the swelling to be out in the flesh of the cheek like that for a tooth, but since the gum by the tooth is sensitive, he's 90% sure it's the tooth. My deep fear of course is always cancer, and one of his 10%s was an older dog with swelling like this who had a tumor. But I think he also said that her lymph nodes felt good.

Took a blood test today to be sure she's up to anesthesia. Started antibiotics. Taking her in tomorrow at 8 a.m. to have the tooth removed (thanks, folks, for your comments and emails about this). Pick her up late afternoon. Vet says she should be fine to compete on Saturday, and in fact will probably feel better with the tooth out and the pain going down than if I waited until after the weekend.

While she's under, he'll also x-ray her neck and lower back. Doesn't want to keep her under any longer than necessary, but thinks that he can do those fairly quickly.

Sedation: Last two trip s to the vet, she's had a tranquilizer pill an hour before going. She's still not happy about being there, but she's definitely not as over-the-top frenzied get-me-out-of-here as usual. Better living through chemistry.

And she KNOWS. I pulled into the vet's parking lot; back of the car facing the road. Opened the back door, and Tika--usually pushing at the crate door to get out--is hunched in the back of the crate, giving me the hairy eyeball. Smell? Particular way a barking dog sounds here? Dunno--

OMG I've Figured It Out

SUMMARY: It's Tika's tooth.

At least for this time around, I've figured out why Tika suddenly acts miserable and sore when playing tug-of-war and becomes subdued and won't play. Why bending her neck to the left hurts. Why she'll be curled over to lick/nibble certain parts of her body and suddenly yelp and look miserable for a couple of minutes.

It's not her neck. Not her back. I just happened to look down at her from the correct angle just now, and noticed her left cheek (opposite my hand in this photo). I tried to put my finger inside to pull the cheek out to look, and she shrieked. Just touching the outside makes her yelp. I can't tell so much from wrestling her mouth open and looking inside, but that section of her gums does look a bit inflamed. Still, it looks like it's actually the skin on her cheek that's swollen--like the lump is NOT in her gums; when I do manage to pull the side of her mouth out, the lump seems to come with it. I've never had a dog with tooth problems or abscesses before, though, so don't know what to expect.

I don't think that this explains why, 4 weeks ago, she couldn't jump into her crate without yelping. But it fits everything else. I've got an appointment with the vet for tomorrow morning. I feel an ominously large vet bill coming.

Jake's Tooth

The lower right tooth (our right, his left) is out of position and discolored.

On Tuesday, while playing tug-o-war with Jake, I noticed that one of his very worn-away front teeth looked askew. Upon further examination, it proved to be a bit loose, although it didn't seem to bother him in the least (play ball! play ball! play ball!).

Still, I took him in to see the vet. Vet says there's likely a little bit of infection in there. Sometimes teeth that get loose like this come out on their own, but the incisors have very long roots and it seems unlikely that this one will pop out on its own. So we can either treat for a mild infection and just monitor the tooth, or we can schedule anaesthesia and do an extraction and do all the follow-up care on that. I opted for antibiotics for 2 weeks and just keep an eye on the tooth. There's no puffiness or lumps at the site and no reaction at all when we wiggle the tooth.

Jeez, I'd hate to have a toothless old dog in my care. Vet says his other teeth look fine, though.