Ouchy!

Friday evening after work, I was outside doing my evening poo pick up (always a highlight of my day) when I looked over at Jax and Enzo, who were wrestling as usual.  I could see from across the yard that Jax's neck was covered in blood.  I went to examine him but could find no wounds.  First instinct is always to check the dog with blood on him, but in my experience, he usually isn't the injured one.   The blood was coming from Enzo's mouth.  Somehow he had broken his top left canine tooth almost entirely off and it was bleeding like crazy. 

5:00 on a Friday usually means emergency clinic, which means big bucks.  Not ideal.  Still, I knew that this was potentially extremely painful for my little buddy.  I only live about a mile from our regular foster vet and the doctor's truck was still in the parking lot when I drove by.  I called them and they were still there dealing with another emergency.  They told me to come on in, which really impressed me.  We waited for quite a while, until the other emergency (acute vomiting) was taken care of.   Doc finally came in and took one look and declared what I had already assumed.  "No saving that tooth."  Enzo needed surgery.  To my surprise, Doc offered to do the surgery Saturday morning so we wouldn't have to wait until Monday. 

The surgery was more complicated than a simple tooth extraction, which is normally done on rotten or loose teeth that come out pretty easily.  This was a young, healthy, growing tooth.  In addition, it had broken off so close to the gum line that there wasn't anything to grip with the extractor.  Because of that, the gum had to be cut down and the result was a huge hole and tons of sutures.  The doctor actually cut a slice of inner lip into a flap and sutured it across the hole to protect it.  I had never seen that done before, and was a bit skeptical, honestly.  Our instructions...antibiotics, pain meds, and soft food for a week. 

He is still on his mange medication and had started treatment for his bladder infection earlier in the week, so the poor dog is now consuming a pharmacy full of drugs everyday!  Tonight I was checking his suture site and discovered with frustration that the protective flap of lip tissue that I was worried about coming undone, had indeed come undone.  So, back to the vet we go in the morning.  I am really hoping that we can avoid putting him back under anesthesia, but we may have no other option.   He has been such an easy dog these past two months and suddenly he is a mess.  Bless his little heart, though, he is still just as happy as ever.

All of this comes in what may be his final time with us, as we have a new potential adopter.  More on this after it's official.  I'm hoping that the third time is the charm, although I will be very sad to see him go.  Have I mentioned how much I adore him?