3083. A 12-year-old Chihuahua had a large facial wound

Jun 8, 2017

The lady surfed the net as her 12-year-old Chihuahua, weighing 1.78 kg and of good bodily condition had foul breath. She drools and has poor appetite. She came to Toa Payoh Vets.

"I had dental work done by the vet twice in 2015 and 2017. She showed two images of her dog's skin disease. One was an inflamed neck area and the other were a large circular patch of wet skin wound. This circular patch of cellulitis occurred 5 months ago but her vet did not look inside the mouth to check the right upper premolar 4 which was loose and decayed.

"The dog had fully recovered from her vet's treatment of the skin disease," I told the owner. But she suspected dental work is needed as the dog has lost appetite and had bad breath. .

"It could be some teeth infection causing bad breath," she requested dental work and accepted the anaesthetic risk of the old dog dying. I checked the heart and lungs. They were normal and so the dog should be able to withstand gas. No injected sedatives.

12 teeth extracted.

There was the loose right upper premolar 4 which was not extracted by her vet when the dog came for treatment of the right facial wound below the eye. "That wound could be tooth root abscess rupturing into the skin below the eye," I said. "The dog rubbed it to relieve her itchiness and so it became very extensive. Some vets may diagnose it as an insect bite wound."

The left upper premolar 4 was extracted by her vet but one of the 3 roots remained as I could palpate it using my finger. I extracted the 3rd root. The premolar 4 has 3 roots.

So this dog should live a normal life and regain her appetite after the pain and infection in the gums are now gone.


A long tongue and drooling saliva. "The tongue hung out as the dog has a longer tongue as a puppy," I asked the owner. She confirmed, "But the dog manage to keep the tongue inside the mouth earlier!"
I informed her that the right lower jaw was fractured or broken in the back 1/3 but I would not know
when it had happened as no X-rays were taken as advised by me.


According to the owner, the tongue hung out to one side after dental work by the first vet. "Now it hangs out centrally," she observed. "That is because the rotten teeth on the right upper and lower jaws had been extracted. Around 7 of the decayed teeth were from the right maxilla and mandible."

A much-loved Chihuahua and a knowledgeable owner who surfed the net for information regarding her pet dog and rabbit.  The dog should stop drooling now that the oral pain and ulcers should have disappeared after this dental work.



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