UPDATED: Porky Dental (Long, sorry!)

doxielady5569128 · November 16, 2011, 11:38:24 AM

Hi! We could use some rays for Porky tomorrow. He is going in at 8 a.m. to have his teeth cleaned and will probably get a molar pulled. He is having some sinus issues right now and I'm really worried he will start his wheezing in the middle of the surgery. Our vet said while Porky is out he might look inside the sinus cavities and get a sample (gross!!) to see if we can figure out if the infection is bacterial or viral. We have tried antibiotics and it hasn't helped much. He is going to let me know about the sinus procedure after he sees him in the morning at check-in tomorrow. I know neither is a major procedure, but every time Porky goes under he acts really freaked out for a few days afterwards. We have pureed pumpkin and duck at the ready in case he does have that tooth pulled. The vet also said he is going to do an x-ray of the mouth and see if the root from that tooth had penetrated into the sinus or is sitting on a nerve causing extra congestion and sneezing. Porky has yellowish snot with a bit of blood come out when he really gets to sneezing. Its so awful and we can't find a solution to stop it. His breath is beyond awful, so we are sure there is some infection in that tooth as well. The vet said after the surgery, he is going to have Porky on iv antibiotics for the rest of the day and keep him on kennel rest at the hospital. I will be able to pick up Porky at 5 p.m. and will probably be sent home with pain meds and antibiotics. I have lots of snuggle-time planned for Thursday night and Friday morning with my little guy. Hopefully this takes care of some of his issues, I can't stand seeing Porky feeling so icky! I'll try and post tomorrow night with an update on how he is doing.

papbouv · November 16, 2011, 10:22:16 PM

Hugs and Rays + Good Luck to you both hope all goes well.

BonniesMom · November 17, 2011, 03:58:18 PM

How'd the dental go??? Hugs and snuggles to Porky.

Teresa · November 17, 2011, 05:22:14 PM

I'm wondering how it went and a little concerned. Amorette posted on facebook it was a bad day and she would post more once she processed it all. With Porky's sinus/allergy stuff, I can't help but to wonder if they didn't find a reason for it all. I just hope if they did, it is something they can treat and make him feel much, much better.

Delia and girls · November 17, 2011, 05:52:55 PM

Quote from: Teresa on November 17, 2011, 05:22:14 PM
I'm wondering how it went and a little concerned. Amorette posted on facebook it was a bad day and she would post more once she processed it all. With Porky's sinus/allergy stuff, I can't help but to wonder if they didn't find a reason for it all. I just hope if they did, it is something they can treat and make him feel much, much better.

I saw that on FB too and came over here to see if she had posted. It doesn't sound good.

peterparker · November 17, 2011, 06:45:32 PM

I seen your posting on fb. Same thing happened to Parker. Went for a cleaning and came home with 8 less teeth. He didn't have any tumours though. Porky will be okay, and once the teeth are gone he will have real sweet breath again. The pain meds will keep him comfortable. I was really surprised at how quickly Parker recovered and he showed no sign of missing his teeth. He still enjoys nawing on a bone, and still eats hard kibble. Of course we kept them hidden for a month after his surgery. Take care, and huggers for Porky.

dis is Parker: Porky, you is gonna be jus fine. Make sure you gets extra huggers, snuggers and weally tastey soft food. Watch out for dem pills hidden in da food. Dey is awful. Momma had to use a pill shooter thing to get dem in me. Dey was yukkie and tasted like peas. Yuk!!!!! You bees a good boy and don't forget dat santa paws is coming. I fink you may do weally good dis year.

papbouv · November 17, 2011, 11:19:45 PM

Came on to see about Porky's dental anyone know how it went do not do that face book stuff ??????
Buddy my Dobe had a dental on the 16th had a sore on his gum they did a biopsy, have yet to hear anything.Know how waiting is hard to do hope to hear how Porky is soon.

Teresa · November 18, 2011, 05:32:03 AM

Here is what Amorette wrote on facebook for those that are not on there. I'm sure she will update here and add more later.
"Porky went in for his dental today and we were expecting him to have one tooth pulled. After xrays, the vet saw 4 bad teeth and a small tumor in between two of Porky's other teeth. Then during surgery, he found two more tumors. One under the tongue and one in the cheek where they couldn't be seen. They were cauterized and removed. Poor little guy is shaky and really dopey. 6 pulled teeth and 3 tumors mean lots of pain. We have meds on hand just in case. So far he seems okay."

Barb · November 18, 2011, 07:23:49 AM

oh no ! I missed the FB posting..... poor Porky.... and sending tons of rayz...that they caught all early....and everything is ok. Hopefully we will get a Mommy Report !

to Mommy and Porky Pie

doxielady5569128 · November 18, 2011, 10:08:35 AM

Hi everyone! Sorry it has taken me so long to update. We had a pretty bad day yesterday and a hard night. I dropped Porky off at the vet expecting him to have one tooth extracted and a dental cleaning. He was also supposed to have an exploratory study of his sinuses done as well, but due to the circumstances yesterday, that did not happen. When I left, Porky was working over the kennel staff and had the vet tech sitting in the kennel with him and holding him until it was his turn to get xrays. I left thinking everything was fine and went home. Then they took him in for xrays around 8:30 a.m yesterday. They found the tooth that we knew was bad would need to come out and then 3 more bad teeth. 2 molars (on the left side) and his two incisors. His incisors had "crazy" roots that were penetrating into the nasal cavity.

Then he was doing a second look to develop a plan on how to get those incisors out safely and found a weird looking bump up in the gums between the two molars on the right side. So he decided to see if he could see it during the dental cleaning. Porky was put under anesthesia and the vet took a look. He could not see the lump between the two molars, but saw it was very red and sore looking. So he made the decision to remove those two as well. In the middle of the surgery, he found another lump up by the left molars, in the cheek area. It was very small, so he went ahead and cauterized it while Porky was already under. Then he examined the rest of the mouth and found a sesame seed sized (the largest tumor) on the bottom of Porky's tongue. He cauterized it too and then finished removing teeth. After he got the right 2 molars out, he saw the other tumor and cauterized it.

All of the tumors were very tiny, so we think Porky will be okay. I have to check his mouth as carefully as possible at least once a month from now on. Also, yearly dentals with anesthesia will be necessary for him to be able to check places we normally couldn't see. He did say he was 90% sure they were malignant tumors, but as of right now no treatment is needed as he got the entire tumors out. However, if we see more tumors or signs of tumors, then we may need to discuss treatment options. At noon, the vet was finally done with the surgery and sent Porky into his kennel to recover. He had lots of bleeding and shakiness as he came to, and was having trouble walking around. The vet tech sat in with Porky for a few hours while he got his iv of antibiotics.

Then I was called at 3 p.m. and all they would tell me was it was a complicated procedure and that Porky had an awful day. They also said they didn't call me sooner because they knew I would come down in a panic and they wanted him left alone to rest until 4. So at 4 I went to the vet's office and he took me into an exam room and shut the door. He showed me the xrays and then handed me a pill bottle full of Porky's 6 teeth. Then he explained about the tumors and the likelihood of Porky developing more. Then after being warned that Porky was pretty loopy, I got to go see him. He was wagging his tail and whimpering as soon as he saw me.

We were sent home with amoxicillin 2 mL every 12 hours. Also we were given strict food instructions and told no food until 2 a.m. and be cautious even after that. He could have beef broth and see how he handled it. At 9 p.m., it was time to give Porky his dose of amoxicillin. He didn't want to open his mouth to take it, so I had to gently lift his lip and squirt the medicine in between his teeth. He did manage to get it all down, but were both crying and upset by the time it was done. My husband was unable to help hold Porky while I gave the medicine as he is allergic to it. So I had to "torture' Porky all on my own.

Then between 9 and midnight, Porky needed 4 potty breaks, so I got maybe 15 minutes of sleep. At 12:30, he started having severe pain and was shaking and whimpering. He couldn't lay down and was pacing all over. So I made a call to the vet and he had me give him 1/2 baby aspirin. That helped a lot and Porky laid down. But, I still got no sleep as we had to go out to potty a bunch more times. Then at 3, Porky decided he wanted food and he wanted it now! So I got some beef broth ready and fed him that. He was not happy when I stopped after only a few tablespoons. But, that settled his tummy down enough that he slept for a blissful 2 hours!! I only slept one hour, but it was better than nothing.

AT 5, Porky was ready to get up and run around the house. So he ran up and down the hall a few times. Then it was naptime again and he slept on my lap while we watched tv. At 9, he was starving again so we got to try puree food. Ground turkey, egg, and pumpkin mixture. He gobbled that right down and was begging for more. The vet said he can have 2-3 Tablespoons of that every few hours, not to exceed 1 cup per day. So he gets to be on the puree diet for awhile.

Porky seems really happy today, wagging his tail and doesn't seem bothered at all!! He has had no bleeding or drooling issues since last night. :apls: And he gladly took his medicine this morning. The only difference I am seeing is he wants to sleep more than usual, and less sneezing and wheezing!!! We can live with that. Hopefully we have a good day and can get lots of sleep.

Thank you to everyone who was concerned about us, asked for updates, and sent extra rays and prayers our way.

Barb · November 18, 2011, 10:54:01 AM

OMG - what an awful ordeal....for Porky AND for you ! The very very very worst thing for us is to have to do is to see them in pain and discomfort and not be able to help. Will be keeping good thoughts that all the tumors are benign.....gosh, I have never heard of something like that.
Sending bucketloads of rays, prayers and good thoughts....I sure hope you are both able to get some rest.......

:xfinger: that maybe this will clear up some of his sinus/allergy type issues !!!

Please keep us posted........

Dee Dee and Hallie · November 18, 2011, 01:43:47 PM

What a horrible day for the both of you! Hate when we have to put our babies through stuff like that. I was glad to read at the end he is feeling so much better. Hopefully it will have done some good overall for his wheezing. Did the vet say what kind of tumors he suspected they were? I hope he is wrong about the 90% malignant (did he mention melanoma?) but even if he's not, it's good he got them all and took care of it. Wouldn't it be wonderful if this kick started Porky into feeling a lot better now!

BonniesMom · November 18, 2011, 01:43:56 PM

What a bad, yucky day. Poor BOTH OF YOU! Rats about the teeth, but when you said that a tooth was affecting the sinus cavity, I thought.....oooooooooh! Would this help Porky's sinus/allergy problem? Guess not. Wishful thinking.

I'm so glad the little booger is up and frisking around today. Procedures of any kind are NO fun for NO one.

doxielady5569128 · November 18, 2011, 02:17:11 PM

His nose has been very clear today and when he has sneezed or had drainage it has been very pale yellow, almost clear!! :apls: So, we might be done with the sinus issues I'm hoping!! :xfinger: The allergies will still be a problem, but we got some snow today to kill off some of that. We just slept for 3 hours straight! So thrilled. I needed the rest so badly. He is loving his "Porky Pate" at I'm calling it. He has just enough left for his supper tonight. We are doing a salt water rinse after supper using a syringe, so I hope that goes wel and doesn't hurt too bad. He is still pain free and other than wanting to go potty every few hours, he has been sleeping well today.

Dee Dee- Yes, he is pretty sure it is melanoma. We aren't sure when we will get the results and our vet wasn't even sure if the tumors would be large enough for the lab to adequately test. They are so tiny, less than a sesame seed in size, but were ugly blackish wart-looking things. We sent them in anyway. I still haven't brought myself to look up treatment options for oral melanoma, and I'm praying that the tumors never come back! I know of one treatment that scares the heck out of me and that's enough for now. They also took a sample of his lung fluid to send in just in case the tumors had spread there, but that is very unlikely at this point. Porky's breathing and heart all sound normal. In fact, he was breathing so quietly this afternoon, I woke up scared something was wrong with him. He wasn't very happy with me waking him up.

We probably won't update again until tomorrow sometime unless we have questions to answer or if he would get worse. I'm glad we had decided against traveling to Nebraska for Thanksgiving. I don't think Porky would do to well. Plus making his food on the go would be a problem. We are hoping he will be okay to be alone a few hours that day though so we can spend it with family. My uncle, who Porky is scared of, and aggressive towards, will be there, so taking him along is not an option. Too stressful after all this. We are trying to keep Porky's stress to a minimum and are keeping our home as quiet and cozy as possible.

Mike · November 18, 2011, 08:27:10 PM

I glad to see Porky is improving and will send rays that this continues AND that the tumors don't return.

Rich · November 18, 2011, 08:29:47 PM

Lot's of rays coming from Iowa. Porky sure has had a rough time. Hoping that everything he went through solves his sinus problems.

papbouv · November 18, 2011, 08:32:24 PM

Rays & Hugs to you both hope Porky is feeling betters everyday. Buddy also had a sore on his gum said it might be a Histoma ? they removed most of it sent it off to be biopsy have not heard yet he had it done on the 16th. They usually can biopsy really tiny stuff there was an article in dog Fancy magazine some time back about mouth tumors.Hope Porky's biopsy's come back clean.

Roberta · November 18, 2011, 10:52:10 PM

my my you all have had a bad time, here to a happier 2012. He sounds like a brave little trroper. Our lot all sleep more for a few days after they have a general. Hope you manage some sleep.
Roberta and the gang sending rays.

Merion · November 19, 2011, 12:25:04 AM

We will be praying hard that they are not malignant. Hope you all get a good nights sleep tonight!!

Merion & Zena

Kelly · November 19, 2011, 06:06:32 PM

Rays heading your way from all of us !

Leslie · November 21, 2011, 06:11:06 PM

Quote from: Mike on November 18, 2011, 08:27:10 PM
I glad to see Porky is improving and will send rays that this continues AND that the tumors don't return.

all that and holy cr@p! Hope you are all on the upswing now. wow. Poor little dude and poor mom, too!

from Pennsylvania.

papbouv · November 21, 2011, 10:06:07 PM

More Rays & Hugs to Porky,Patches

vferraro99 · November 25, 2011, 12:58:30 PM

I'm so sorry I missed this post. Poor little Porky, and poor you. Sending tons of rayz for both (you for some sleep, and Porky that the tumors are not melanoma).