The DeToothing of Willie

When I first brought Willie into the family, he was about 5 yrs old, approximately 7 lbs, totally neurotic, and because of some unknown abuse was found with broken teeth that had to be surgically removed. That was almost 7 years ago. Since then, his demolition of hard foods and chew bones has never once been limited, and he has played up his charming little lisp to win the hearts of all he meets. Last year, due to the onset of hair-curling bad breath, I brought Willie to the vet for a teeth cleaning. After a year's worth of complications and just plain poor veterinary care, Willie's severe periodontal disease was successfully conquered this past Tuesday. We received a recommendation from a new, and might we say awesome, vet at our local animal hospital for dental expertise at the Center for Veterinary Dentistry in Gaithersburg, MD. It seems that because of the severity of damage to his teeth and gums, and the potential for his fragile jawbone to fracture during treatment, these folks were THE people to see. Post-treatment, I am in whole-hearted agreement. When his blood-sugar crashed, they caught it immediately and added dextrose to his IV. When his blood pressure rose too high, they stabilized him right away. In between monitoring his vitals and treating them as necessary,taking x-rays and pictures, they also removed 12 teeth that had progressed beyond salvage. TWELVE TEETH! I didn't even think he had twelve teeth in his little head! They called me when the surgery was complete with an update, and again a few hours later when he woke up. I brought him home around 2pm, and he groaned and cried for the next few days as he recovered. They gave me plenty of drugs to ward off infection and keep the pain as tolerable as possible, but for such a little guy, the trauma still rocked his world.

He stayed just like this for about 2 full days, and then his eyes cleared and I could see him getting back to his old self. Today, 5 days later, he is almost completely back to normal. The stitches are dissolving, his appetite his back in full force, and he's even started munching a piece of hard food here and there. He was able to retain his molars and 3 of the 4 canines, so he should be crunching up a storm in the very near future.
He doesn't seem to mind that his tongue now slips out of his mouth and just hangs there. Nor does it make much difference to him that his lisp is now extremely pronounced. He is well on his way to full and successful recovery, and I attribute much of that to the absolute phenomenal care he received from both vets. The rest is all him - he may be detoothed, but he cannot be deterred...