Zeus’s breath has been kickin’ for a few weeks and I knew he needed a dental. I gave him some bright bites(didn’t help) and a few meaty bones (did help)I thought things were ok. At his last appointment his teeth were in perfect shape. well… now the stank is bad and he keeps smacking his lips which drives me batty! So i got into his mouth and it looked bad and thought he needs a dental pretty badly. I think… ehh I will get it done in a few weeks when i stop spending so much time outside. Well… i look again last night and he is fighting me and I can tell it hurts. Then OMG his top back molar on both sides are basically disintegrating and will have to come out. WTF it happened sooo fast. So I called the vet last night and made an appointment with the vet for Thursday to have a dental and the extractions. I also took him in this morning to get some antibiotics for the infection before the surgery. I also discussed a little irritable bowel symptoms.

Since his irritable bowel symptoms are somewhat mild and appear to be related to over stimulation (over excitement at the park for instance) she suggested that I dose him with Maalox the night before, the morning of and the night of any dog park visits.  And also to add some probiotocs (plain yogurt usually does the trick for most dogs, but he is very sensitive to yogurt and will flair up a bout of the squits) to his food to ease his stomach and make sure the normal flora of the gut is in balance (especially with antibiotics).  The titered addition of un-flavored musilex with meals will help for diarrhea AND constipation.  Who knew?!  One additional note regarding the maalox, she noted the use of antibiotics and the maalox should not be taken together at the same sitting.  The maalox will prevent the stomach form absorbing the antibiotic and and an intermittent schedule should be set up.  Zeus gets the antibiotics 2x/ day so he will get maalox in between the doses.

She didn’t feel it was an issue of bad breeding that the same teeth on either side were so bad (and none of the others have any plaque at all). And that some dogs just have some teeth that aren’t formed well during development (just like people). Or a matter of neglect, this has literally happened in a matter of a few weeks… I worry about this because obviously Apollo is from the same mother and I kind of gauge whats to come for him off Zeus.

Other than those two teeth.. he is in great shape has lost some weight.. he’s down to 82 pound from 89 (im quite pleased). I saw a new vet too. The one i used to see at the vet hospital has left and gone to a clinic close to her childhood home and they have rehired a vet that practiced there a while ago. She is a bit older and alot more experienced and is a big advocate of a more homeopathic approach.. I couldn’t be more pleased with my windfall. I was a little upset when i found out i was going to have to see someone new, but I am very pleased with her.