Collapsed Trachea and upcoming dental cleaning

Hello! Yesterday, my chihuahua/shih tzu mix went to the vet clinic where she had bloodwork and X-rays done. During this visit, it was found out she has a collapsing trachea and an infection in her bloodstream. Was given butorphanol/val syrup for her cough to be given twice a day and clindamycin (also twice a day) for her infection. It is suspected due to her teeth that she has an infection. She will be seen again in 10 days/when she is done with her medication and they will then check her bloodwork to make sure she is good to go for her dental cleaning which would be done same day if everything is okay. I’m so anxious 😣😣 Has anyone else had experience with a 13 years old dog who has collapsed trachea going under for a dental? What should I expect? Should it be safe? She only mostly coughs when she’s excited like when I’m about to walk her or when she hears her food bag being opened. Also, how about the infection? She also has periodontal disease and one of her teeth fell out Sunday.

Hello - I'm sorry that your dog is having a topsy-turvy time and it's reasonable to be concerned.  Nobody can tell you that any operation is risk-free.  However, dogs are generally intubated during dentals ie a tube is put down the airway to keep it patent, so a collapsing trachea is rarely a huge issue.  If a dog absolutely can't be intubated when the moment comes eg if there is an undiscovered lump lower down, I have known vets to have to use a trochar (make a hole in the neck) to keep the airway patent.  However, the need for this is extremely rare.  Circulating bacteria can be a concern - for instance, if they get into the bloodstream - but it sounds as though your vet has taken the steps of giving antibiotics in advance to help to avoid this.  Older dogs sometimes have underlying illnesses it is often suggested that fluids are given in situation like this for extra circarory support.  We hope that everything goes well for you and your dog.

Correction:  *circulatory* support

Hello! Okay, so she’s almost done with her medication and should have her dental sometime soon. I unfortunately found myself on Reddit and read a couple of  horror stories where seemingly perfectly healthy dogs passed away between 24 hours to a week of having their teeth extracted due to the infection flowing into the bloodstream or how those extractions caused the dogs’ jaw to break which also ended up with the same outcome. How often does this happen in reality? How do I prevent these from happening to my baby?

Hello - this is a good question for your vet because some vets actually log the outcomes of their surgeries and could tell you.    However, in my experience, the risk of infection being released round the body can be minimised by, for example, putting the patient on fluids and / or giving antibiotics in advance.  As for broken jaws, well..... the risk of your dog being in pain and suffering because of their mouth is likely to be infinitely higher than the risk of the dentist breaking the jaw while operating. Yes, broken jaws have happened more than once in the history of animal dentistry.  But it would, perhaps, be comprable to not taking a child to school, because some children have been hit by cars on their way to school, before.  Most parents take the child to school anyway and cross the road with their kids, teach their kids to stop, look and listen or use the crossing.  Similarly, vets put a lot of work into reducing surgical risks for our patients.  No vet wants to cause more suffering to their patients - or we wouldnt be doing our job.  Rather, we are trained to uantify risk and a chat about the risks, in ypur pets' specific case, can therefore be helpful.  I hope that this helps a little.

... oops my apologies.  Try again. We are trained to QUantify risks and talking through the risks and the steps that are being taken by your vet to avoid such risks, can be helpful.