Lily, the sixteen-week-old beagle is the most adorable puppy! She was adopted from Dogs Trust by her owner, Kate, when she was just eight weeks old as a little rescue puppy. Despite a less-than-ideal start in life, Lily was lucky enough to be on a better path, having received her first round of vaccinations, worming, and a forever home with Kate, and all seemed to be going well…
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It had taken a couple of weeks for Kate and Lily to get used to each other, but they were already best friends. Lily was already well-known in their local veterinary clinic. She had charmed everyone when she visited the clinic for her second round of puppy vaccinations and worming at twelve weeks of age. Kate had previously adopted adult dogs, so this was her first time owning a puppy. This meant there was lots to get used to; including toilet training, crate training, and getting Lily used to walking on a lead. Kate knew that teething puppies would try and get their teeth into almost anything; so had been careful to supervise Lily when she was playing with her toys and exploring her new home.
Unfortunately, disaster struck one morning
Lily was playing with a new toy and got too excited and banged the side of her mouth on the kitchen wall. Usually a very social and cuddly puppy, suddenly Lily was howling, tilting her head to one side, and wouldn’t let Kate anywhere near her mouth. There was no blood, but Kate was extremely worried that Lily might have badly hurt her mouth.
Kate phoned the veterinary clinic in a panic to explain what had happened. The clinic’s receptionist was kind and reassuring towards Kate. And they advised the best thing to do would be to get Lily in for an emergency check-up with the vet. The receptionist advised they had an emergency consult slot available in the diary that morning and to bring Lily down to the clinic right away.
When they arrived at the vet, Lily was a little more settled. However, her mouth was still very sore, and she was very out of sorts. Kate was also concerned that one side of Lily’s lip was swollen-looking. The clinic’s vet examined Lily while the Registered Veterinary Nurse (RVN) comforted Lily and provided some much-needed distraction from her sore mouth.
The vet advised that Lily would benefit from a pain relief injection before looking more closely at her mouth.
The vet explained this was an opioid-based medication that might make Lily slightly sleepy but would make her much more comfortable for the examination. Kate consented to this as she didn’t want poor Lily to be in pain.
With the pain relief injection on board, Lily was much more comfortable. She allowed the vet and RVN to fully examine her mouth. The vet found that Lily had broken one of her upper canine teeth. And her lip above the tooth was quite swollen from the impact of hitting the kitchen wall. Kate was understandably upset, but the vet empathised that accidents happen. Kate had done the right thing by bringing Lily straight to the veterinary clinic for care.
Fractured right by the gum
The vet advised that Lily’s broken tooth was one of her baby teeth (also called deciduous teeth) and had broken very near to the gum. This meant that the tooth’s inner parts (called the tooth pulp and nerve) were exposed, which was why Lily was in such pain. The vet explained that even though Lily would eventually lose this baby tooth when her adult canine tooth erupted, it would be best to surgically remove the baby tooth as soon as possible. The vet explained that this was because Lily’s broken tooth would be at high risk of becoming infected. Because the unerupted adult tooth and this broken baby tooth share the same socket in Lily’s mouth, there was also the risk that her broken baby tooth could potentially affect her adult tooth as it descended when Lily got older.
Kate agreed that it would be best to get Lily’s broken baby tooth removed as soon as possible; but was worried about this sudden unexpected cost. The clinic’s Customer Care Advisor (CCA) had a chat with Kate while the vet did an estimate of the cost of the treatment. The CCA advised that Kate had signed up for six weeks of pet insurance when Lily had gotten her second round of puppy vaccinations. This insurance policy was still active and covered emergency treatment for Lily.
With the help of the CCA, Kate filled out a pre-authorisation form for the emergency dental treatment for Lily.
In good news, the pre-authorisation application was approved within a couple of hours. Lily was booked in for her emergency dental procedure the following morning. The vet explained what would happen during the procedure. Lily would have a pre-anaesthetic blood test performed in the morning time to ensure she had normal kidney and liver function. This pre-anaesthesia blood test would help ensure that the anaesthesia drugs that Lily would receive could be broken down by her body and excreted in her urine by her kidneys.
If the pre-anaesthesia blood test was clear, Lily would have general anaesthesia; which would allow the vet to take radiographs (x-rays) of Lily’s teeth to assess how best to remove the broken baby tooth, as well as post-extraction radiographs to ensure that every part of the broken tooth had been removed. The vet explained that there was a risk with all general anaesthesia procedures. But that Lily would be closely monitored at all times by the clinic’s RVN. As well as receive good pain relief medication during the procedure.
The vet prescribed some pain relief medication for Lily’s owner to give her on her food that evening. And recommended that she soften her dry food with warm water so she could eat her dinner easily that night. The vet advised that Lily should fast from midnight and that Kate should send in some food for Lily to eat after her procedure, as it is important that puppies do not go too long without eating.
The morning of the procedure arrived
Kate dropped Lily off at the veterinary clinic. The RVN went through the consent forms with Kate and assured her they would phone her as soon as Lily had recovered from the procedure. Kate was worried for Lily but also knew she would be well cared for in the veterinary clinic. Happily, Lily’s pre-anaesthetic blood test showed that she had normal kidney and liver function .And her procedure to remove the broken tooth went smoothly.
Lily was a much happier puppy when she came around from her general anaesthesia. Her painful, broken tooth was gone. She tucked into the packed lunch of her puppy food with great enthusiasm!
Kate was delighted to be reunited with her beloved puppy that afternoon
Lily was back to her usual happy self already! The RVN discussed how to keep Lily comfortable as her mouth healed over the next week. Lily went home with some more pain relief medications. And Kate continued to soften her breakfast, lunch, and dinner meals with warm water to allow her mouth to heal.
When Lily visited the clinic two days later for a post-operative check-up. Her gum was healing really nicely and there had been no complications. Ten days after this, Lily was able to have the stitches removed from her gum, as the surgery site was all healed up. And she was able to enjoy her puppy food without having it softened with warm water.
Kate was really relieved that Lily had received such prompt care and recovered so well. She was also very glad that she had taken out the six weeks of puppy insurance and decided that she would continue to keep the policy active. She hoped that Lily would not need to use her insurance again. But decided it was best to make sure she was covered for any future trouble she might get into!
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