[sadieandbelle]

To make a long story very short, our 6yr old BLAB (beagle/lab) was diagnosed with a tooth abscess this afternoon.

The vet suggested that her right-top carnassial tooth will likely need to come out, which would involve some pretty extensive oral surgery, resulting in a hefty bill. Now, if you look hard enough, you can always find money to care for the health of family members so while the vet bill isn't my biggest concern, the risks of putting my dog under general anesthesia worry me.

So, here's the plan of action, which my vet agreed upon:

1) give Sadie a week's worth of oral meds (doggy ibuprofin for inflamation reduction and an antibiotic).
2) see if the swollen spot under her eye (which is essentially a puss bubble resulting from the abscess/root infection) subsides or goes away
3) if the swelling from the abscess remains or returns, discuss surgical excission.

Now, to my question:

Is it an absolute fact of life that dogs with this condition need oral surgery in the end, no matter how the symptoms are treated? If so, am I simply prolonging the inevitable by medicating her on the front end instead of going through with operation asap??

Please advise-

Ryan

[Yogi]

in the case you describe, the meds and time to let them do their job is essential to avoid blood poisoning which in the end could be fatal. Anti-inflamatories as well as antibiotics will always be done before just going in and pulling it. If you do not follow up and have the tooth removed as recommended, over time the problem will only get worse increasing the odds of blood poisoning.

[sadieandbelle]

Thanks for responding.