Mandy's Bad Beak Sickies

***Kinda yucky pics- skip this post if you are really squeamish)

Mandy is my pretty little (ok not that little really) foster sister. She is here at the Moose Lodge while momma helps her find a forever home. Lots of you have asked if she is staying but the answer is No! I would love a brother or sister to play with but momma says she can't manage another doggie full time so now she is just fostering from time to time for Lab Rescue of Florida. Plus if I were to approve of a full time sibling it would HAVE to be one who played with me instead of ignoring me and snuggling up to momma 24/7! So no she is not staying but while she is here me and momma are treating her like a full fledged resident. 

Canine Acanthotmatous Ameloblastoma

So you can imagine how scared momma was when she got up and discovered our Mandy girl's beak was bleeding! Momma had noticed a mass on her gums and had an appointment scheduled for next week but now she was dripping blood on the floor and walls and momma freaked out! So off she goes to the vet! 

Mandy got pictures of her insides and poked and prodded for a few hours and came staggering home to wait until some of the stuff the vet stole from her gets looked at by some other vets. So I asked momma to cut to the chase already and tell me what was wrong with her and she said it is probably Canine Acanthomatous Ameloblastoma (CAA) which is apparently a big fancy word that means bad beak sickies. So Mandy is going to a surgeon soon to have this done (warning- really graphic pics- not for the squeamish!). It looks really scary to me but momma has read that most doggies do just fine with after having part of their jaw removed. So as long as they don't find anything more serious and no troubles come up in surgery then she will be ok but we are still worried and kinda sad for her. Momma says that it is hard to find homes for older doggies but it is even harder when the seem less than perfect. 

In case you are worried that she is having trouble eating you need to watch this video (taken with Momma's cel phone). Mandy is getting soft food and momma wanted to feed her slowly since she was still a little loopy from the vet. Momma feeds me from metal spoons and forks (because I am a sophisticated labradog) all the time but luckily she decided to use a soft spoon for Mandy... Yikes! If you turn up your speakers you can hear a whooshing sound as hoovers it in!

Mandy's gums are receding and swollen. In one place her
furs collect in the pockets and only make things worse!

The other thing we want to say about this is that Mandy apparently came from a 'home' where no one cared for her teeth (or any other part of her) and this condition is no coincidence! These tumors are associated with chronic gingivitis or other underlying periodontal disease (though they can happen for other reasons too). So please please let your people brush your teeth! I know it is weird but they are just trying to help. I am not very cooperative, I admit so momma gets discouraged but makes up for it with an annual dental cleaning. I went to the vet the other day and vet lady said I had 'beautiful chompers' but momma is still going to brush them more so they will stay that way. 

Here I am showing off my 'Beautiful Chompers'

Note from Momma- I have been pretty lazy about toothbrushing before Mandy got here and I think part of the reason was that it did not seem like I was doing any good but dealing with Mandy has made me read up on it and now I understand better. Brushing is good to clean the teeth but the most important thing is to clean around the gumline just like with people. I also read that the outer surface of the upper teeth/gums is the most important part to get to because their tongues do ok on the inner surfaces. Luckily this is the easier more accessible part to brush so even if that is all you can do it is a big help! Moose has gotten 2 dental cleanings in the 3 years I have had him but they both happened when he needed another procedure that required anesthesia. As he is getting older I am not crazy about the idea of putting him under solely for the purposes of a dental cleaning so maybe brushing will mean that we can go longer between cleanings I am learning that the risk of poor oral hygiene is not trivial in the least and should be considered when you are weighing the risk of anesthesia. Also the more you brush them the more they will get used to it and the more likely that you will notice if unhealthy changes to their mouth crop up so things like this can be caught early! Here are some very helpful tips on how to do it right. You need to do it everyday to reverse gingivitis but I have read 3x a week is enough to maintain already 'beautiful chompers'! I say every little bit helps though...

Important Update: I was wrong about the initialy diagnosis, Read the full update here!