# Carnassial Tooth abscess - please help!



## r-tist-4-u (Jun 17, 2010)

Hi All! I have found much good info here and this is my second post (I hope I'm doing it right) 
My Sweet Pip has a big problem! In the last 2 weeks he has yelped the odd time but I could not figure out why. I had thought it was his ear so I took a look and did a good cleaning. He was due for his rabies shot so I took him in. 

He has a lump on his cheek (was only slightly visible on day of appointment) and it has now grown a bit more in the last day. I've read up on the whole extraction procedure etc, but I'm just very nervous as it not scheduled til 3 days from now. The Vet wanted to have him on antibiotics first for a while. They even said it may poke through the cheek bone and burst out!!!! How aweful is that?!?!

I searched and saw no discussion on the issue. Does anyone have any advice for me? Pip's being very stoic but I did notice him hiding under the chair more. He had a pretty messed up tooth situation when I got him, many baby teeth were still in next to adult teeth. I think they pulled a dozen when he was neutered. So I can imagine his mouth is a bit messed up. He is not yet 4, and don't want him to suffer from this! I almost felt like I was being scolded for his tooth situation. But he does not like to chew much because teeth are in odd directions. 

I will definitely have to watch more closer after (doing a complete cleaning as well = most of the cost)

POOR Pip!


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## Beau's mom (Oct 6, 2011)

Awwww. Poor Pip. He's a real cutie. Can you ask the vet about pain medications?


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## r-tist-4-u (Jun 17, 2010)

He is on pain meds now as well. Part of the procedure involves a nerve block for comfort when he wakes up. I'd say he is only acting about 5% different than normal. Thanks for the concern...


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## sandypaws (Aug 8, 2012)

Sorry to hear about Pip's problem and discomfort. Can't help you with any advice regarding the matter but hope that everything works out for him and he recovers quickly. It's so tough to see our guys not feeling themselves.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

r-tist-4-u said:


> Hi All! I have found much good info here and this is my second post (I hope I'm doing it right)
> My Sweet Pip has a big problem! In the last 2 weeks he has yelped the odd time but I could not figure out why. I had thought it was his ear so I took a look and did a good cleaning. He was due for his rabies shot so I took him in.
> 
> He has a lump on his cheek (was only slightly visible on day of appointment) and it has now grown a bit more in the last day. I've read up on the whole extraction procedure etc, but I'm just very nervous as it not scheduled til 3 days from now. The Vet wanted to have him on antibiotics first for a while. They even said it may poke through the cheek bone and burst out!!!! How aweful is that?!?!
> ...


They probably meant that the abscess could break through his gum... I can't see how it could go through bone, but there is a small space where the root of the tooth goes into the jaw bone, and an abscess can open and start to drain there. This actually happened to me once, and was the ONLY way I realized I had an abscess... I had no pain at all leading up to it, or after it happened.

I suspect that if it DID open up and start to drain, the pressure would be off and he'd feel better. In the mean time, as others have said, if he seems to be in pain, talk to the vet about it. They can probably give him something for the pain, to tide him over until his surgery.


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## Pipersmom (Jul 27, 2009)

Poor Pip! That sounds awful, I hope he"ll be ok until it gets fixed. 


Sent from my iPhone using PG Free


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## r-tist-4-u (Jun 17, 2010)

THANKS for all the kind words! 

It happened! All of a sudden, while we were outside, he scratched his cheek, yelped and some bloody watery stuff squirted down his leg and to the ground. After, he was pretty normal, just trying to clean himself up. I wiped off his leg, but he still won't let me touch his cheek. It did come out of his cheek, not his mouth. Then he went on his way accompanying me around the garden. Really quite astonishing. I posted a pic in an album of mine. I'll keep you posted. 

I'm feeling odd, that no one else has had this. I fuss with him alot, clean his face, trim him by hand with thinning sheers, so I am amazed that I did not find the problem earlier. From first yelp to burst was only about a week. Scary!


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## RitaandRiley (Feb 27, 2012)

He should feel better now that the infection has started to drain, that will alleviate the pressure. And yes, a tooth abcess can work it's way through the jaw bone. Keep it clean so it will continue to drain.


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

That is impressive, and scary for you,I sure. Poor guy--but I bet he feels better now. Good thing he's already on antibiotics.


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## HavaneseSoon (Nov 4, 2008)

Antibiotics and keep the area clean. Follow up with Vet to see if anything else can be done. The abscess is open, so now the wound can start healing. Is there a tooth that needs to be pulled?


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## r-tist-4-u (Jun 17, 2010)

He's pretty comfortable now. Tomorrow he goes in for the extraction of that big carnassial tooth. It's their biggest tooth. And they will do a complete cleaning. They will sew a flap of gum over the hole, otherwise it would be hard to keep it clean. He's pretty protective of the mouth right now. And he's always had pretty foul breath. I'll have to look into how to keep it fresh in there...


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## Beau's mom (Oct 6, 2011)

Good luck tomorrow, Pip!


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## r-tist-4-u (Jun 17, 2010)

So, I heard from the Vet. He was awake and recovering by 10:30. YA!! But the pulled 10 teeth!!!!! OMG, I didn't know he could spare that many! Googling taught me that dogs have 42. 

But still, how does this happen?! Believe me, his tartar was not that bad at all. At last years check there was no warning. I am wondering if it was just a slow progression of bacteria etc from when he had about a dozen teeth pulled (baby) that had not wanted to come out naturally. It must have left a bunch of holes, and I was not informed to flush his mouth or anything. Some baby ones were next to the adult ones. So that made some come in a bit crooked. He will be 4 in November, so he is young. I've even used a gel that is supposed to help remove tartar. 

The blood test also showed some level of the albumin to be off... I'm hoping that it was the teeth. He's quite the healthy pup, walks twice a day, even in winter with his boots and jacket!

THANKS, pick up in 2 hours...


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Do you brush his teeth regularly? If not, you probably want to start, to save the rest of his teeth!


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## r-tist-4-u (Jun 17, 2010)

Oh, I plan to figure out something. It ended up NOT being the carnassial tooth, thank goodness!! It was most of the small molars behind it. I have them, they are pretty small. So I guess that is good, no flap of gum had to be sewn over what would have been a huge hole. Since cheek is shaved, it looks worse, but should dry and heal better. 

Thanks for the concern...


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Hope he's feeling as good as new SOON!!!


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## MarinaGirl (Mar 25, 2012)

Poor Pip. Glad to hear he's on the mend.


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## r-tist-4-u (Jun 17, 2010)

It's three days later... He seems more perky. Even though it's 39˚C here. He's even making up his own fetching games, which I had not seen for a while. Lesson: watch your dog so closely! They only alter their activity in a minor way when something is up, not like us we are such 'sucks' when we are having an issue... ;-)


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