I Wish I'd Looked After My Teeth

When we took on Hubby RC's Uncle's dog, we knew she was old and had not been to a vet regularly. She had lived in a house with two heavy smokers,hardly ever had fresh bedding and due to confusion had not been fed the right amount she had required. She was quite a sad old girl and we thought we would take her home, clean her up,give her a lovely new bed next to the radiator and let her live out her last days well fed and well loved. However, once bathed,brushed and fed she changed. She was more alert, she didn't smell as much and revelled in the squishy softness of her new bed.
  Over the last couple of weeks we noticed that she had started to smell a bit again. She was eating ok, seemed really well but I was concerned so decided to take her to the vet for a check up. Frou was due to have her yearly check and immunisations, so I booked a double appointment for Thursday morning.. Hubby RC took Custard, our labrador for his long walk before he set off for work, so that I could take the two girls for a long walk to the vets in town. Everything was fine on the way down, Frou was quiet in the waiting room,but kept a suspicious eye on the crated cats that were pulling faces at her from their owners' laps. Frou went first and was given a clean bill of health, not even squeaking when she got the needle. Then it was Bryn's turn.
 As soon as Kirsty, our vet was down at eye level with her she could smell her. She gave her a good examination. Bryn had an abcess at the back of her mouth. Kirsty believed it had been there for several months and had just recently burst, hence the smell.Unusually her face had shown no sign of swelling,she had shown no sign of any discomfort when eating, so it had remained undiscovered for some time. When FIL had looked after Bryn, he had become convinced that she could only have soft food and would not allow chewies and hard biscuits, so the food had caked around her teeth causing plaque and decay. A couple of years before she had had to have several teeth removed and he had continued on with the soft food believing that was the right thing to do.So now poor Bryn had to have antibiotics and face another operation on Monday.
 The pills that we were given were what my nan would have called"horse pills",great big enormous things. Twice a day, with or without food, just as long as she takes them, they said. There was a big packet of ham in the fridge at home that I could see coming in handy in my scheme to dupe her into taking them.(I have never been able to do the shove the pill in the back of the throat and hold their mouth shut thing.)My cunning scheme worked,two days in Bryn stopped being smelly,just in time for the wake and didn't seem to question why a whole packet of ham was being generously portioned out to her twice a day.
 Monday,I took her down to the vets early. I felt slightly nervous as general anaesthetic in older dogs can be risky, but this needed to be done for her health. I was told to ring at half past three.Back home, Frou, who never passes up an oppurtunity had taken over Bryn's large bed, assuming I had lost Bryn on a walk. I didn't get to collect Bryn until half past five and assumed she would be groggy and need to come home on the bus. As soon as the rather substantial bill was settled, she proceeded to drag me all the way home, putting as much distance between her and the tooth fairies as possible. They had taken out another five. I did quip to the nurse as I was settling the bill,when she told me how many,"Did you leave her any?"I thought she was only having one out. She did remarkably well to cover that distance after her operation. There was only one moment when she stopped to squat for the toilet that I thought she looked a bit wobbly and might keel over face first in the dirt, but she shook it off and raced for home.
 Today is Thursday and I was again back at the vets for Bryn's first check up since her operation. After three days of soft food, anti-inflammatories and antibiotics, she is once again deemed in perfect health. Hard food can slowly be reintroduced as she has healed so well. Chewies and biscuits a must.We walked home in the pouring rain and this time it was me who wanted a bus, but Bryn was enjoying her walk, so I endured another drenching and headed home where there was a cup of tea with my name on it.