Nine year old Daushund

Question
Hi I'm sending you this message because I am in some trouble. I'm living with my mom and her boyfriend, and her boyfriend has a nine year old Dachshund (Shaq) that is having what seems to be some gum or snout problems. Her boyfriend thinks it's just plaque on his teeth and the vet was gonna charge him 5000$ to have laser plaque removal so he didn't do it. After that he hasn't done anything to help him. It's been months and he really seems to be suffering. He's been vigorously scraping his gums and snout against anything he can rub on #Couches, pillows, carpet, blankets). On top of this his breath is unimaginably disgusting. I really want to help poor shaq but I'm 18 and don't have the money to take him to the vet myself. Is there anything you can suggest that may help my dilemma? Anything info will help thank you

Answer
I have never heard of a vet charging $5000 to work on any dogs teeth, but that doesn't mean some vet out there isn't trying to skin people alive by doing that.

There are plenty of vets out there that do a good dental cleaning for a normal rate. But that rate can be anywhere from $150 to $400, depending on what is done for the dog. When you add in pre-op blood work, which is a good thing to do since this dog probably never has had any good veterinary care, and the anesthetic, plus the cleaning and any teeth that are pulled (they usually just fall out during the cleaning) you are going to be looking at a hefty bill.

But 5 grand is outrageous. He could have a lot more going on then just dirty teeth. Being a Doxie, and because they have those long snouts, what is probably happening is that he has a fistula, or an opening, from his gum right up into his nasal cavity and when he eats, the food ends up in his nose, which is why he is rubbing his muzzle on everything he can. It burns, tingles, etc when the food gets up in there! They get these fistulas from the canine tooth falling out and instead of the hole healing closed, it heals open but it creates a direct tube right up into his nostrils!!

So the poor guy is suffering and his owner is neglecting him which is a criminal offense by the way. He can be charged with animal neglect if this dog is in pain and suffering. Maybe that will motivate him to find a new vet that is more reasonable.

His teeth are probably falling out as well, and that can be very painful. I bet this is a very sweet natured dog as well, and yet he is being made to suffer for no reason at all.

I hope that you can tell your Mom these things and maybe she can motivate him to get this dog to a vet. Otherwise I would have your mom take him. Let her deal with the finances.

I hope that you can get Shaq some help Payden. This is a very sad case of real neglect. One call to the humane society or the ASPCA might wake this man up to his neglect of this dog.

If he treats his own dog this way.. how is he going to treat others around him...???

That's something to think about....