Bone shred stuck in roof of mouth

[wildo]

So we ALL know to monitor our dogs when they are chewing on bones and whatnot. This is nothing new. And I was monitoring Pimg. But somehow, all of a sudden she started acting like she was choking. She would start pawing at her mouth and yawning and the whole deal.

I looked in there and didn't see anything. My initial thought was that she got a piece of antler chew stuck in the bridge of her mouth- just like the stories we hear about sticks getting lodged up there. But I didn't see anything. So I ran my fingers down the both sides of her gums and didn't feel anything. She's starting to get kinda frantic now, so I decide I better stick my finger down her mouth and try to feel for something at the back of her mouth. (Not sure if this is a good idea, but I bet every single one of you would do the same thing if you thought your dog was choking on something.) Didn't feel anything there either.

So then I thought that maybe some water might wash "whatever" down. Well she wouldn't take a drink. When she acted like she was going to take a drink, I kept hearing this crunching sound in her mouth. Clearly something was in there, but for the life of me I just couldn't see anything. So to the emergency vet we go...

He tells me I did everything exactly right. He would do (and did do) the same thing. Still nothing. So he decides to do the "poor man's diagnoses" and fetches a bowl of water to see if she'd take a drink. While he was getting that I kept looking around in her mouth. I'm not sure if it was because between the 10mins she started acting up and I got to the emergency vet her mouth dried up or what, but there it was- plain as day. A bone sherd lodged in the roof of her mouth. It was in there deep too- about 3/16". He came back in the room and I excitedly said, "I found it!"

Using some hemostats, we pulled this out of Pimg's mouth:


Moral of the story- we all know to monitor bones/chews, but an issue might not be immediately apparent. Be sure to watch for weird signs shortly after they are done with the bone.

(Luckily, he didn't charge me a visit fee. Very nice of him, especially since Pimg heads to our real vet tomorrow morning for a leg xray...)

[RocketDog]

Whew. Close call. Rocket just "finished" with his almost nightly bone. I will be sure to monitor more closely and think of you.

Nice about not charging you.

[Germanshepherdlova]

Thanks for the warning.

An emergency vet that didn't charge a fee? I am shocked. I took my dog to the emergency vet one night and he wanted $10,000 to do an emergency scrotal ablation on my dog. I told him I'd wait for my vet to do it the following day. Then he charged me $150 because he had looked at my dogs swollen testicle sack for a couple seconds and then prescribed antibiotic. I told my vet the next day how much he wanted to charge for the surgery and she couldn't believe it.

This emergency vet you went to must be a nice guy with a true love for animals.

[wildo]

Originally Posted by Germanshepherdlova

This emergency vet you went to must be a nice guy with a true love for animals.

That's what they say about the guy. I had taken Pimg to his clinic in the past when I was searching for a new vet. Perhaps it was because I was there first thing in the morning or something, but he seemed a bit scared of Pimg and overall aloof and distant. I was not impressed at all. You know what they say- first impressions are SO important. Especially when you are asking people to come back to your business.

But yeah, last night I got a totally different impression. Seemed like a nice guy for sure.