Hi,

We brought our 6 month old shih-poo to a vet clinic yesterday to have
her teeth looked at (we knew she had some baby teeth that had not
fallen out yet). The vet put her under, took xrays and then talked to
my wife about the results The he proceeded to remove 17 teeth. 5 were
baby teeth that hadn't fallen out, and the other 12 were adult teeth.
The 12 adult teeth we
- 6 top incisors - he said they were causing sores to her soft tissue
as she has an undershot jaw)
- 2 bottom incisors - he said he needed to make space for the other
bottom incisors
- 2 molars on top, 1 on each side (he claimed lack of bone support)
- 2 molars on the bottom, 1 on each side (he claimed they were
deformed)

Does that sound completely insane? Is this a common practice? Was the
vet wrong in doing so?

I can't get over the feeling that the vet was trigger happy, at the
expense of our helpless little puppy.

Sadly,
Bubba

Bubba wrote:

Hi,

We brought our 6 month old shih-poo to a vet clinic yesterday to have
her teeth looked at (we knew she had some baby teeth that had not
fallen out yet). The vet put her under, took xrays and then talked to
my wife about the results The he proceeded to remove 17 teeth. 5 were
baby teeth that hadn't fallen out, and the other 12 were adult teeth.
The 12 adult teeth we
- 6 top incisors - he said they were causing sores to her soft tissue
as she has an undershot jaw)
- 2 bottom incisors - he said he needed to make space for the other
bottom incisors
- 2 molars on top, 1 on each side (he claimed lack of bone support)
- 2 molars on the bottom, 1 on each side (he claimed they were
deformed)

Does that sound completely insane? Is this a common practice? Was the
vet wrong in doing so?

I can't get over the feeling that the vet was trigger happy, at the
expense of our helpless little puppy.


Probably not. Poorly-bred little dogs can have some horrible dental
issues and chances are your poor puppy's breeder did little or no health
testing of the parents before creating him. I've seen small and
toy-sized dogs who were literally biting their palates every time they
closed their mouths. And some dogs (little ones, especially) seem to
have a tendency to excessive tartar formation.

Talk to your vet and educate yourself about how to keep your pup's
remaining teeth healthy. For a dog with a problem mouth this may
include daily brushing.

Kathleen