One Planet Rescue

OPR’s Edie desperately needs our help. Edie came to us back in May of 2019. San Jose Animals Advocates reached out to us because Edie was scheduled to be euthanized. She was a large-breed, extremely scared dog who was owner surrendered at the San Jose Animal Care Center. Thanks to Filomena Farms, who has fostered senior dogs from us in the past, we saved Edie and soon learned she needed TPLO surgery. Thousands of dollars later, we moved this sweet girl to a foster home in Burlingame, where she now calls home. On January 29, when Edie’s mom Charlotte was brushing her, she noticed that Edie had horrible bad breath that smelled like decaying flesh. Our vet, Dr. Tabai of Oceana Pet Hospital, was able to see Edie the next day. Dr. Tabai found that Edie’s gums on the bottom left side of her mouth looked like they were rotting, with patches of dead flesh, and the gums were no longer attached to the jawbone. They took several X-rays and photos of the area. Edie also was given two IVs with antibiotics, and they sent her home with two types of antibiotics, two types of pain relievers, and an antibiotic mouth rinse. During the follow-up the next week, Edie’s gums looked much better, but the gums were still totally detached from the jawbone. Dr. Tabai suggested they take Edie to a dental specialist at UC Davis due to the dental problem being so complicated. They met with the UC Davis specialist, who suggested that Edie’s jawbone had died and said she needed to order a CT scan, blood work, and possibly other tests to be able to make a definitive diagnosis and prognosis for Edie. The doctor recommended surgery and started by extracting three rotten teeth and cleaning all of Edie’s teeth to get rid of most of the really bad bacteria. Then she scraped off the dead top part of the jawbone until she hit blood (which indicates that bone is living). She then took the cleaned gums (both front and back of jawbone) and stitched them together over the bone. She’s hoping there’s no more dead bone, but can’t be sure. If there is, it will cause another infection and the surgery would have to be repeated with more bone taken off. She did the least aggressive surgery based on what she found. Edie went back for the 10-day follow-up earlier this week. The doctor was pleased with the results. Charlotte and her husband George had taken out funds from their retirement plan to do some house renovations, but with the recent bills that stacked up for Edie, they’ve had to put that plan aside. We’re hoping we can help them with Edie’s vet bills, so they can continue with their house project and continue to give Edie TLC. Charlotte and George have been an amazing foster family for OPR for the last several years, including caring for our blind hospice dog Bono, who some of you may remember. Thank you for opening your hearts and helping us to help Edie and her family. Together we CAN make a difference!