Shiva's Dental Expenses

     After having to leave her alone for an extended period of time (For her separation anxiety, that means anything over a few hours), she attempted to escape her kennel/run by trying to rip the door off the deck (which was literally bolted down). In doing so, she broke 2 canines and damaged many other teeth. This was the most obvious damage that I saw:

     I spent several days researching to find a good veterinary dental surgeon. Because Shiva is more than 9 years old, and had never been under anesthesia before, I needed a vet with comprehensive anesthesia protocols. I found that in Windsor Veterinary & Dental Services, just over an hour away in Windsor, VT. Initially, I had an appointment for June 20th, but Wed, April 25th, just the day after I made that appointment, they called me to offer an appointment the next day due to a cancellation. It was very short notice, and they agreed to waive the referral requirement and do her pre-surgery blood work there instead of having our primary vet do it in advance.

     The next day, I drove her to Windsor. It was there, after she passed all her blood work and radiographs were taken, that I learned just how bad her teeth were.

     Going through 2 long-term heartworm treatments weakened her teeth. She spent cumulatively 2 years off and on doxycycline, which caused a lot of nausea, in turn causing a lot of foliage chewing to wear her teeth down. Additionally, she was struck by a vehicle in the face about the time she turned 2 years old. This may have slightly misaligned her dentition, causing wear in places not designed to take so much stress. She also chipped a canine in that accident.

    The radiographs laid out a dim story of that long term damage: all 4 canine teeth were dead, 2 of those canines were broken off from the recent attempt on the gate; all of her lower incisors, and several molars on each side were also dead. The vet was surprised, in spite of massively evident wear and tear, that her upper incisors appeared to still be alive. More of her teeth were dead than live. However, there was some good news in that her gums were completely free of gum disease, she had very little plaque and tartar buildup, and that she hadn't lost any of the bone her teeth were seated in.

BEFORE PHOTOS:



     I had decisions to make. The surgeon could only work on 2 canines per day if I wanted to save them with root canals. Because 85% of jaw integrity rests on the roots of the lower canines, removing them would put her at a very increased risk to break her jaw in the future. With her having a clean mouth, she would be at a lower risk of infection following a dead and broken tooth into her jaw if I had just 2 root canals that day and waited on the rest of the work. Unfortunately, the broken canines (one upper and one lower) were on opposite sides, making them very difficult, if not impossible, to do the same day, as they would have to keep flipping her over at each step to get the opposite tooth.

     So I chose the slightly worse broken canine (bottom left) and it's upper companion to get root canals that day. The upper right broken canine, in the photo above, would be much easier for me to see to monitor its condition while we saved up for more surgeries. That surgery, including the consultation, radiographs, and blood tests, came out to a total of $2,867.82. 

AFTER PHOTOS: (left upper and lower canine root canals, cleaning)

     In the future, she will need at least one additional root canal on her other bottom canine, and either a root canal or an extraction on the other upper canine. She will also need all the rest of the dead teeth in her mouth extracted. I expect the remaining work to amount to a minimum of $4,000.

Shiva is my heart dog. She means a great deal to me. She was a feral 3 month old puppy when I, a stupid 18 year old kid, bought her from a backyard breeder. It was years later before I found out that he set pups that didn't sell loose in the forest. I was in a bad state of mind when I got her, I was on the edge. But I saw her and I never looked back. She needed me, she needed a home. She took me on a roller coaster of a ride as I gained her trust and helped her get over her terror of humans. I showed her that the world was bigger than the tiny pen  she came from. I lost skin, blood, sweat, and tears leash training her, not the mention the frustration of house training her. I went through tier after tier of foods until I found what worked for her.

     She taught me how to repair fences, how to secure my trash, how to hide my food. She helped me raise kittens, fight off raccoons, and she told me what I couldn't see hiding in the dark just by the tension of her leash. She helped me watch over my grandmother as she was failing, and knew every turn the car would make to her house. She stood with me between a guy high on who knew what and grandma's front door, a dog terrified of humans, holding her ground with me to keep our grandma safe. I cried when I turned toward the river for a walk, but she was looking out the other side anticipating grandma, and I knew she would never see grandma again. And the single, absolute, most important thing she taught me, was that I needed to look inside myself. She showed me every failing I had, every frustration, lack of patience, anger, ego... all of it. In order to help her, I had to deal with my own shit. She saved me as much as I saved her, and I will not fail her now!

     I initially planned on selling our truck to pay for expenses, but my mother knew we needed both vehicles, and offered to let me use her credit card to cover Shiva's procedure, as our care credit card is maxed out on our other dog's surgery. I am very grateful for her help, but we are on a single income, have other pets, and other bills to pay. I do not want to leave her with our bill should we miss a payment, and interest can be brutal. This bill is also only a fraction of what the total cost will be to do everything that needs done in her mouth. 2 more root canals for her other canines alone will be $2,400, plus at least 12 extractions. She has a high pain tolerance, but it will be a very long time before we can pay off our current bill and save up for the next procedure.  I'm doing what I can with clove oil and CBD to mitigate her discomfort.

     Any help would be greatly appreciated. Every penny gets her a little closer to her next surgery, and closer to being in less pain. Shiva means the world to me, and anyone helping her would make me profoundly grateful!

All funds collected will go toward paying her current bill. Any excess will go into a savings account until her next surgery is scheduled, then go toward that.

The following photos are her radiographs for anyone that knows how to read them, so you can see all the dead teeth that need future extractions, and some show the root canals: