"9408Singapore Chihuahua tooth ache" pet health and welfare educational for animal lovers, excerpts from The Glamorous Vets, Singapore, sponsored by  AsiaHomes Internet.

A Chihuahua in a trance

Almost everyday, for the past few months, Lucky, a male neutered Chihuahua, born in 1984 would go into a trance.  He would be very agitated, roll out his tongue as if he was having a heart attack gasping for breath and recovered within a minute. 

"He would look as if he had been possessed by spirits.  He would hit his cheeks with his front  paws." Mr Hayhurst said. 

His neighbour was a medium and conducted exorcism for all ages of people coming to the apartment.  He had more female clientele.  Young and old ladies would be seated in a group facing the altar while the medium in an orange robe would go into a trance and chanted mantras.  Amongst his clients were ladies who came to ask for spiritual help to get more business.  More referrals meant that the corridor was usually full of devotees and incense smoke wafted throughout the air all day. 

"Could the spirits have migrated to my dog?" Mrs Hayhurst asked.  She was a Chinese lady married to an American expatriate and believed in traditional practices of the Chinese.  "Should I ask the medium to perform exorcism?"

"Don't be silly honey bun," said Mr Hayhurst.  He traveled extensively in his work and had no belief in such nonsense.  The slapping behaviour was however very distressful to the wife as the frequency increased.  It was not funny to see Lucky doing it almost every day. 

However, Lucky would behave normally when he was brought to the veterinarian.

"Could he be having epileptic fits due to kidney failure?" Dr Chua asked herself. Lucky was more than one hundred human equivalent years in age. 

Around 2 months ago, he was hospitalized and given intravenous drips as he did not eat for several days and had collapsed.  Blood enzyme tests indicated a kidney malfunction.  After antibiotics, his appetite was excellent, but still he had this strange behaviour. 

Since he behaved normally when brought to the clinic, Dr Melissa Chua visited him at home a few times.

Mr and Mrs Hayhurst stayed in a brand new 3-bedroom Housing & Development Board apartment which has a semi-circular balcony, not usually found in such apartments.   It was within a 5-minute walk to the the shopping mall cum Cineplex and the subway.   One could easily have mistaken this apartment for a privately built apartment.   The giveaway that this was public housing was were the concrete flooring along the corridors.  Private apartments usually have tiled corridors and if located near the subway, would cost at least two times.  

On one visit, Dr Chua saw Lucky rubbing his cheeks vigorously with his paws.  As if Lucky was slapping himself on his cheeks for a few seconds.  This was abnormal behaviour for any dog. 

Lucky was unable to stand, being weak in his hind legs and had very poor vision.  He could not really see clearly.  "There is a big swelling below his right eye'" Dr Chua said.  Lucky would not like her or his owners to touch this area.  

"Could he be having a monstrous tooth-ache?" Dr Chua asked herself.  Mrs Hayhurst was sure that Lucky was being possessed by evil spirits though. 

"There is a great risk if Lucky goes under the anaesthesia to extract his rotten and decayed teeth," Dr Chua continued. "Would you take the risks? I would minimize the risk by using less than the normal dose of anaesthesia". 

Mrs Hayhurst was not in favour.  However, the abnormal behaviour persisted.   There was no alternative.

The last 2 molars were cemented with a thick wall of tartar (see image on left).  All his other teeth had decayed or dropped out and had been extracted a few years ago.  Now, he was 16 years old or 102 years old in human age. 

Dr Chua was his personal vet since he was a puppy and was reluctant to undertake any anaesthesia which was risky for this beloved pet of the childless couple.  This was their baby.

Therefore, no dental scaling was done yearly for the past 6 years.   What if he died under anaesthesia?     

The couple had watched him grow old over the 16 years and every night, he would cuddle close to them to sleep.    

After fasting for 12 hours, a xylazine tranquiliser was given in a smaller than recommended dose in the back muscle.  Romeo was still strong and would not let anybody, including his master open his mouth.  A small dose of pentobarbiturate intravenous injection was given.  2 decayed molars were easily extracted (see image above) in less than 5 seconds.

It took over an hour from preparation to extraction  when the procedure could be done in 20 minutes.  For old dogs, it was best to use the minimal doses of anaesthetic, just in case, the heart failed.

Lucky had been diagnosed with kidney failure. Would he be able to survive the anaesthesia since he was not well?

Patience and observation were needed in the general anaesthesia of an old beloved pet.  He could still die after general anaesthesia due to heart failure or in the next few days.

Mr Hayhurst had to leave the operating room as as he was much affected by Lucky's struggling under the minimal dose of anaesthesia.  It was not an ideal situation for the veterinarian and it was time consuming as well. However, it was safer not to give the recommended dose for deep surgical anaesthesia to pull out the teeth.  The patient would not feel any pain.  But his heart might suddenly stop beating and he lapsed into a coma or just died on the operating table?

That would be very traumatic for Dr Chua as well as the Owners. No veterinarian want to experience the deep heart breaking and sad emotions of a dog passing away on the operating table.

The unusual deep brown tearing below the right eye would be a tell-tale sign that something was obstructing the tear flow.  The swelling below the right eye subsided after extraction of the teeth.  No solid food was recommended for the next 2 days so that the holes in the extracted molar bone area could close.  

Mr Hayhurst was most happy.  He had taken time off from work just to bring his beloved pet for a risky anaesthesia.  It was a happy reunion. 

Would it be better if Lucky had regular dental scaling once every two years?  So many mornings, Mrs Hayhurst had to worry about the slapping behaviour and whether her dog was possessed by spirits. 

He did not slap his cheeks anymore after his tooth ache had gone away.  It was good to see Lucky behaving normally in the morning.  Old dogs do get big tooth aches and not just behaving senile.  It sometimes needed many house  calls to detect what was affecting the abnormal behaviour.  Lucky lived for another two years and died in his sleep.