# Jaw Locked Open



## Megan Bays (Oct 10, 2008)

Today while we were out, my blood hound Jake's jaw locked open while he was in his kennel.

I don't know how it happened. The only thing I can figure is he somehow got his jaw stuck on the kennel and jerked it out of socket (we have welded wire kennels BTW).

We took him to the EVet, and got the really great vet that we liked. They took x-rays of his jaw, and said as far as they could tell it looked normal.

They think that he popped his jaw out of socket. She said you couldn't really see the joints on their x-ray.

We left him there where they will anesthetize him, and then attempt to relocate his jaw.

If that doesn't work out, then we will take him to the ortho vet at another clinic. Even though he is young and healthy, and probably could have waited 12 hrs until he could be seen, I have faith in the EVet and wanted her to give it a shot at first.

After everything lately, I've decided to invest in pet insurance. The two I'm looking at right now are VPI and ASPCA. I'll dig up links later, but for now does anyone use this, which do you like, what do you not like, etc.

Has anyone else ever had a problem with their dog's jaw locking open?


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## Jim Nash (Mar 30, 2006)

I have no experiance with a dogs jaw being locked open . But I had my jaw dislocated muzzle fighting a Mal years ago . It initially locked open but we were doing a scenerio so the handler and a few officers moved into wrestle with me per plan . Not knowing my jaw was locked open somewhere during the scenerio they knocked it back into place . 

I still couldn't close it all the way for a few days and it hurt like hell when I bit down . They xrayed it and found it in place but stated the socket was probably swollen and thats why I couldn't shut it completely for awhile . It's does get sore from time to time but there have been no other problems with it since .

Good luck . I hope everything works out .


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## Anna Kasho (Jan 16, 2008)

My cat did this once, I have no idea how he managed it. He was racing around the house chasing a fly, and I heard him hit something, and the next thing I knew he was sitting on the floor wiping at his face. I have to say the sight of his jaw locked open was startling at first... When I checked him over and couldn't feel anything obviously wrong, I put a little more effort and it popped back into place. He was OK.

IMO, good call getting your dog seen right away - I remember reading somwhere, the faster you put anything dislocated back into place, the less trauma and swelling there is, and it heals better.


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## Megan Bays (Oct 10, 2008)

Yeah there wasn't any popping it back in. We gently tried, and then the EVet tried.

She ended up not being able to do it while he was under last night either, so now he's on his way to ortho specialist...


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## Becky Shilling (Jul 11, 2006)

I saw this happen once years ago. It was an older female shepherd that it happened to. Xrays looked normal, we anesthetized her and tried for an hour to manipulate it back but it was like stone. We referred her to OSU. When the owners came to pick her up to transfer her, the kennel girl went back to get her and she slipped on a ramp and fell. Her jaw popped back in and was perfectly normal. HOW????WHY???????WHAT????? Still a mystery. Hopefully they'll be able to figure your guy out. Good luck.


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## Megan Bays (Oct 10, 2008)

Took him to the ortho vet, and he said that one side of the jaw popped out. He said that it should be an easy fix and that it'd probably happen again  .


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## Zakia Days (Mar 13, 2009)

Hi!! I've used VPI in the past and I liked it. I arranged it so that they automatically deducted the fees (I think quarterly) from my chkng. account. And when my dogs passed away and I faxed a copy of the vet bill to them I was sent a refund check for what was deducted after they were put down and a reimbursement check for the amount owed to me. They also have an option where they will pay the vet what he/she is owed and all you have to pay is the difference. Or, you pay in full, fill out a form and they will send you a reimbursement check for whatever percentage of the bill they owe you (that your plan covers). The only thing I didn't like was having to download, fill out, and fax the forms. At the time I did not have immediate access to a fax machine, so it would be annoying at times. And, you had to fax a hand written letter with your signature on it to cancel your policy otherwise they'd just keep deducting money from your account. I got it all back, but that wasn't explained to me very well. I'm sure its in their policy somewhere though. 

I am actually looking to re-apply so that my current dogs are covered. I enjoyed the benefits. I am not a great supporter of the ASPCA, so I can't advocate their service. Good luck!!!


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## Edward Egan (Mar 4, 2009)

What could I expect to pay for insurance for a 2 year old GSD?


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

In my competition days as a kick boxer I had a number of dislocations, jaw included. 
Being young and dumb I let my trainers "pop" most of of it back in place. Sometimes between rounds. @#$%^&* OUCH! but I'm tough! I can take it, right! :ROLL: DUMB ****ING KID!
My doctor said I got lucky in most of these instances because it should only be done by a professional if you want to avoid serious damage.
I suspect now I may not have been all that lucky. At 63 yrs old I can pretty much tell you each and every joint that was "popped" back in place by someone that just maybe wasn't qualified. 
Cortizone shots in the jaw, fingers, knees, toes, shoulder really suck! 
Nowdays I whimper over a splinter. Pride is highly over rated!!!


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## ann schnerre (Aug 24, 2006)

i had a customer tell me once "There's a difference between tough and stupid, Ann" after it turned out i'd been walking on a broken leg for 10 days......


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## joyce martinez (Aug 28, 2008)

i dont like either VIP or ASPCA insurance. to many exceptions. try PET PLAN. they are the best IMO. and no exceptions for genetic problems, including hips!!! all covered! they are from England originally and are run by vets plus they are less than either VIP or ASPCA.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

I've heard ASPCA insurance is really in name only and not really related to the actual ASPCA. We had a VPI presentation a couple months back and I still think the best method for dealing with this (and which is what I'd recommend to my clients) is instead of paying X number of dollars a month towards the company, automatically deposit that much money into a savings or money market account for an emergency. And this can be a general emergency fund for other things too, like the transmission on the car or the furnace on the house going out (happened to us in December). That way, the money is still yours. Also, because a lot of vet hospitals have gotten burned by people promising to pay and they didn't, if you can pay at least partially in cash, they are likely to be more willing to work with you on the price if possible.


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