# Damnit. Broken palate?



## Nancy Jocoy (Apr 19, 2006)

Dog at vet overnight for x-rays
Playing ball but nothing wicked happened.

Noticed blood and misaligned upper front teeth -as I was looking for the assumed tongue cut, and clattering sound so zoomed off to vet. He is there tonight for x-rays, surgery in the am and hoping they don't find something worse.

We were playing tug just fine with no holds barred this past weekend. No dental issues. I did not even know a problem till he came back dripping blood.

Concern is perhaps cancer could have weakened the bone.....will find out more in the am.

My certified working cadaver dog.

Grim

Damn.


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## eric squires (Oct 16, 2008)

Did vet confirm it is a broken palate? how old is the dog? sorry to hear your dealing with this, it is tough when you have a trained dog you have put so much time into


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## Cassandra Lane (Jul 2, 2010)

I'm so sorry! What happens when they repair it? How will he eat?


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## Nancy Jocoy (Apr 19, 2006)

sedation, pain killers, x-rays and antibiotics tonight, surgery in the am after evaluation of x-rays.

That is what we are guessing. Definite misalignment of front teeth between the canines and a clattering sound obvious discomfort but not an apparent severe pain ( well, the dog was pretty unfazed thouh obviously uncomfortable) Bleeding pretty much stopped within a few minutes after I noticed it.

No impact noted but I could have missed it - I throw balls for both dogs at the same time in opposite directions so I could have been looking the wrong way. Lord knows he is kamakaze and has run into things before. But seems to me he would have had a nosebleed with an impact hard enough to break a bone in his palate area. Who knows?

I guess it is just waiting until tomorrow am. 

And scaring myself reading everything I can. I am pretty rational about dogs. Fortunately if he looses his working ability but can live a normal life, my younger daughter already said she wants him and he would be a good dog for a single girl and she runs...He would be a good jogging partner for her. He is very sweet but a good watchdog. At 7.5, I was hoping to get another two years of cadaver work out of him.

From what I have been reading, if it is a simple fracture, they wire them back together and put them on a soft diet for a while. He is, however, a tug dog first, ball dog second and food rewards are not big motivators to him, though he will take them if they are good enough.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Fingers crossed!


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## Jennifer Coulter (Sep 18, 2007)

That sounds crazy. Hope he recovers well.


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## ann schnerre (Aug 24, 2006)

what bob said. and toes....


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Hope everything goes okay, Nancy. Please keep us posted!


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## Alice Bezemer (Aug 4, 2010)

Crossing my fingers as well Nancy 

let us know how and what....


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## Matthew Grubb (Nov 16, 2007)

Sorry to hear about this Nancy, thoughts and prayers!


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## Harry Keely (Aug 26, 2009)

Good luck with your dog


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## Nancy Jocoy (Apr 19, 2006)

He is finishing up in surgery right now getting the last stiches.

Lost 4 upper front teeth and the vet said it looks to simply be traumatic injury though what the heck happened is beyond him (or me) - said it was strange to be sure. He did not have to wire together anything, just cut and stitch - not sure I fully understand because he said the actual palate bones did not appear to be broken but the teeth roots were every which way.

Going to do another x-ray after the fact but says he does not see any signs or has any particular concern of cancer. 

Said the canines still look good. Should have him back this afternoon.


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

That's good news, a few busted incisors isn't anything to really worry about, not in the grand scheme of things. He should be healed up and back to work soon.

He probably ran into something with his mouth open, and just hit the top teeth. I've seen dogs do weird things like that chasing a ball. Or mistaking something for their toy, that can result in some weird injuries. Mac did that, I'm assuming he thought it was his tug propped upright, but we were doing the send away, he got to the end of the field, didn't see his toy, turned and saw a tie out post about 20 feet away and the dipshit ran over and slammed into it, open mouthed. Shattered a molar. A friends dog broke a few teeth racing through the tall grass searching for her ball, guess she didn't see the large chunk of concrete, or thought it was the ball, because she slammed right into it, mouth open. Cali lost an incisor playing fetch, she was carrying the kong by a piece of bailing twine I'd tied on it, and another dog came from the side, grabbed the kong and took off. Must have been around the tooth somehow, little tear in the gums and a missing tooth was all I noticed, when I figured out where the blood was coming from.

Good luck with the healing, glad to hear it wasn't more serious.


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## Alice Bezemer (Aug 4, 2010)

Nancy Jocoy said:


> He is finishing up in surgery right now getting the last stiches.
> 
> Lost 4 upper front teeth and the vet said it looks to simply be traumatic injury though what the heck happened is beyond him (or me) - said it was strange to be sure. He did not have to wire together anything, just cut and stitch - not sure I fully understand because he said the actual palate bones did not appear to be broken but the teeth roots were every which way.
> 
> ...



great news ! hope he recovers smoothly and quickly


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## Nikki M Williams (Jul 17, 2009)

So very glad to hear that everything is ok and it was nothing worse.


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## Nancy Jocoy (Apr 19, 2006)

I am so glad...the vet and I both thought it was a lot worse than it was (It looked awful with the teeth going every which way)..

..he thinks about a month off and there appears to be no damage to his sinuses, his canines, or the incisors directly in front of the canines (though he did push one of those incisors back in and stitch but he thinks it was well enough attached that it won't die) 

So, even tugging should not be an issue when he heals.

And - a full physical and blood work before the surgery (he was due for his annual) and all was good there too. Good because the protein levels were a bit high last year but we switched to a lower protein food.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Nancy Jocoy said:


> I am so glad...the vet and I both thought it was a lot worse than it was (It looked awful with the teeth going every which way)..
> 
> ..he thinks about a month off and there appears to be no damage to his sinuses, his canines, or the incisors directly in front of the canines (though he did push one of those incisors back in and stitch but he thinks it was well enough attached that it won't die)
> 
> ...



Oh, what a relief, huh?


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Nancy Jocoy said:


> I am so glad...the vet and I both thought it was a lot worse than it was (It looked awful with the teeth going every which way) ..


So the teeth should be in alignment again because it wasn't the teeth themselves going in the wrong direction, but more like the teeth's platform? And now that's straightened out?

(I had never heard of this, so I know the questions sound pretty awkward.)


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## Jennifer Michelson (Sep 20, 2006)

So glad it is 'just' an injury Nancy. I wonder what he did to himself? I saw Remus mistake a big chunk of asphalt for a ball today, drop the ball he had and grab at the chunk...they do do dumb things.

Very glad he wont have too much time off. Hope he heals quickly and doesnt drive you nuts in the process!


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## Nancy Jocoy (Apr 19, 2006)

Connie Sutherland said:


> So the teeth should be in alignment again because it wasn't the teeth themselves going in the wrong direction, but more like the teeth's platform? And now that's straightened out?
> 
> (I had never heard of this, so I know the questions sound pretty awkward.)


4 of the teeth (the central incisors) that were  twisted everywhichway are now history-they detached and twisted on their own and were removed by the vet in the surgery, the 5th had the gum restitched and he feels has a good chance of survival because "number 203 incisor has gingiva around 3/4 of the tooth and it is firmly in place". The actual palate and nose was thankfully unaffected. 

He said in such trauma he usually saw the teeth roots stay in the bone and the whole assembly shear off together as a unit, but then he is more used to seeing dogs hit by cars than kamikaze dogs. 

It was good for us it happened the way it actually did because there appeared to be no compromising of the nasal passages. I am still going to inspect daily to make sure there is no start of discoloration of the canines - but he really feels they should be ok.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

Yeah, I was thinking that kind of force would probably be from a hit by car/kicked by cow or horse kind of thing... :-k Glad he's doing okay though!


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## Sarah Atlas (Dec 15, 2008)

Nancy,
Glad that things are going to work out and he will be OK.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

!!!!!!!Excellent news!!!!!!!!


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## Martine Loots (Dec 28, 2009)

Glad to hear he's doing better now an hoping for a speedy recovery!


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## Nancy Jocoy (Apr 19, 2006)

Well looks like the saved incisor is trashed. Going technicolor.

Calling Monday and seeing if he can send my records to the canine dentist in Charlotte. The roots on that incisor run a bit too deep and too close to the canine for me to want a regular vet to mess with.

Hopefully she can work with his records and bloodwork - she has done work for me for two other dogs in the past. SInce it is a 2 hour drive best thing would be a consult of the phone and she could take him into surgery based on the current vet's x-rays and bloodwork. 

Hopefully the canine is still uncompromised but I think she has tools to asses root viability that regular vets do not.

Just when his stiches healed enough for him to get ready to start back to work.


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

Wow Nancy, I'm just reading this thread for the first time. Glad it wasn't cancer or a more serious injury, though it does sound awful. Here's wishing Grimm a fast recovery.


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