[Rochelle]

Hi! It's been ages since I've been on and Peek has been doing great...up until yesterday. I took him to work with me and was looking in his mouth and everything looked fine except for one grey spot. I took a pick and tried to get it out and what came out was a wad of endless hair! It was like pulling long hair out of the bathroom drain. After I got it out, all his bottom front teeth are loose and the gums are not firm at all. Just soft and move back and forth. I know he's going to lose all his ftront bottoms
I've called the vet and he's going in tomorrow first thing in the morning for a pre dental and I just know this isn't going to be good. It's like the hair cut off all the circulation in his gums and it's must have been for a long time. His teeth are so white and other than he's been having bad breath for a while now, I would have never thought of hair! I feel like an abusive chi owner at this point. I home cook for him, wiegh him all the time, make sure everything up to par in his life...and now this. Has anyone ever experienced this and does this mean his gums will be damged too? I write this while shaking. Tomorrow's vet visit can't come soon enough.

 

[lulu'smom]

I'm sorry this has happened to your fella. How do you think it got there? How long do you think it's been there? I'm fairly new to the forum, so I'm not sure of this--How old is your fella? How long have you been feeding homemade meals? What do they consist of? Do you also give a vitamin/mineral supplement? Sorry for all the questions, but I just thought is would help in determining if you are correct that the hair cut off circulation in his gums, or if there is anything missing in his homemade meals. That can be a possibility and you would want to know that for his future and for your other dogs. Which, BTW, they are all precious.

 

[Rochelle]

I'm sorry this has happened to your fella. How do you think it got there? How long do you think it's been there? I'm fairly new to the forum, so I'm not sure of this--How old is your fella? How long have you been feeding homemade meals? What do they consist of? Do you also give a vitamin/mineral supplement? Sorry for all the questions, but I just thought is would help in determining if you are correct that the hair cut off circulation in his gums, or if there is anything missing in his homemade meals. That can be a possibility and you would want to know that for his future and for your other dogs. Which, BTW, they are all precious.

I've had Peek for 4 years and have other dogs too. I've been feeding him homecooked for the first year and raw up until now. He gets calcium tablets when he's not in the mood for rw chicken back bones, liver, kidney, beef, chicken, salmon ect.. and my other dog's teeth are perfect. Peeks teeth are really good other than the one's that were surounded by the hair. Once I pulled out the hair, that it where the damage has been done. Quite deep into the gums making them soft and loosening the teeth. I would question my feeding myself, but because he's done so well on the raw and his other teeth are so nice, I just know it's the caught hair that caused this. If my post does anything, I hope it helps people to become away of tiny hairs that can get stuck in the teeth and to brush them out. That was my downfall. He never let me brush his teeth, but I will be from now on. They are precious aren't they. I could never live without a chi. xoxo

 

[lulu'smom]

Yes, they are precious! You are right. I would have to conclude it would be the hair and not diet. I am so sorry your fella has to go through something like this just to be made aware that it's a possibility. I would never have thought of anything like this. Thanks for sharing so the rest of us are now aware. Let us know how it goes at the vet.

 

[Rochelle]

Thank you for asking to know how he does. We are off to the vet in an hour and I'll post what the vet says. I did some googling and it's not uncommon for hair to get stuck in the teeth, and I wish I had known about this all these years. I have no idea how long it was accumalating in the gums.
I hope there's no permanent damage to his bottom jaw because of this. He looks completely fine in every other way. Diet has always been my main concern with my dog's and since feeing raw, their teeth and hair are so much nicer. I just wish I had been more on top of the hair in the teeth. xo

 

[Jerry'sMom]

hoping for a good outcome for Peek today
please keep us posted!

 

[Jennmay]

Same as people no matter what kind of diet and cleaning it just like people some dogs are just more prone to having gum teeth issues due to genetics.

 

[Angel1210]

Sorry to hear about Peek! Could he have gotten it from playing with the other dogs?

You can't blame yourself, there are so many things that can happen that we don't know about. Angel won't let me brush his teeth either. I should just grap him up and do it, but he keeps twisting his head and I cant keep the brush or my finger in his mouth long enough! I tried putting it on the brush and just letting him lick it off! I may have to try it again.

Please, let us know how he does at the vet! So sorry for both of you!

 

[Rochelle]

Back from the vet and worried for nothing. The vet looked at his 6 bottom teeth and told me it wasn't my fault. When she did his neuter 3 years ago what she thought were adult teeth were baby teeth and were all wiggly in there. All need to be removed but that's ok. There's some gingivitis and he goes for his teeth cleaning next week but other than that, the hair caused no big damage, if any. There's still some in there though, but they'll just remove that with the teeth. Wheeeeew!!!!

 

[AC/DC Fan]

I'm glad things turned out well for you both. Don't feel lonely though, I recently started trying to brush Bizkit's teeth (he was 10 y.o. in May) and twice now I've brushed out a clump of what I took to be carpet fuzz (Bizkit is a short hair) from his upper right side. It is the weirdest thing! He has an appointment for a teeth cleaning next Friday and I think I'll ask the vet about it. Bizkit is one of those genetic cases--bad teeth from the word go. I swear I don't know what he eats his food with b/c he has so few teeth but he manages thankfully.

 

[Rochelle]

Thank you all for your kind words of reassurance. I had to giggle when I was asked if he could have gotten the hair in his teeth from the other dog's. My other dog's are hairless. lol
He does clean his legs so I kow most of the little black hairs are from that and the long stuff I pulled out of his teeth I'm sure was from his stuffed toys that he tears apart. I guess it's never to late to try brushing them, though I just know he's not going to be happy about it and I won't have to worry too much since he'll be having most removed! Thank you for letting me know they can eat just fine with hardly any teeth. Purreed food wasn't something I was hoping to switch him to. Thank you all again. xoxo

 

[lulu'smom]

So glad to hear it wasn't anything to worry about. Thanks for letting us know something that we need to watch for.

 

[AC/DC Fan]

So Bizkit's teeth cleaning went well but I think that's only bc I took him back to his old vet thankfully. I mentioned the fuzz in his mouth thing to the vet and he said something about his hair blah blah blah. I still think its carpet fuzz but whatever. He didn't lose anymore teeth! Dr. Troy told me several teeth he thought about removing but didn't. He just cleaned them well and Bizkit is on clindamycin twice daily for a month. He also told me that Bizkit apparently has some sort of mandibular fracture. He said they often wire it back together but they kind of anchor the wire to their teeth then tighten it. He chose not to do it bc he was afraid everything would crumble when he tightened the wire. I had no idea he had this problem. He eats just fine and doesn't act like he is in pain. As a matter of fact, he was supposed to eat only soft food for one week which I fed him. Four days after the cleaning he was back to eating his hard food! Doesn't sound like he's in pain to me. To be fair though, he takes Metacam twice per week for his knees so maybe that's helped with whatever mouth pain he may have had.
I bought each of the girls their own toothbrushes and am easing them into brushing. I just don't want them to go down the road Bizkit has.

 

[Brodysmom]

Wow poor Peek!! I've never heard of a hair getting wrapped around teeth like that. Thank goodness you noticed. I'm glad the vet is going to get him sorted during his dental and that he'll be fine. Whew!!!