Chihuahua health question
 

My chihuahua (6 years old, short hair) is usually a very happy and loveable dog, but for the last 5 days since she had her teeth cleaned (anesthetic-free method) she's been acting very strange. This is not her first time having her teeth cleaned with this method, and they used coconut oil for the cleaning.

Since her cleaning she's been cowering, hiding in her carrier, and yelps as if in pain if we move to fast around her, touch her without warning her, or startle her in any way. She has no problems eating and has not had a change in diet. The teeth cleaning people mentioned that her two top bilateral molars were slightly loose, so my concern is that they were irritated during the cleaning and she's constantly in pain, however she allowed me to run my fingers along her teeth without issue. I also have felt/pressed on her whole body to see if a specific area is tender, and it doesn't seem that way.

The strange part is that occasionally she seems completely normal; wags her tail, rolls over for belly rubs, gives us kisses, and seems happy. And then it all goes downhill and she's back to being in pain.

Does anyone have any insight?

Hmmm - tough one.

Obviously the safest route is a vet visit to assure everything is okay.

But given the sequence of events you described, and the fact that the dog's physical health seems okay - I might give this a few more days to see if dooger's regular behaviour comes back. Maybe the drug free dental cleaning (yikes on that, btw) was psychologically traumatic..... Dooger might also be in physical pain but during play the pain is felt less.

I'd be very curious to hear what other people suggest. Is this drug free dental cleaning common practise in dogs?

Good luck!

Maybe food is getting stuck in the gum of the teeth that are slightly loose , I would keep an eye on this to made sure it doesn't get infected .

If it has been six days since your pup has been behaving this way I would definitely visit your vet. You need to rule out an injury first.

Animals are masters at concealing their pain or an injury and the fact that your pup appears to be ok and then not ok is of concern.

You mention the "teeth cleaning people". Who does this refer to?

This is a bit off the wall, but I wonder if her neck and/or jaw is misaligned. That kind of misalignment they try to manage, but just moving the wrong way can cause a lot of pain, or even seizure-like activity, depending on the dog.

I only think of this because I have to schedule a chiropractic appointment after anything even as simple as a teeth cleening because it messes up my neck and jaw. It's a funny kind of pain that I don't feel write away and then sneaks up on me, so now I schedule the appt write after any dental work, same day.

Veterinary chiropractic is gentle and consists of nudges instead of tougher adjustments you might see in humans. Chihuahuas with the domed heads are more at risk from some congenital skull stuff, moreso than the ones with the flatter heads. I hope that you figure this out.

Link to certified chiros: [url]www.avcadoctors.com[/url]

Hi everyone. Just wanted to follow up.

The reason we chose anaesthesia-free cleaning was because 1) our vet at the time quoted us $1600 for the anesthesia cleaning, and 2) because our understanding was that anaesthesia for small dogs can be quite tricky and riskier.

Our little pup has since been to our new vet, who quoted us a much more reasonable $400 for anaesthesia cleaning, so she's going to get her teeth properly cleaned, and possibly have her two top ones extracted if they think they need it and are what's causing her discomfort. Additionally the vet gave her a full checkup and couldn't find anything else physically wrong with her.

As for the risks involved with small dogs and anaesthesia, of course there is always a risk, but it's 2016 and they assured us that there are a multitude of safeguards in place so the risk is very low nowadays.

Thanks for all the suggestions!

I had my Standard Poodle have his teeth clean by anesthesia cleaning and it wasn't that much ! I think it was less than $200 and I had his ears cleaned at the same time.