Last week Thunder had his dental procedure and it turned out he had a issue going on with his gums.  He needed several teeth extracted.  Poor old Thunder is not allowed to retrieve for at least another week.  Right now he is down but not out.

We are not really sure what happened with Thunder’s gums.  Perhaps age and genetics catching up with him.  He had a full dental done last year, with a cleaning and xrays.  There was no issue with his teeth or gums at that time.  I figured at 10 years old, and no sign of dental issues up to that point in his life, it would probably be his last dental.

However in the last few months, we noticed a couple of things going on.  He was drooling a lot more than normal and he seemed to have trouble chewing hard dog cookies.  Not all of the time, just now and again.   I happened to touch one of his back teeth and he jumped, so I knew there was an issue.  We made an appointment for a dental as soon as possible.

Other than jumping when I touched that one tooth, if Thunder was in pain, he really did not show it.  He was having no trouble retrieving.  I am including a few pictures of him out training a couple of days before his dental procedure.

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Thunder Headed Down The Hill To Retrieve
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Put On The Breaks For The Bumper Thunder
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Oops Thunder Could Not Stop
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Nice Job Thunder

Once the vet put Thunder under anesthesia, she was able to see the issue was even worse than she thought.  It is good we took care of it when we did.  I can tell Thunder feels much better.

He will need to go back in three months to check a few other teeth which means more xrays and maybe more extractions.  We will be adding a dental food which is an extra hard kibble to his diet and we have a dental gel to use daily.  Hopefully that will keep the gum disease at bay.

When we headed out for training last weekend, we left one very upset Thunder at home.  He is back to normal, but we need to make sure he is fully healed before he is back to retrieving.  The old dog is down for now, but certainly not out.

11 thoughts on “Thunder Down But Not Out

  1. We are so very sorry to hear of Thunders Dental issues. Yups Mom and I understand the one vet trip you’re fine and the next you’re not. That’s how things happened with my vision. Mom’s a big believer in getting me to the vet when something seems off. This trait of hers has saved my bacon (vision) as well as a preventing a few other issues that could have been potentially serious as well.

    We’re glad to see your folks got your problem looked at ASAP and we’re praying all your dental issues are over.

    1. I agree with sooner rather than later. Thunder had just had his annual in March, but the issues were not visible at that time. Kind of crazy. At least since I had blood work done then, he did not need it again so soon.

  2. Poor guy. I’m glad you were on top of it. They are so stoic that it is sometimes hard to tell when they have something going on.

  3. Poor Thunder! I wouldn’t have thought dental issues would suddenly kick in at his age. I can only imagine how bad his mouth felt. What a trooper!

    1. The crazy thing is that the one canine we were concerned about is totally fine.

  4. Oh, poor Thunder! I’m glad you were on top of things and got him in sooner rather than later, so it wasn’t worse. Hope he gets healed up quickly so he can get back out there retrieving. I’m sure it was tough for him to be left behind!

  5. Hoping Thunder is on the mend soon. Scary. We get Dakota’s teeth cleaned at the Vet usually once a year. We do it because Shelties are prone to teeth issues (due to their narrow noses/mouths)

  6. I’m so sorry for Thunder and I send lots of healing thoughts and I hope you will get good news from the vet when you have your next appointment…. weim-power and hugs for a 100% recovery …

  7. Sorry to hear about Thunder, and glad you caught it before it progressed too far. I hope he has a good recovery.

  8. So sorry to hear about thunders dental issues. Glad he is back to normal now.

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