Hello All! Dolly and Belle went for dental cleanings yesterday. Belle did fine even with six extractions. Not unexpected. Belle has bad teeth.

Dolly was another story. Something very strange and very scary happened to Dolly. Dolly was second in line for a dental and had to spend a couple of hours waiting in an enclosure at the vet. Apparently Dolly worked herself into a frenzy during that time. Vet pre-medicated Dolly with acepromazine and morphine a little while before her dental was scheduled to start. Both drugs are safe for greys and Dolly got them before her previous dental cleanings. Dolly went crazy after getting the medication this time. She became very agitated, was panting and trembling, and her temperature shot up to 105.7. Vet cooled her down with an alcohol rub and IV fluids. The dental was canceled and I was called to bring Dolly home when she stabilized. She was agitated last evening but finally calmed down when we put her to bed. Dolly slept all night but she wet the bed during the night. This morning her back end was still trembling, her tail was stiff and sticking out, and she had trouble walking. I thought she had permanent neurological damage. We talked to the vet again (for about the fourth time). Dolly got better as the day wore on and she is almost back to normal now. Whew!

Dolly had a rare reaction to pre-op tranquilizers. If a dog (or human) is too worked up before getting medication, it can backfire. Calming medication can work backwards and make the situation worse rather than better. See

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for a very scientific explanation of what happened to Dolly. She does NOT have malignant hyperthermia, but the symptoms were the same.

My vet was not negligent and she didn’t make a mistake. She called a doggie anesthesiologist for advice as soon as Dolly became ill. She was already doing everything right. I don’t want to scare other folks from having dentals. This situation is very rare and probably won’t happen to your dogs. I just want you to know about it in case you need the info in the future.

Needless to say, Dolly won’t be having any more routine dental cleanings. Her teeth are bad, just like her sister Belle. She has lots of tartar, her breath smells like rotten fish and she has mild gingivitis. I would appreciate any advice about keeping her teeth from getting worse.

Best Wishes,
Karen Ferguson

i have no advice, karen, but i'm glad all turned out okay and dolly is safe at home! poor girl and poor you, having to go through that kind of scare! i'm gad your vet was "on top of things"!!!

That's really scary! I'm glad she's recovered. Although generally safe, I have enough concern that I'm hesitant to ever electively anesthetize a dog. I've done lots of research and feel the best way to promote and maintain dental and oral hygiene in dogs is with raw meat/bones. You don't have to commit to a complete raw diet for your dog to benefit. You can add turkey necks or a raw marrow bone once a week and get great benefits -- it will remove existing tartar, freshen dog breath, and help gum inflammation heal.

A year ago Keno needed a dental and I had put it off because of his age and his health problems. I transitioned him to raw and his heavily tartar encrusted teeth became white again, his bad breath disappeared, and his gums lost their redness. He was 12 and hadn't had a dental in 4 years.

More recently, Princess had her first dental in December before I adopted her. Within 5 weeks after her dental she had started to accumulate plaque and tartar, her gums were inflamed, and her breath was horrible! I took her back in and was told by the vet at Poplar that she was just going to be one of those greyhounds with bad teeth and she would probably need a dental two to three times a year for the rest of her life and prescribed an antibiotic for her infection! Yikes! She's not on a total raw diet at this time, but she is now getting meaty bones at least once a week and her tartar is gone, her breath much improved, and her gums look much better.

I also used Oxyfresh in her water and sprayed some full strength on her gums that week she was on antibiotics. She actually lets me do this, Carly and Cruz will not!

Even if she's got some teeth missing, she can still benefit from bones. If she doesn't have a lot of teeth or if some are loose, you can try chicken or turkey necks. The natural enzymes in the meat and cartilage also help prevent tartar build up and help heal inflammed gums.

Good luck, Karen.

Karen,

I am so glad to to hear that Dolly is better. Maddie has a mild case of tartar and after talking to Lynda M. She suggested using flagaria. She stated that after using it on her clan that she had scrape the tartar with her fingernail. It is a little pill that is given to the hound and it dissolves. She stated that you can find it on

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under the hololistic section. We just started using it.

Sorry- I type so fast sometimes that I spell things wrong.

Poor Dolly!!
Glad she hung in there, how could she not with all the love she gets at home?
You know, PJ my foster had a bad reaction to his anesthesia and was very sick. His temp went way up but Dr Amat caught it early and got him cooled off. We nursed him all night and he made it but it was very scary.
It just goes to show, you cant take any of this for granted. This is why we worry when our babies go in for dentals and such and get anesthetized.

I think the flagaria (sp?) sounds like a great idea to try!!
Cheewa's teeth have benefitted from his turkey necks. Even if my pocket book has not....