Pet Palace

"I have a small practice situated in the rear of Pet Palace Pet Store. Due to the set up of my practice in relation to the pet store, my drop off area is to the rear of the store. Therefore, early morning surgeries must be dropped off in my work area which is the hub of my practice. This includes my desk, cages for my surgery and recovery area, my surgery and treatment area. So, it can be a very busy area but it is clean. When I did "Rascals" vaccinations on March 1, 2010, the member said she would like to set up a dental for Rascal. I told her his teeth weren't very bad but we could schedule his dental for March 10, 2010. A proper canine dental unfortunately does require general anesthesia as most dogs will not let anyone do a thorough dental cleaning while being awake. As I do will all my and even spays and neuters, I will usually check and clean ears if needed, trim nails at no cost to owners, brush out mats and tangles on long haired dogs and cats, and sometimes, if necessary, I will scoop a small area under the medial canthus of both eyes if this area has a small mat from tears streaming under the eyes. This can cause mild to severe conjunctivitis of eyes of many of these dogs. I have been a vet for 40 years and get very few complaints for doing this service. I performed the dental myself and during the cleaning of his teeth I found 1 of his front teeth to be loosening from mild dental disease. It did not fall out of his mouth but it was loose enough that it did need to be extracted. By pulling the tooth it will save the other teeth next to it for some time. They will eventually need to be extracted in future dentals however. It is good that she cleans her dogs teeth several times per week but as all dogs age some teeth will become infected and it is good to remove them as needed. It will save other teeth and result in less pain. I know that her dog was probably not exhibiting any pain but that does not mean that is was not present to a mild degree - and by removing that one tooth it will help his mouth tremendously. As far as the dog behaving differently when he got home I have no real answer. An animal or person for that matter, that undergoes anesthesia, may have an unintended adverse reaction to the anesthesia. His anesthesia was veryi short, his recovery was uneventful as well as we could see. He was a good dog to work with and we did not have any problems getting him out of his cage and inducing hes general anesthesia. His cleaning was rather routine, other than having to pull the one loose tooth. I checked his ears, trimmed his nails, trimmed a small swath of hair just under his eyes and he was done. he awoke from anesthesia without any problems. Some dogs will get a mild cough from the enotracheal tube placed in their trachea and she was given directions how to resolve this when she called. If the cough becomes worse, I sometimes will need to dispense antibiotics and or cough suppressants for a few days and will only charge for the medications needed. I am glad to be able to give my side to Angie's List clients. I performed the same service to her little dog that I have been doing successfully for the past 40 years of being a vet. I try to keep my costs as low as possible so the average person can keep his/her pet as healthy as possible. Philip N. Haas, DVM/Owner"