First of all, I have to say that I'm convinced that I have one of the best dog
vets in the state. Just my opinion, but....
I spoke to Doc Ralph on the phone about Libby's teeth and he did say that they
will more than likely need to be pulled, but because of her small size, and the
fact that she has been loosing some of her other baby teeth in a normal manner,
he would like to give her a month or two before doing it. There is a
possibility of the two rows of teeth affecting her bite, but the baby teeth
will not cause actual damage to the adult teeth. We will spay her at the same
time since she will have to be anestitized. But in the mean time, we will be
having some pre-surgical blood work done. Now here is the intersting part (Doc
Ralph never talks down to anyone, but always gives you a full education on your
situation) (and I won't get this exactly right, but the general idea is good
food for thought): Tiny dogs, often called teacups, pocket pups, etc, are
sometimes small because of a "shunt" that bypasses the liver. Therefore, they
aren't properly processing their nutrients. You may notice them throwing up
more. They will do a fasting blood test and then give her about a teaspoon of
oil, then I think they wait about 1/2 hour and do another blood test. They
compare the 2 and that will tell them if it is going through the liver or
around it. OK, so now that I probably have everyone confused, this is about as
much of the "lesson" as I could remember and absorb :) I thought it was
interesting and worth checking into further. Has anyone heard of this? What are
your thoughts about it? Like I said, Doc Ralph is fantastic and not a quack. I
know he absolutely has the dogs best intrest at heart. I drive over 50 miles
one way to get to him. There are plenty of other vets much closer, but none
that I would take my dogs to for more than a nail clipping.
Joy B
