Generally retrobulbar abscesses are so painful that a vet can't even get the dog's mouth open wide enough to check the teeth. It sounds like maybe your pup is heading in that direction with an infection, but maybe the abscess is not full blown yet. If you know your pup has a cracked tooth it will have to be dealt with anyway, so might as well get it taken care of before it gets worse.
I've had two dogs with retrobulbar abscesses. This is my experience.
The first was a little rescue poodle. He was dropped off at my vet, and never picked up. We were fostering him and trying to get him healthy for a dental. He seemed fine Friday night and woke up very sick Saturday morning. His face was quite swollen on one side and he couldn't completely open his eye on that side. He was also running a fever. Waiting for the vet to open and before we could get him there, the abscess opened up and drained some real nasty stuff. The hole that opened up wasn't bigger than a pimple (but a lot of yucky stuff came out) and did not leave a scar and he didn't lose any hair. He had emergency surgery that morning. The abscess was caused by a cracked rear molar. He had the molar removed. The abscess had mostly drained but they cleaned it out a bit. He did a round of Clamavox afterwards and was acting normally within a day or two.
The second was also a toy poodle. Hers was not caused by a tooth. She had poked the roof of her mouth chasing a stick and ended up with a very nasty infection. Her whole face swelled, mostly around and above her eye. Since she was a quite older dog and with chronic allergic bronchitis, our vet did not want to put her under to drain the abscess unless it was absolutely necessary. Hers was treated by a veterinary ophthalmologist. She decided to treat her medically with very strong antibiotics for 72 hours to see if we could get the abscess to drain on it's own. She had an antibiotic by IV every day (can't remember which one) for three days, and also two oral antibiotics. Baytril and Clamavox. On the third day, the abscess finally drained on it's own, through the corner of her eye. It never broke through the skin. It was much worse than the one caused by the tooth and surgically drained.
Believe me, a true retrobulbar abscess is really, really nasty, and if you can possibly avoid it, you do not want to have to deal with it or for your dog to have to go through it. You are much better getting it taken care of now before it becomes a major problem. My vet says those upper back molars crack very often and cause abscesses. After those two experiences with the retrobulbar abscesses, I am paranoid. I have had those two upper molars removed with the spay/neuter on my last two dogs. They don't miss them and it's proactive prevention for me. LOL My vet agrees that it is a lot easier to remove them when they're already under than have to deal with it later.
Diana |