Guilt
 

I feel so very guilty. Twinkie, a 11 year old Chihuahua (Zachary's brother) has always been a grumpy snappy dog. We have never been able to open his mouth. Even giving him meds is a struggle to not get bit.

We went to get Zachary from the groomer this afternoon and Twinkie wanted to go with us so bad. We usually only take Zachary.

When George went into the groomer, Twinkie stayed with me in the truck. He growled at me and I just happened to be looking at him. His teeth looked terrible. I tried to open his mouth to look in good since the sun was out and I had good light (I don't see well anymore) but nearly got bit. I DID see that his teeth ARE a horrible mess.

I feel so guilty. He is a poop eater so we thought the smell was the poop. But I think now it is his teeth. I check everyone else's teeth but have never been able to look at his. How long has he had bad teeth?!?! I suspect he may be in pain. I feel guilty, guilty, guilty.

My dogs eat premium food, get bathed at regularly, nails cut monthly, treats, homemade soft beds, heart worm pills, shots and lots of love. HOW did I not realize his teeth were so bad.....

We stopped at our vet who was right around the corner. Twink will have his teeth done December 18, the soonest we could get him in. The DR. gave us an antibiotic to give him since he has redness and looks like one canine is infected.

I cried all the way home. We got him some canned food so he doesn't have to chew hard stuff. I feel like such a bad mother. My poor old boy....

Louise

Hi Louise (beautiful name, by the way..it's a family name in my family - grandmother's and my mom's middle),

Don't beat yourself up like that. You are NOT a bad mommie. We all have things that go on with our littles that, looking back, we wish we had done different. If your chi is a biter, it has to be really hard to get in that mouth to see it. What's important is that when you did see it...you went straight to the vet and set up an appointment to get it fixed. THAT is a GREAT mommie! :)

oh that is so sad but dont beat yourself up and you are NOT a bad mother. the important thing is you are taking care of his needs..
it is only one more week and he probably needs that time to get rid of the infection..
just make sure the vet does the pre-op bloodwork, very important...

You realized something was wrong and took immediate action! You didn't wait another moment to make sure he was taken care of and that is what being a good mother is all about! Don't feel so bad! It sounds like you take VERY GOOD CARE of your pets. It can be very difficult to take care of older, grumpy, snappy dogs. Dogs are particularly good at hiding discomfort. I probably would have also just assumed that the growling and grumpiness was just his personality.

I know you probably feel really bad .... but at least once you realized there was a problem you didn't hesitate to make sure he found the proper care. Accidents can happen with pets.. and this was an accident. You did nothing to him intentionally... You are a good doggie mommy.

Most people think that because their dogs eat kibble that it will keep their teeth clean but that is a fallacy. Kibble does noting to clean the teeth. If your little guy is bad about opening his mouth you might want to consider one of the enzyme cleaners that are available. I know there are some that you just put in the drinking water and it keeps the plaque from forming by controlling the bad bacteria in the mouth.

I hope he does well at his cleaning.

Don't beat your self up. You a good mommy. It is really hard to deal with a grumpy, old biter. You have your hands full. You were able to see and now you are handling it. Have a cookie.

I did the same thing with Rosco, I didn't even know his teeth were bad until I got Joel lol, but know i'm doing better with Rosco. Don't beat yourself up, your a good mom:D

you are not a bad mommy at all