Is there a veterenarian on the Dope? injured dog question (TMI)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

First off, i know the policy on soliciting medical advice on the Dope, that said, we do have an appointment for our dog tomorrow, just want an idea about what’s likely to be the case…

we have an old (9 years old) mixed-breed dog, Hannah, sweetest dog we’ve had, very loving, the perfect family pet…

a few days ago, my parents noticed a rather…ripe odor coming from her, sicky sweet, Mom thought it was bad breath, so she got some breath freshening treats last night…

she gave one to Hannah tonight, Hannah wouldn’t touch it, she also wasn’t eating her dry food, i come home and Mom asks me to help her take a look at Hannah’s mouth, see what the problem is

she asks me “have you got a flashlig…” i flash her a look, then she remembers i EDC 3 flashlights…

i grab the 6P and mom coaxes Hannah’s mouth open, aside from normal plaque buildup, nothing seems out of the ordinary, Mom opens her mouth a second time…

my blood runs cold…

the tip of Hannah’s tongue has been severed and has some evil looking whitish-yellow patches of clearly decomposing flesh, the stench becomes unbearable, i lean back in horror…

Mom…the tip…the tip of Hannah’s tongue has been severed, and there’s some dead tissue there, you need to call the vet NOW

we take another look, it looks like Hannah bit thru the tip of her tongue, as it appears to be slightly forked, and the tip has been squared off, there are raw, stinking white ragged edges at the edge of the tear…

she’s probably had this injury for at least 3 days (first i heard about it was today, i’m a little ticked that my parents didn’t check her out sooner)

Hannah has a history of mild seziures, apparently, i’ve never seen her in one, but Mom says she’s had them in the past, personally, I think she must’ve had a seziure and bit through her tongue, the “fork” looks like it was caused by one of her canine teeth tearing thru the tongue

she can eat soft food (like cheese) with no problems, but hard foods are clearly painful for her, i was eating some Inari pockets tonight, and gave Hannah a couple small pieces, she ate them with no problem, quite happy to get a “people food” treat in fact, so i decided to take a run to the grocery store and get her a couple of cans of soft food, and her own order of sushi, Tuna Maki rolls, i figured it’s nice and soft, and she’ll enjoy it, hopefully make up for the pain she must undoubtedly be in

we tried to get the vet to see her on an emergency basis, apparently this vet doesn’t feel it warrants an emergency visit (i’m a little pissed about that, but thinking logically, it can’t get too much worse between now and tomorrow’s appointment)

however, throughout all of this, you’d never know she was in pain, aside from her acting a little “depressed”, she’s such a trooper, we irrigated her mouth with a dose of hydrogen peroxide (per vets orders) and she handled it with nary a flinch

so, doper Vets, what would the prognosis for a tongue laceration be, i’m assuming the dead tissue will have to be removed and the rest cauterized, is it possible to restitch her tongue together, what will be the likely outcome?

please keep the little trooper in your thoughts, she’s a tough girl and will likely pull through, but good vibes can’t hurt…

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What the hell? Are your parents old? This injury would be really hard for me to forgive, don’t they check? Aargh! These animals rely on us, they can’t talk, so they expect us to know what’s wrong, and that means you don’t just not notice a 3-day old injury!

MacTech, good on you for checking her out. Shouldn’t she go to doggy ER though? Or do Dopers not think it’s that serious at this point?

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I just saw the emergency thing. Sorry. I must admit my eyes glazed over in unhappiness before that. Poor doggy, she’s definitely in my thoughts.

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Mika, to be fair to my parents, yes, they are old, (Dad’s in his 70’s, Mom’s in her late 50’s), Dad didn’t smell anything strange with Hannah (nor did i, truth be told), Mom was the one who finally associated stench= infection, she claims it was a very similar smell to the ones the horses get when they get infections

heck, Hannah was sleeping in my room last night, and i didn’t smell a thing (i guess my ionizer was able to absorb the stink, i honestly smelled nothing)

Hannah will get looked at tomorrow, she will pull through, she’s a trooper, thanks for the kind thoughts

now that they know the problem exists, Mom and Dad are very concerned, Dad and i just had a brainstorming session trying to figure out how this could have happened, he thinks she could have got her tongue stuck on some metal (or ice) outside, i think my “seziure-induced bite thru the tongue” is more logical and probable…

don’t be too hard on my parents, Mika, they feel horrible enough now as it is

5

I won’t. It just really upsets me, to think of that doggy hurt and no one knowing. Poor poor doggy…best of wishes to all of you.

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Aww! Hanna is in my thoughts! That poor baby! I hope it all turns out ok with her. Be sure to give her a big hug for me. Please let us know how it goes at the vet tomorrow, ok?

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They may need to anesthetize her and debride the area (clean off the dead tissue) but if it’s badly infected as your description makes it sound it most likely can’t be sutured. She definitely needs antibiotics though.

What they do also depends on the cause. A dog could injure their tongue in such a way as you described or she could have licked something sharp but an injury like that would likely have bled like a stuck pig when it happened and it’s hard to believe that wouldn’t have been noticed. Tongues usually bleed a lot and then the blood mixes with drool so it looks like a lot more. It’s possible that a crushing injury may have caused the damage (biting down but not biting through) without bleeding.
Other possible causes could be chemical or electrical burns or severe renal disease. It would be a good idea to have some bloodwork done to check her kidney function.

If she seems confortable tonight and is able to eat a little she can probably wait until tomorrow providing she’s still bright and alert and not vomiting.
If you think she’s really uncomfortable, extremely depressed or she starts vomiting, find a local emergency animal hospital and take her there.

Just in case they do anesthetize her take up all food and water around 10pm and don’t let her have anything else until you see the vet.
Good Luck.

Not a vet but I have been Certified Veterinary Technician for over 20 years.

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Thanks for the good thoughts everyone, and thanks for the info Wile E, your diagnosis is pretty much what i expected, i’m not a vet (nor do i play one on TV) but i do watch a lot of Animal Planet and E.R. (and i DID stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night :wink: (not really, but couldn’t resist a bad joke…) ), looks like a fairly straightforward surgical procedure, i’m hoping she won’t lose too much tongue tissue…

how badly is this going to affect her sense of taste, it’s a given she’s going to lose some, i may just have to get sushi more often and share it with her to make up for her injury (she really loves Tuna Maki…), how do a dog’s tastebuds compare to a human’s?
…i just googled “Dog’s Tastebuds” (band name!) and found some depressing news…

most of a dog’s tastebuds are located in the tip of the tongue, the very part that’s lacerated, poor Hannah, food’s not going to taste as good to her now :frowning:

i guess i’ll have to get her richer food to make up for the shortfall

this sucks :frowning:

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Um … dog’s enjoy eating cat poop, I don’t think they have much of a sense of taste to begin with.

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PLease post and let us know how Hannah is doing

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Don’t worry about that; as can be seen by comparing the surface area of a dog’s nose to that of their tongue, smell is much more important to a dog’s quality of life than taste is. Dogs eat feces, rotting carcasses, rotting fish, their own vomit… if it smells yummy, they don’t much care how it tastes.

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very true, i forgot some of the “unique” things dogs like to eat

poor Hannah, she’s putting up a brave front, but she is in pain, i went down a half hour ago to check on her, she was shivering in pain and faintly whimpering, the stupid vets are closed, and i feel so goddamn helpless, she’s old, she has trouble climbing stairs, if she was able to come upstairs tonight, i’d let her sleep in my bedroom with me, i have an ionic “air purifier” that i run primarily for the white noise of the fan, and it does seem to eliminate odors well, she could sleep on the floor in the bedroom and i wouldn’t smell her injury

but she’s in pain now, and i’m not going to make it worse by having her climb stairs, she’s too big and ungainly to carry up the stairs either

i feel so damn helpless, i want to make her feel better, but there’s nothing i can do right now

Hannah, i’m so sorry, you’ll feel better tomorrow, i promise…

13

Poor dog, I hope she gets better soon.

Do you think your parents may not have noticed a seizure? My dog has had several seizures now, including once when I wasn’t home. There were definite signs - urine and feces on the carpet, lots of drool on her fur, and shortness of breath. Perhaps your parents need to keep a closer watch on the dog and talk it over with the vet. There are anti-seizure drugs available, though you need to discuss with the vet and weigh the risk of seizures vs. the risk of drug side-effects.

14

My first thought was peroxide. I’ve seen it cure some pretty nasty stuff by itself.

Snakes often get mouthrot. A boa of my aquaintance is now almost fully recovered from a nasty case, just on peroxide and Benzidrine. (I may have the wrong name on that. It’s brownish and like iodine, diluted of course.)

Check with a vet first, but what about something like Orajel or Numzit for the immediate pain? The strength used for teething infants should be okay, but again, check it out first.

Oh, and something like this would be hard to spot in a dog that’s been keeping it’s mouth closed. Your parents did the right thing ASAP when they noticed and that’s what matters.

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Please don’t forget to update us after her appointment!

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Yes, please - update us!

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Hannah’s appointment is at 4:30 this afternoon, Mom’s a schoolteacher so she’ll be off work by then, she’ll be bringing Hannah to the vet, i’m expecting at least an overnight stay at the vet, best case scenario i can see happening is they sedate her, perform the neccesary surgery to remove the dead tissue, then cauterize/stich/whatever her tongue up, give her some antibiotic meds and send her home tomorrow

this morning she was quiet and depressed, but she did sit up and wag her tail when i went in to check on her, she doesn’t seem to be in as much pain now (she’s not shivering or whimpering like she was last night), i did want to give her a maki roll or two, but based on vet advice here so far, i decided against it, esp. if she needs surgery

she’s a strong willed dog, she’ll pull through

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Most dogs and cats will do that when they’re in pain, which is why it’s sometimes so hard to catch a problem. In the wild, showing that you’re sick or injured can be a very bad thing, so they try not to show any signs.

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Hope your dog gets better.

And I do second the above, H2O2 (Hydrogen Peroxide) is some pretty awesome stuff.

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Best wishes for you and your doggy!!! She sounds like a sweetheart, and so brave.