Scout appears to have hurt his jaw. I thought I noticed last night he wasn't opening his mouth fully when he yawned. Today when he got his ball fully in his mouth and had to open it more to drop he squealed. I have a good idea that he did it playing tug with his brother !!!!! . Yesterday morning they were tugging a rubber ring between them so hard from the noise I thought it must have split. I stopped them but obviously not soon enough. Obviously I am now worrying. However I've decided to see how he gets on before going to the vet. He is eating, drinking and behaving normally it's only if he opens his mouth wide. Imagine the vet trying to look in Scouts mouth normally never mind with pain !!!! He would have to sedate him just to examine him !!!! If he should go any worse I would take him immediately of course. I will just have to kelp my fingers crossed. :-\
Re: Oh Scout Ah, so sorry to hear this. What a worry. I hope it heals up ok. Might it be worth calling the vet and describing what's happening? Just in case it's something that really should be seen right away? (I have no idea, by the way, just thinking aloud....)
Re: Oh Scout Thank you all. At the moment I'm still in worry mode knot in my stomach. Hate it when there is anything wrong. With my old lab I'd have just taken him to the vet but because it causes these two so much stress and as I've said he will most likely need to be sedated for this I don't know what to do for the best. :-\ I will see what he is like at tea time. If normal he will wolf down his food and be redicoulously excited because OH will be home. This is one time I want excitement. : The trouble is the decision is down to me. There's no point asking anybody for advice as they would all ask me and if I ask OH what should I do I will get the useful answer of 'I don't know' .
Re: Oh Scout Oh Jen, hugs. I would be beside myself. It must be really hard - knowing that you want the best for your boy but also knowing a trip to the vet causes so much stress. Is this a mad thought - is there ever anyway a vet could do a home visit? Would that be any better? At least remove some of the associations with things that cause stress. Back in the day, vets doing home visits wasn't an unusual thing....
Re: Oh Scout Thanks for the hug Julie. ;D A home visit is possibly an option. I used to have home visits to my old lab the last two or three years because he hated going but not in the same way as these two. :. It didn't bother me I figured I was paying although I did get one vet with a particularly poor bedside manner because she'd had to come out. At the moment though every scenario is going through my head like X-rays and MRI scans they would obviously have to be done there. I have a very vivid imagination. : Deep breath, drop my shoulders and positive thinking. Oh I wish I could take my own advice.
Re: Oh Scout Well he ate his tea no problem, drinking no problem and as excited as ever to see the OH. : He was a bit subdued when I went to get them out of their kennel for tea. He usually rolls about like a nutter on his bed but perhaps he's being careful. :-\ The trouble with me Angela is the more I watch the more I wonder is that normal but I can't help it. : We will see what tomorrow brings. Fingers crossed he will yawn normally soon then I'll know he is ok. ???
Re: Oh Scout Try not to worry, by tomorrow all may be well. If you do have to take Scout to the vet, I doubt there would be an MRI! Have you thought of asking for a sedative for Scout, it may take the edge off his fear IF you have to take him?
Re: Oh Scout Poor Scout!! Can you have a careful look in his mouth to see if he's broken or dislodged any teeth? Their teeth are well anchored, so it's unlikely, but it's something you could check yourself
Re: Oh Scout Oh poor lad. Although trauma to the mouth is probably the likeliest cause, have a look at his ears. The temperomandibular joint in dogs is directly underneath the middle ear, and consequently pain on opening the mouth is often seen with middle ear disease. Hope he's just overdone the tuggy game and pulled a muscle though.(
Re: Oh Scout I did wonder about his teeth. . I can't see any cracks and they look in the right positions. I can lift his lips and look at the sides but he really doesn't like having his mouth opened although he's gobbled his tea and will pick stuff up and carry it. I've moved anything big just incase. : Thank you Lochan I will have a look at his ears in the morning they've gone to bed now. Just out of interest what will they look like if there is a problem ? Like an infection ? I do hope it's just a pulled muscle I have had all sorts going through my head. You'd think a farmers daughter would be tougher wouldn't you. . Actually once I know what the problem is I'm ok and get on with it it's when I don't know and I don't know what to do. : Thank you all.
Re: Oh Scout If he has middle ear disease there might or might not be a discharge down the external ear canal. If there is a discharge it is often quite sticky and gloopy. If you press gently on the skin overlying his ear canal he might yelp as you put pressure on his middle ear. As another thought, could he have been chewing sticks and have an injury in his pharynx that way?
Re: Oh Scout [quote author=Jen link=topic=6848.msg93045#msg93045 date=1404417719] the more I watch the more I wonder is that normal but I can't help it. : [/quote] I am so like this! When I went to a new trainer on Monday (obviously had told her about Charlie's injury) she said "what side was it? It looks like his left?". I said "no, right". And then spent the rest of the week worrying about his left! Even though that's been checked a BILLION times already by the the surgeon, the vet, the physio... :
Re: Oh Scout Thank you Lochan I really appreciate your advice. His ears look normal I will try pressing them but back in their kennel at the moment. He doesn't really chew sticks. He has his anco root in a morning but very little comes off them, no splinters and if a bit comes off he spits it out. He doesn't seem any worse this morning although I don't think any better either. . Ate breakfast no problem behaving as normal. He didn't really chew his root which he did yesterday but I think picking the ball up yesterday and having to open his mouth wider either exacerbated it or made him more aware of it. The only different behaviour is he seems a bit nervous of Scott and if Scott gets too near his mouth he squeals. After he'd done that I checked his muzzle, top and bottom jaw, around his neck. I first touched applying light pressure then increased pressure. Nothing no reaction. It's a bit like he's telling Scott don't touch. ??? If I put my sensible, logical head on (in other words if it wasn't my dog) I'd go with pulled muscles from what he can and can't do. However it is my dog so now I'm imagining a bad ear, a giant piece of wood stuck in the roof of his mouth and a tooth abscess as well as pulled muscles.
Re: Oh Scout Glad to hear it's no worse - that's positive, isn't it? If it were serious, it perhaps would be getting worse?
Re: Oh Scout That's what I was thinking Julie. In fact for the rest of this morning you wouldn't know there was anything wrong with him. I had a fiddle with his ears. No reaction. We went for our long walk. Behaved as normal. He even nuzzled his brother twice inappropriately after sniffing at some very interesting scent in the verge. : I bet if I wasn't so vigilant (obsessed some might say :) of my dogs it isn't really noticable that there is anything wrong. First I noticed he wasn't yawning quite right then that he wasn't carrying his ball quite right. Who notices things like that ?? ??? . It was only by accident he squealed. Now I've had chance to calm down, due to lack of symptoms this morning, logically it has to be injury due to excessive tugging. For him to be that sensitive yesterday I doubt he'd have been able to play tug like he did the day before if he had that pain then or if that was developing it would still have been painful on wednesday. I'm not ruling anything out mind you, not yet, but I'm not panicing as much. :
Re: Oh Scout Sounds positive, Jen. Deep breaths! I know what you mean about obsessing about the smallest thing, though, I can hold my hand up as guilty here, too. Julie.... : I totally understand.....
