Another question...Double teeth???

[tayandbella]

We took Arabella into the vet yesterday because she was dragging her bum again-he tried to empty her anal glands but said they were not full enough to cause her to drag- we went ahead and wormed her for Tapes just in case as he said they don't always culture...ANYWHO while we were there he checked her mouth as she had a few sets of double teeth the first time we took her in (a few of them were loose) But her canine teeth are both still in (puppy teeth and now adult teeth) and they are not loose at all. He siad we should give it another month and then if her teeth do not fall out he recommends having them extracted. Has anyone else delt with this? Is is really a problem? How safe is it to have them removed? It freaks me out to think of her having it done because she is such a tiny baby and I hate the thought of her in surgery if it is not absolutely necessary. At the same time he said it will lead to gum issues as those teeth will hold alot of food and junk inbetween themAny advice or experience? TIA!

[chachi]

Are you having her spayed thats when most have them removed so they dont have to go under anesthesia twice

[tayandbella]

No we are not planning on spaying her right now. We don't know if we will breed her but we don't want to take that chance away. (our family on both sides is already asking for puppies for 2010 Christmas presents )

[chachi]

Then I would wait untill shes about a yr old and give them a chance to fall out on their own

[MyPeanutAbbyGra]

Abby had 4 double sets of canines, but one has fallen out! YAY
and I'm hoping the others will too! She's to be spayed around Christmas and if they aren't gone by then, they will be pulled.
Give your little one lots of chewy things that might help loosen them. Abby loves chewing on her hoof and it's good for cleaning her teeth. I get them at our Tri State Vet and Pet supply for like $1! They are the best thing for cleaning their teeth...other than brushing of course, they don't smell and no calories or fat!

How old is your baby?

[jadecomputergal]

That's really common in toy breeds. Two of my girls are spayed and I had the deciduous teeth removed at the same time. Even if you aren't going to have her spayed, you should have them removed at some point. She'll have bigger dental problems to deal with on down the line if you don't. I haven't noticed a lot of pain afterward in my dogs or any others, just judging by the fact that they still eat normally and like to chew on things. As long as he can just pull them and not cut them out (like if a person has an impacted wisdom tooth), she'll probably be acting the next day like nothing even happened. They usually come out easily and the only reason they put them under anesthesia is to keep the dog still. Dogs aren't very receptive to people messing around in their mouth

[xxmxaxrxyxx]

It is common in Yorkie to have double teeth...i recently just went thru it with MeiLing and Yoshi i was a nervous wreck..hehe...but everything went smooth and they were back to their normal self the next morning....hehe..

[tayandbella]

How old is your baby?

She just turned 7 months on the 2nd.

Thanks for all the suggestions and experience. I am less nervous than I was the first week we brought her home but still get a bit freaked out since she is so tiny! I will try the hoofs-for sure. She LOVES raw hide sticks and has been chewing a lot recently. We have to give her a comb of her own everynight when we brush her because if not she won't stop going after the one we use

[yoyo27]

My Zoie had extra teeth. However my vet said to wait and guess what? By the 1yr she had gotten rid of them. I think we rush things too fast and they have there own time coming out. If after that time they don't fall out on there own then you would have to have them pulled. I think she just isn't old enough yet.

[Ellie May]

It is very common in Yorkies to retain baby teeth.
I don't think they have to be removed immediately but if they don't come out soon, it should be done.

Are you sure you don't want to spay her though?
There are risks and benefits to it but below is one of the major benefits.
Besides, then you don't have to worry about c-sections, raising pups, making sure your pup conforms to the standard, testing for genetic diseases and possibly dealing with pyometra later on. Whatever you decide, I would take care of her mouth (whether that means pulling baby teeth, brushing everyday...) now so she doesn't have to deal with periodontal disease later.

Protection from Spaying

A female puppy spayed before her first heat cycle can expect never to develop a mammary tumor of any kind. The incidence of tumor development in this group is nearly zero.

If she is allowed to experience one heat cycle before spaying, the incidence rises to 7% (still quite low).

If she is allowed to experience more than one heat cycle, the risk is driven up to one in four.

Mammary Tumors in Dogs - VeterinaryPartner.com - a VIN company!

[YorkieLvr]

Our little yorkie had doubles too! We chose not to put her under since she is so tiny and thankfully several fell out on their own. We did make sure to have her teeth cleaned and kept them clean as possible. One tooth however was stubborn and although loose would not fall out, so we decided that it was time to have the vet remove it since she was 4 years old...yes four! But low and behold the tooth fell out one day while we were playing tug with a toy. It had the biggest root (I think it was a root) that we have ever seen. We are lucky that it all worked out that way and her teeth are really beautiful.

[brusiersmom]

my baby boy had two sets of canine teeth and we had them removed. they did have to put him to sleep to do it but he came through it just fine.

[Lee B]

Both Puddy and Bella kept their baby canines, upper set when their adult teeth came in. Looks REALLY strange. Puddy finally lost his right around his first birthday last month; Bella will be a year old in October.

I really hope she looses hers, too. They play a lot of tuggy and have chew toys out the wazoo (including my buffet ).

Anaesthesia is one thing, but shaving her leg for the IV is quite another. When she was spayed at 5 months, they butchered the cut, and removed a lot more hair than they needed to. It takes the hair forever to grow back in, and it never quite matches the rest in length.

She's not a show dog, so in the long run I guess it doesn't matter, but I don't want her looking funny either. The didn't lift the top hair back so it could fall over the shaved area, they just cut straight down THROUGH all the hair.

At any rate ... I digress. Hopefully, the deciduous (baby) teeth will fall out on their own.

[HanginOut]

My little one had double teeth, too. I had read that it was somewhat normal for smaller breeds so wasn't surprised when I saw them. My breeder said they are called Gator teeth.... and she was right, that is exactly what they looked like. We ended getting them pulled when he was neutered (@ 8 months old) so we didn't have to put him under twice.

Also we had noticed horrible breath.... apparently was a rotten tooth (baby tooth) that didn't want to fall out. Once it was removed the foul order was gone.

Good luck with whatever you decide. I didn't know until reading this thread that they would sometimes fall out on their own. I thought they had to be pulled and I imagined he had discomfort in his mouth having 2 sets of teeth.

[megansmomma]

Pebbles had several double teeth that I had removed during her spay. One was right in the front and I didn't even notice that one until after it was out. I went to pick her up and OMG her front tooth was GONE I had told the vet to really take a good look once she was under and to remove anything that did not belong but who would have know one would have been right in the front!

Good luck in whatever you decide.