JULY 2008: HANA

Hana is a 10 yr old, spayed, female Cocker Spaniel with advanced periodontal disease. The money available for her medical needs was limited for this client and so with that in mind, a course of treatment was planned for her procedure to best address her issues. A blood panel including a CBC and 12 chemistries was done and showed to be unremarkable. An intravenous catheter was placed and fluids would be run at normal surgery rates. Propofol was used for induction and Hana was maintained on Isoflurane throughout the anesthesia episode. The anesthetized oral exam showed extensive gingival attachment loss, furcation exposure and periodontal pocket formation. Full mouth radiographs were taken to assess the extent of disease and charting of each tooth was done.Prophylaxis was performed with an ultrasonic scaler and hand instrumentation and finished by polishing the teeth with a fine flour pumice slurry. The mouth was flushed with dilute chlorhexidine and an oral mouth rinse was applied.  Due to the circumstances, a course of treatment would be formulated for a second procedure in the coming months. At that time , a total of 10-15 teeth would need to be extracted. For now, Hana would go home on a 2 week course of antibiotics and pain medication including a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory. Despite the desire to do the best for our patients right now, there are always ways to work out the therapy needs and still achieve an acceptable result. Sometimes that means a second procedure may need to be done. As long as the animal receives the care it needs, the result will be a happier and healthier patient. The client also will be relieved that they were able to take care of their pet.