Toothless.

I was sitting on the floor the other day playing with Otto. Suddenly, a strange, somewhat white thing falls out of his mouth onto my leg. He swiftly scooped it up with his tongue and ran under a table with it. He seemed embarrassed, and Otto doesn't get embarrassed. I pulled him out and demanded he show me what he was trying to chew up.

It was a tooth. An incisor, to be exact. When he realized I was trying to get it from him, he promptly swallowed it. I knew then that it was time for another dental.

As you can see, he already has a few missing teeth..

Yorkies are known to have really bad teeth. It's just part of their breed (and a good reason not to spend money on purebred dogs... mixed breeds are generally much healthier). Otto, unfortunately, was no exception (though he is exceptionally well-behaved for a Yorkie). I got his teeth cleaned for the first time when he was 4 years old, and he had to have probably about 10 teeth pulled. Since then, I tried every dental treat/toy I could find. Nothing seems to do a good enough job, and there is no way he will ever let me brush his teeth.

Now he is 6, and this time, only around 5 or 6 teeth had to be pulled (I always assist with my animals' vet visits since I've worked with the vet, but I cringe every time another tooth has to be pulled), but sadly (especially for my wallet), I'm going to have to get his teeth cleaned yearly now (at least).

Here's a rundown of what doggy dentals/teeth cleaning entail: first the dog is given a sedative shot. When it is pretty much asleep, it is put on a gas mask for a short time and is then intubated. Then the mouth is propped open with a little tool that fits between the top and bottom canines, and the cleaning begins. First the tartar is scraped off, then loose teeth are pulled, then the teeth are polished (very similarly to human teeth cleaning), and finally, a sealant type thing is applied to the teeth. Then the gas goes off, the intubation tube is removed when the dog wakes up a little more, and pain/antibiotic shots are given (only get pain shot if teeth have been pulled).

My poor baby waking up. He looked like this for about 5 minutes, and his head was super wobbly. Yeah, I laughed.

To make his mouth feel better after his pain meds wore off, I made him some frozen dog treats. He absolutely loves them. I found the recipe on Pinterest, but I kinda just eyeballed the ingredients. This is what I used:

Two small (single serving size) tubs of plain yogurt
1 banana, mashed
About 1/8 cup of peanut butter
About 1 T honey

You just squish it all up, scoop it out into ice cube trays, and freeze it. It's probably good to limit the treat giving to once a day since these have yogurt in them (a lot of adult dogs become lactose intolerant, but small amounts shouldn't hurt them and can actually be useful in treating diarrhea).

This is basically what they look like. I'm kinda tempted to try one myself...

My Children.

This post isn't going to be as interesting as dead monkeys and ball sacks, but I feel that it is necessary. A pre-vet student is nothing without her faithful companions. So here they are:

Otto

This is his skeptical face. (Ignore biochem and Netflix in background.)

Breed: Yorkshire Terrier
Nicknames: Toten, Totey, Toad, The Ot, Totenbaum, Toto, etc.
Likes: feet, food, belly rubs, burping in the faces of humans, licking things and leaving horrible breath stench behind, puking slime after not eating all day, cuddling, licking his nonexistent balls, being the center of attention, old people
Dislikes: being left behind, not getting the most attention

I got Otto when he was a puppy, and we have been best friends ever since. He has been by my side for 6 years now, and I don't know what I would do without him (probably turn into the biggest zombie bum in the world and not be able to function). It's a little ridiculous how much he means to me. And awesome news: Otto is working on becoming a certified therapy dog! We are supposed to be evaluated as a team in a couple months!

Dorito

He's not the cutest dog in the world, but he's awesome.

Breed: Chihuahua/Rat Terrier/Min Pin/Dachshund??? Who knows.
Nicknames: Taco, Rito, Rodito, Frito, etc.
Likes: Otto, Bosley, humans that he trusts, playing, eating, running, pooping, licking water off freshly showered legs, nibbling on human scabs, cuddling, playing
Dislikes: strangers (especially men), loud/fast moving things, stepping on cracks

Dorito was rescued from an animal shelter by the camp I worked at over the summer. He was going to be adopted out to a camper, but everyone fell in love with him, and people were fighting over him, so we decided to make him the camp dog. He started out being very shy (he was probably abused in the past), but he made HUGE improvements while at camp, and he has continued to get better. He is just an all around great dog, and I kinda fell in love with him. So instead of leaving him at camp during the off season, I took him home with me, and he has become part of the family. I was worried about it at first because Otto has always been the only dog, but they are best friends, and I can't imagine life without him now.

Bosley

Don't let that innocent look fool you..

Breed: Domestic Shorthair, I guess.
Nicknames: Bos-bos, The Cat, Alex's (my boyfriend's) Cat, Jerk
Likes: Alex, being obnoxious, tearing things up, attacking the dogs, biting the hands that feed him, scratching everything that walks by, farting, catnip, sneaking dog food, toilet water, attacking toes when people are trying to sleep
Dislikes: Jessie, not getting enough food, getting claws stuck on things

My boyfriend and I adopted Bosley from an animal shelter (the same one as Dorito.. I volunteered there for quite a while). I had been wanting a cat for a long time, and Bosley had been there longer than any of the others. He also jumped into my arms when I opened his cage to play with him, so I decided I wanted him. And I don't regret it at all, but he has turned out to be quite the little butthead. He keeps life interesting, I guess, and I love him, so he has a home for life. Unless he keeps growing the way he has been. He's not even a year old, and he is bigger than both of the dogs combined. He's a monster cat.

Shaymin

Hanging out under the coffee table.

Species: African Pygmy Hedgehog
Nicknames: Shaymi, Shay-shay
Likes: darkness, quietness, digging, t-shirts, sneaking out at night with male hedgehogs (when present), mealworms, having babies
Dislikes: baths, being surprised

Shaymin is awesome. As far as hedgehogs go, she is really friendly. She's been well-socialized, though, because I took her to school with me all the time last year. She's not exactly cuddly, but I am quite fond of her. She keeps me company when I do homework sometimes, but you have to keep an eye on her because she likes crawling into cloths (even pants), and it can be painful. Also, if everything went well, she should be popping out some babies in a few days! Don't worry, pictures will come.

Stanley Cornelius

His favorite spot.

Species: Ball Python
Nicknames: Stan
Likes: hanging out under his rock cave, basking in the sun, curling up in Jessie's hair, swallowing mice
Dislikes: not being warm

My mother almost killed me when she found out I got a snake. She said she would have rather I told her I was pregnant or a crack whore, and she was never going to let him in her house. She's gotten over it, though. I mean, she still won't look at him, but I'm proud of her. Stan's the most docile, awesome, little dude. My friend and I are his co-mothers, and we take turns taking care of him. I think he's pretty lucky to have us. When we got him, he was so thin that his skin was wrinkled, and he couldn't shed properly. Now he's healthy as can be.