Poor Yoda Our Dog Needs Surgery

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This week we I went downstairs to find a lot of blood all over Yoda’s bed and blanket. I quickly went to investigate and found that poor Yoda was bleeding pretty bad. 

I looked inside Yoda’s mouth and found his front teeth were all damaged and his mouth full of blood. John and I were not sure what was going on a first but eventually we found a small flake of brick  in Yoda’s mouth and found the corresponding brick in the garden. 

Yoda aka Mr Piggy Wiggy has always tasted the most random of things from wallpaper to flowers and grass and he had gone and hurt himself by chomping down on a brick. What a silly boy. 

As we had experience with Casper cutting his mouth a few months ago, I decided to wait the day out and see if Yoda’s mouth would heal. 

Yoda the Bichon Became Unwell

Sadly Yoda became more unwell. He was not hungry, would not move and he looked miserable. We found a lot more blood the next day and realised this was more serious than we had first thought. 

We took Yoda to the Vet and he underwent blood tests and an examination. 

The Vet was so worried she thought he might have kidney failure or liver problems and told us to prepare for the worst. We were asked to consider putting Yoda to sleep depending upon his results. 

John and I cried as we discussed the possibility of putting our beloved Yoda to sleep. We did not want to do this but knew it may be the best thing for him. 

We waited all day and got a phone call. The Vet said, apart from the issue with his teeth Yoda only has one health condition and that is a heart murmur, which has affected his weight. 

Our Dog Needs Surgery

We had two options:

Option One: Try and Save Yoda’s Life

Yoda can have a major operation to remove 4 of his front teeth and some on the side…with the risk of dying on the table. There is a 40% chance he will survive the procedure and a 60% chance he will die.  

If we do not operate his mouth will simply get infected over and over and he will suffer pain and eventually his quality of life would be so poor he would need to be euthanised. 

If he survives the surgery, he can then recover at home and learn to eat without his teeth and get some support for his weight and heart murmur. 

He can then be happy and continue his life. 

-Our Insurance does not cover teeth/dental but does cover medical. So we are having to pay for the operation unexpectedly. 

Option Two: Euthanise Our Dog and Send Him to Pet Heaven

The second option is to end Yoda’s life. This is not something we want to do. After giving Yoda pain medication and antibiotics, he has perked up and seems much more happier again. 

He is walking around, wagging his tail and being his usual self, but clearly has a sore mouth and has moments of looking a little sad. 

Had his quality of life not picked up we might have considered euthanising our dog but it’s something we would only want to do if he was really suffering badly.

The Decision to Give Yoda Our Dog Surgery

So we talked about it for 24 hours and discussed the options with our daughter Sylvia, as Yoda is her dog.

We all agreed we want to give Yoda the chance to live. 

We don’t want our Bichon Frise dog to suffer and would regret not trying to improve his life and giving up on him without giving him a chance to sort his teeth. 

Paying For Our Pet’s Operation

So we made a decision and booked Yoda in for next Wednesday. We are nervous and praying he will make it through the procedure with his heart condition. 

I sure hope he does. 

The initial costs were £130 for medicine and tests and the surgery is another £500 plus and medication and follow up afterwards. 

Finding £500 when your not expecting it is not easy and so we have been trying to sell things and I’ve been doing my best to earn the extra cash. We have managed to get half the money and are still working towards the rest. 

It has been a nightmare the last few days and whilst Yoda waits for his procedure, I hope I can keep saving up and that he makes it through the operation. 

Giving Our Dog Surgery Is Scary

I am a little scared. We were all devastated when we thought the only option was to have yoda put to sleep and we all cried a little. However we will do our best to make sure that is the final option and hopefully he can recover from his teeth troubles and live a good long life. 

I hope so. I will keep you all updated. 

Knowing Yoda may not make it is so scary. He is so precious to us and I have had so many thoughts in my head, including how to help Sylvia and how will Casper cope on his own but hopefully that will not be the end result. Fingers crossed. I am worried but will just wait it out and see what happens. 

Angela x