My Vizsla, Nala: Nala goes under the knife

WARNING: This blog entry was not written by Norma. The comments expressed by the author do not necessarily reflect the views of Norma Angelica Vazquez and should not be used as such...

Now that we got that out of the way, this is Adan checking in because Norma didn't feel like updating the blog so I gave it a shot. So here goes:

Nala had her spay this past week, a great way to celebrate her 6-month birthday (which occurred on Dec. 6th). Norma became increasingly nervous as the spay date approached and I could tell that she was genuinely anxious about the prospect of Nala going under the knife. I wasn't too nervous, although my veterinary colleagues have told me that a spay is not a straight forward procedure and if done improperly can lead to a series of serious life-threatening complications. That being said, hysterectomies are a procedure performed routinely in veterinary hospitals across the world so I was completely confident that our vet, Dr. DeRemer, would perform a successful spay on our baby girl, Nala. The day of the spay it was pretty cold here in Portland and we spent the morning pouring water all over Norma's Yaris in order to get the ice off the car windows. Once that was done, we drove to the veterinary clinic and dropped Nala off for her procedure at 7:30 A.M. The staff quickly got our paperwork done and assured us that Nala would be well taken care of. I then gave Norma a hug and kiss and hopped onto the MAX train to head to work while she took the car back to our apartment.

Two hours into work, I got a phone call from a distressed fiancee. Norma told me that she had received a somewhat confusing phone call from the veterinarian in which he expressed two key thoughts - Nala's spay went well and that he documented an unrelated health issue. I was happy to hear that her spay went well but I could tell the second issue was worrying Norma. Apparently, Nala had some dental problems, a health issue she must have inherited from her mom =) While under anesthesia, the veterinarian performed a routine health check-up including an thorough examination of Nala's teeth and gum tissue. He noticed several problems that he documented both in Nala's health records and through X-ray imaging:

1) Nala had a mal-aligned mandible

2) A small laceration on her upper palate had occured due to the mal-aligned canine tooth

3) A small, deciduous tooth had not fallen out yet and may need to be extracted

4) An adult malformed tooth may also need to be filed down or perhaps extracted

The news hit Norma hard because she hates the thought of Nala being in pain, but I assured her that everything would be OK and we would immediately set-up an appointment with a Veterinary Oral Surgeon. But when we picked Nala up from the clinic, the veterinary technician assured us that the although the laceration was deep and the mal-alignment was uncommon, Nala was not suffering at all. Although this news was not great to receive so close to Christmas, I am happy that we have some extra money to spend on Nala's healthcare. That being said, I'm optimistic that the surgeon can determine the etiology of her condition and provide us with several options to decide on.