What would you do?

I had booked Ginger in to have a GA tomorrow, to have skull x-rays taken as I suspect a dental abscess (runny eyes/sneezing/not eating properly). Ginger's vet has spoken to my sister (another vet at the practice) and has said if he's eating at all to put it off, and see if the antibiotics/eyedrops he's currently using have any affect. I don't know why he didn't just say that to me on the phone earlier though... :? If it is a dental abscess I want to attempt to treat it, rather than PTS, so obviously I want to it as early as possible. On the other hand I don't want to put him through the GA for nothing.

What would you do if you were me?

How long has he been on abx ?

What makes you think he has a Dental abscess ?

I haven't voted on the poll cos I think there are too many factors to take into consideration and I don't know enough about Ginger and how long the problem has persisted.

I tend to push for treatment if I think a problem has gone on for too long and hasn't responded to previous treatment, but I will be guided by the vet.

Sorry, it's me thinking aloud really, because I just don't know what to do. I know nobody but me can make the decision.

He's been on the antibiotics for 5 days now. Symptoms are:

*Runny eyes. The amount of discharge seems to vary throughout the day. I don't know what that's about.
*Sneezing without any obvious discharge from the nose, it's just a little damp sometimes.
*Scratching around the right side of his face
*Possibly slight swelling around the right side of his upper jaw. I may just be imagining things there though!
*Pain. The vet didn't give me any painkillers for him, so I've asked Katie to bring some Metacam tonight. Is it normal to be tooth grinding etc with a respiratory tract infection?
*Going off food. More noticeably since yesterday.


He does seem rather a lot better this evening, but then if I leave it it'll get worse and worse. It seemed to come on very suddenly. Is that typical with dental abscesses or no?

I would go ahead as planned, just inc ase to be honest...
Better safe than sorry
xx

dont know whether its an abscess or not but go with your gut instinct...
mines always told me the right thing to do..good luck with whatever you decide to do.. i hope he gets better soon

I think I would get him checked out as planned to investigate what it could be.

Maybe he just needs a dental e.g. if his teeth are putting pressure he may need them taking right down to relieve the pressure.:? Has he had a dental recently?