7month pit mix cant open mouth wide

[aceofspades618]

Hi I have a 7 month old male pit mix. Supposedly 3/4 pit 1/4 Australian shepard. Got him and his sister off of craigslist about 3 months ago. They were covered head to toe in ticks and fleas, also infested with worms. The male also had a bad ear infection on his driver side. After getting them cleaned up and his ear cleaned of foul black disharge. I began to notice that although he was eating and drinking well, he wouldnt open his mouth very wide at all. I tried to open it a little bit to look inside. He obviously experienced extreme discomfort, so I took him to the vet first thing in the morning. The vet tried the same and eventually sedated him for a closer inspection. She couldnt find anything extremely abnormal besides very bad breath. I told her I dont have alot of money and cant afford a bunch of tests, so she gave him a steroid shot and 10 days of amox/clav. I picked up the refill after 5 days and he got another steroid shot. He seemed to improve a decent amount. Opening mouth at about 12% vs 5 at first. It's been about another 2 weeks and the foul breath is coming back. I want to do more for him, but spent my last 200$ on vet bills. Is there any kind of home remedies anybody could think of? I'm going to get him an x-ray, but it's going to be about 2-3 months before I can afford it. He plays well with our two other dogs and seems to be gaining a healthy amount of weight, just so sad to see him not be able to pick up a tennis ball like his younger sister and our older German Shepard.

 

[chrissyboy]

@aceofspades618 Love to see what others say, but this sounds like a tooth related issue that really requires a vet (ie: an extraction). Maybe look in to low cost clinics in your area or services for low income? If you post your city, maybe people can help look?

 

[aceofspades618]

@chrissyboy You think he would be sensitive to me griping his teeth between my fingers and giving it a wiggle? He will let me touch all of his teeth but absolutely wont let me open his mouth wider. I'm in norman Oklahoma

 

[chrissyboy]

@aceofspades618 I guess I wasn’t too clear, I didn’t mean straight tooth, but at minimum a medical mouth issue. It sounds very serious, although quite positive if you can touch all of it teeth. How do you get to the back ones if he won’t open up?

Bad breath is also a sign of something bad going on in there.

 

[reggie1955]

@aceofspades618 Masticatory muscle myositis

I have a pit mix with this condition and it sounds like what yours is experiencing. It's not expensive to treat, but there is no cure so he could relapse at any time.

 

[aceofspades618]

@reggie1955 You think that's why the steroid shots seemed to help more than anything? Also does that explain the foul breath? Could be the cat poop, but seems distinct. Also you think he would benefit from NSAIDs?

 

[shroom]

@aceofspades618 I'm not the person above, but I do have a dog who was recently on acetaminophen under a vet's direction because my dog was extremely sore after an ultrasound (they have to stretch them out to do it). My advice is that you do not give them any NSAID without your vet telling you to do so. I was googling some of the side effects to look out for, and it seems like it is so easy for dogs to OD on it.

My dog also had nasty breath and a deep teeth cleaning by the vet helped a lot. He also had an abscessed tooth, and the vet said the antibiotics he took for that would help with the breath in general, and they did. Our vet had a 10% off teeth cleaning month, so I'd ask yours if they have the same. If it's months away, it'll give you time to save up some money. Until then, you could try to introduce your dogs to doggy toothpaste (you don't have to open their mouths much at all, either. I just sorta lift my guy's lips and do his canines before guiding the brush along the side teeth). You said your dogs were in bad shape when you got them, so it could just be that their teeth have never been cleaned. That was the case (pre-abcessed tooth) with my boy. The brushing at home isn't nearly the same quality, but it could help a little.

I can't help you with the jaw thing, but I wish you good luck!

 

[aceofspades618]

I appreciate the advice! Will definitely brush his teeth! He is still eating dry food right now but think I'm about to switch him to wet food. I guess I wont give him NSAIDs, I was reading benadryl might be alright to help with swelling ?

 

[pastorjal]

@aceofspades618 Hey, please don’t mess around with drugs and your dog. I can’t tell you how many hours I’ve had to study pharma to make sure I don’t kill someone’s pet.

It’s not safe.

Besides that, you don’t know what you’re treating. If it’s an infection; the inflammation might not be a bad thing. The important thing isn’t always to attack the symptoms, but the cause. You shouldn’t throw drugs at the wall and see what sticks. You could damage his internal organs or make the original issue worse.

look into care credit and insurance for your pup. Since he hasn’t been diagnosed with anything, you might be able to get this covered by that.

otherwise if you’re worried about welfare, ask to talk to your vet about it for an honest opinion, ask them what they would do on welfare grounds.

We can be bleeding hearts for a good rescue story like you have.

 

[aceofspades618]

@pastorjal Hey I really appreciate your advice, iv never given him any kind of medication other than from a vet 10 days of amox/clav by mouth and he got two steroid shots. I did just brush his teeth with baking soda after checking it was safe. He has some treats that I think may help him exercise his jaw a little bit. Il take your advise and just wait though. My biggest issue is the vet couldnt really tell me anything besides offer a "ct" scan. I imagine that being like an x ray. I doubt the place I went to would be interested in welfare. I'm not looking for charity either, although that might be a different story if he was unable to eat or drink. Really just looking for home remedies like physical therapy, antibiotic plants, and information like this. Might have been asking too much hoping somebody would say they had a similar problem and gave them benadryl and they started opening their mouth. I really appreciate all the advice and have done alot of reading about it,definitely not going to give him any people medicine. Will post update when he gets a scan of his jaw

 

[pastorjal]

@aceofspades618 EDIT
actually I’m unconvinced it’s not an internal or middle ear infection that’s being a dick to treat. So that’d be at the top of my ddx I reckon

EDIT 2
pretty sure for inner infections the antibiotic course should be much longer. I reckon you go see another vet and ask about it. Don’t think steroids are the answer.

 

[aceofspades618]

@pastorjal My top guesses are middle or inner ear infection, abcess and mitosis. He had foul black ear wax on his left ear and that seems to be the side he trys not to chew on. Occasionally paws at that side, maybe once or twice a week(im around him pretty much 24/7). He does have a tooth on the other side, plaque and decay around one specific tooth. The one time I managed to open his mouth about 25% that seemed to be the side that hurt him. I dont even want to attempt that again after the way he responded. Usually he bites shut but that one time I surprised him. That's what triggered the first vet visit. I'm not sure the vet looked in his ear, but I mentioned the wax was abnormal and persistent. Finally stopped it with "earwell wipes " by a company called vetwell. Before that I was using apple cider vinigar diluted with water on a cotton pad. His eyes and the top of his head look a little funny to me. He seems to play less than our other two, but when he does he seems to have just as much energy. Still has a very healthy appetite despite eating slower. Seemed to notice lasting improvement from oral antibiotics and steroid shot.

 

[aceofspades618]

@pastorjal Thanks! I might visit a different vet and ask for a longer dose of possibly a more suited antibiotic. He got that amoxicillin 3x a day for 10 days. I would have taken him back a third time, but he seemed at least stable, even noticeably better and I didnt have the funds for another visit. I appreciate your advice more than I can tell you