Puppy Teeth At 12 Months

[minimax]

My pug Max is 12 months old and still has her two baby teeth where the one sharp pointy tooth should be. The vet (not her usual/preferred one, but one she has seen a few times) told me they should come out and did i want to book her in next week.

I flailed and said no (need DOL advice first :laugh:) but also his main reason for them needing to come out was that food gets stuck between them, and i need more of a reason than that to put my brachy breed under a GA (not helped that when i mentioned my hesitation in putting my squishie face under GA the vet made a joke about how the only time pugs can breathe properly is when they are under GA with a breathing tube).

Shes not fed dry or tinned food anyway, shes fed raw (mostly bones, chunks of beef, some minced stuff/slop mix) and barely chews anyway coz shes a pug lol

So is "food getting stuck" a valid reason for ripping out the puppy teeth, or are there other health reasons and he was just using that one?

Another thing that annoyed me about the vet was that he said if had waited to have he desexed at 6 months this wouldnt be an issue because they would have seen it then and done it while she was under. She WAS desexed at six months, by HIM personally . Its my other (male) pug that was desexed at 13 weeks and he apparently holds that against me for some reason.

So, annoying vet aside (and ill take her in for a second opinion when our usual vet gets back) - rip puppy teeth out?

[Salukifan]

Absolutely. Retained canines aren't uncommon in small dogs and are generally removed to assist the adult teeth into position. If they are still present at 12 months of age, they won't be falling out. Have them removed.

Eta. If all you can see is two little teeth that probably means that the retained teeth have blocked the descent of the adult canines.

Edited October 12, 2012 by Haredown Whippets

[minimax]

Absolutely. Retained canines aren't uncommon in small dogs and are generally removed to assist the adult teeth into position. If they are still present at 12 months of age, they won't be falling out. Have them removed.

Eta. If all you can see is two little teeth that probably means that the retained teeth have blocked the descent of the adult canines.

Yep, can just see the two little ones, no big one.

Oh well. Gives a chance to get some other stuff done while she's under I guess.

Edited October 12, 2012 by minimax