Flossie’s lost half of her teeth.
It sounds more dramatic than it was, but it has been “a journey”, as they say.
For a while now, Flossie’s had breath that would wilt plant life. I love her very much, but it got to the point where I was apologising to visitors in advance and sitting next to her became a gas mask situation.
When she started to struggle with hard or crunchy food, it was time to visit our vet who noticed that one of her teeth was loose and the rest were not in great shape either. A dental extraction and clean up operation was needed.
This was no small thing for Flossie who is anxious at the best of times. We hatched a plan of how best to manage her. This included giving her some medication at home to keep her calm and the vet doing the operation as soon as Flossie arrived so she was there for the shortest time possible.
Our plan worked beautifully. Flossie trotted in willingly, I handed her over, and walked away. The team managed to give her the pre-med injection before I’d left the car park.
And then it was smooth sailing. Except they had to remove far more teeth than I was expecting.
Afterwards, I was given a map of her mouth. She already had seven missing teeth – likely due to her bad start in life – and they extracted a further 14. I was alarmed at first, but dogs have a lot of teeth and she’s still got half of them. And those are now clean and healthy.
She recovered quickly. Within a few days she was back to her sunny self, albeit with a new smile, and was eating her usual food with no issues at all.
I cannot thank Kelston Vets enough for the care they showed Flossie and the fantastic job they have done.
And the best part?
Her breath smells of absolutely nothing.
As published in the Bath Chronicle, 24 July 2025
Suzy Pope is a certified copywriter and newspaper columnist specialising in pets, business and lifestyle. If you would like help with a writing project, please get in touch.