Epulis on Gums

C

cruzinstephie

Forums Novice
Hello Sheltie Forums! I have a 13-15 year old male bi-blue sheltie. (He was a rescue, so I don't have his exact age.) He has always had very bad teeth and randomly gets growths on his gums that are called epulides.

He has one particularly stubborn one that grew for the first time in October 2012. I have had the same place removed 6 times now (by two different vets) and it is back again. It's along his top gum line all of the way back behind his last tooth. I've had it sent out for pathology every time and it is not cancerous.

He also has DCM, grade 5 heart murmur, (although we haven't had a CHF episode thanks to his extraordinary cardiologist.) So anyway, at the agreement of his vet, we have been holding off getting it operated on until it begins to get in the way of his bite since any surgery is difficult for his condition. Unfortunately, it's time again. He's scheduled for surgery next Wednesday.

Just wondering if any of you Sheltie parents have had a dog with a persistent epulis like this and had any suggestions?

Thanks for any help or insight you can provide!

Kind Regards,
Perry's Mom (Stephanie)
 
I'm sorry, I haven't heard of or ever had that problem. Just wanted to welcome you and Perry to Sheltie Nation. Good luck to Perry with the surgery, please keep us posted on how he does, I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers for a successful surgery. :fl
 
I don't have any advice, either. I read your post to my husband (who is a human dentist) and he said you were doing the right thing.

Keep us posted on how Perry is doing!
 
Thanks everyone for your prayers. Perry is a tough little guy.

Maybe you can suggest some ideas on keeping his gums in decent shape? As I said, he has always had a terrible mouth. He had a full cleaning in August, which was the last time we had the epulis removed. This has actually been the longest we've made it before it grew back. He could use another cleaning already, but the cardiologist advised against it.

It seems like the worse his mouth is, the more prone to them he is. I've tried daily and even twice daily bushings with various enzymatic tooth pastes. We do raw meaty bones. I've tried the naked dental chews. He also gets CoQ10. I read that it is good both for his heart and his gums.

Any other supplements I should try or ways to keep his gums healthy?

Thank you,
Steph
 
Sorry I do not have any suggestions or know of any supplements for you to use for him. Hopefully, someone else on the forum will.

But I promise to keep your little guy on my prayer list, though.

ps Please let us know how the surgery goes next Wednesday. Thank you.
 
Your vet will know what is best for Perry...you can't do nothing if it's big and painful... Did your vet say what kind of an epulis it is ? Some need extensive surgery to permanently remove them. Prayers for a successful surgery.
 
cruzinstephie said:
Hello Sheltie Forums! I have a 13-15 year old male bi-blue sheltie. (He was a rescue, so I don't have his exact age.) He has always had very bad teeth and randomly gets growths on his gums that are called epulides.

He has one particularly stubborn one that grew for the first time in October 2012. I have had the same place removed 6 times now (by two different vets) and it is back again. It's along his top gum line all of the way back behind his last tooth. I've had it sent out for pathology every time and it is not cancerous.

He also has DCM, grade 5 heart murmur, (although we haven't had a CHF episode thanks to his extraordinary cardiologist.) So anyway, at the agreement of his vet, we have been holding off getting it operated on until it begins to get in the way of his bite since any surgery is difficult for his condition. Unfortunately, it's time again. He's scheduled for surgery next Wednesday.

Just wondering if any of you Sheltie parents have had a dog with a persistent epulis like this and had any suggestions?

Thanks for any help or insight you can provide!

Kind Regards,
Perry's Mom (Stephanie)
Click to expand...

I have a 12 year old Sable who has had a persistent Epulis growth, the most aggressive kind, for almost 2 years. When I had it removed the first time they gave me two options. First to go see a specialists to completely remove it. This would be down to the jaw bone or take it back or debulk it as it gets bigger. Unfortunately I chose to take it back as it grows. Yesterday after two times of shaving it back I had it completely removed along with almost half of her lower jaw. I should have done it the first time. It probably would have saved much of her jaw. The Epulis went into her bone and it was causing her discomfort. It was the hardest decision I ever made but she is otherwise healthy. She looks good and was even eating today the first day home after surgery. My advice is to find out the type of Epulis. I think there are 3. If you have the aggressive type get it out right away.
 
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