Happy new year! It’s been a weird year so far. Ryan and I both contracted something (Norovirus? No clue) on New Year’s Eve… so rather than heading to Flagstaff’s midnight pinecone drop like we usually do, we both rang in 2025 sick on our couch, watching Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper’s antics on CNN while calling it a night at 10:02 p.m. right after the ball dropped on the east coast.
Then, Ryan packed up early on January 1 to head out to a fire assignment down in the Payson area. I spent New Year’s Day recovering at home before teaching a yoga class at the studio, and preparing Ochi for his big day…
…dental work!
When we first adopted Ochi early last year, we took him in for his post-adoption check-up (at Canyon Pet Hospital here in Flagstaff) a few days after we brought him home.
While Ochi was pretty hesitant to let the veterinarian examine his full mouth, his vet let us know that there was some visible plaque build-up, and that we should try to brush his teeth and give him dental treats somewhat frequently.
Well, Ochi would not let us anywhere near his teeth for a brushing.
After about eight months of dental treats and dental treats alone, we decided that (judging by how awful Ochi’s breath had gotten and how rough his visible teeth were looking), he needed something greater than dental treats.
We booked Ochi a dental appointment and arranged to have him anesthetized so his vets could do anything and everything needed to his teeth all at once – an exam, x-rays, cleaning… whatever.
I’m glad we did that, because it turns out that Ochi needed to have a few of his teeth extracted since they were beyond repair.
Essentially, Ochers had two upper molars that were rotting in the back of his mouth. The roots were exposed and the vet let us know they looked pretty painful.
Luckily, Canyon’s awesome team was able to extract those teeth and clean up the rest of his mouth, and everything went really well during Ochi’s day at the vet.
After a full day of an exam, x-rays, a cleaning and his two extractions, I took Ochi home for some rest.
Canyon sent us home with some prescriptions, post-surgery care instructions and some adorable swag including his bandana and his certificate of bravery!
…and some super, super bright white chompers.
Ochi was put on a soft food diet (kibble briefly soaked in hot water, then drained and cooled to lukewarm) and given some antibiotics, painkillers and other medications.
He was pretty out of it after he got home from the vet.
He spent a bit of time crying and whimpering (my heart!) but he was still somehow feeling well enough to beg for my dinner, apparently.
It’s been two weeks since Ochi’s appointment, and he’s healed up pretty well! He’s back to his normal kibble diet and has finished up all of his meds.
We’re super grateful to Canyon for all their work on our super duper trooper, and hope you love the photos of our dopey loopy pup.
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