Scared and a bit worried

[Becky89*]

I recieved an email the other night from my mom concerning her nine year old Border Collie, Rose. Mom said that Rose could not open her mouth to eat and that our vet had to put her under and open her up to see what was wrong and still has no clue as to what is going on........ does anyone here have any idea what could be wrong with my mom's dog? I do not like the vet she takes her dog to because she doesn't know very much and only helps dogs and cats......but she is my mother's neighbor so mom takes Rose to her.

I would love feedback on this..... I know nothing medically about dogs but I am starting to learn.....

 

[mom'sfolly]

Tetanus maybe? I don't know, but that is the first thing that came to mind.

 

[Becky89*]

Are there any other symptoms of tetanus that I can look for? Rose has has thyrod problems since she was seven, I was thinking that it might be linked but then again I no nothing about this sort of issue.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

This is an overview of Tetanus in humans...let me see if I can find one for dogs:
http://www.healthscout.com/ency/68/291/main.html

Here's a video on it from a vet:

 

[Becky89*]

Quote:
Thank you.........are there any other ideas of what could be happening

 

[silkiechicken]

Sounds like "lockjaw" or tetanus to me too.

 

[welsummerchicks]

There are so many possibilities. Rabies, Tetanus, or a jaw, tongue or throat injury...and many others.

I would think taking a dog to a vet that only does dogs and cats would be the best choice. Maybe the vet knows more than it seems.

 

[MomtoSyd&Emma]

My sister had a Lab mix that couldnt open its mouth, this was years ago, come to find out our GrandFather had brought them some raw bones, one of the bones had lodged in the roof of her mouth and braced her mouth shut. Thankfully my DH saw it and we were able to dislodge it ourselves as it was late at night.

 

[SallyF]

We had a poodle once who exhibited the same symptom. DH was in the Navy and we were living next to an Army base, which still had a veterinarian, so that's where we took the dog. The vet was excited, because he had to look it up; it turned out to be some rare disease, sort of an auto-immune thing, which causes the dogs jaws to freeze shut. Apparently it's treated with steroids, and the dog did recover. Vet said he'd only seen one other case of it before.

 

[sourland]

What did the veterinarian find?