dog teeth

when i pick him up from the dog dentist, guthrie doesn't know who i am. this may or may not be because of an intravenous cephalic catheter dripping valium into him all day. it's possible this catheter kept him anesthetized and the valium got into him some other how, but i can tell you he looked like a lot of moms did back in 1975 or so only without that blue eye shadow. i can tell you he likes the valium.

he looks so tiny in the arms of the woman who brings him out, a brown furry puddle with stubby legs dangling off at the corners. his eyes do not focus. the brown one looks straight ahead and the blue one looks up and out. the tech hands him over and then hands me a bag with antibiotics, pain pills and five small, ugly teeth, one with a root so black it looks painted, fake. i have no idea what the tooth fairy will say about this. five is more teeth that she usually deals with. five is a bar fight.

the woman who hands guthrie over tells me how adorable he is. just this morning when i dropped him off, people outside the vet's office were snapping photos of him hanging off my shoulder. a few days before, we walked out the door to two neighborhood women who said they'd just been talking about us. by us they meant guthrie. they asked to get a few photos of him to put up in the window of the corner pharmacy. i feel like the mother of a teenage beauty queen. but i smile when the woman at the vet's office tells me about guthrie because she was snuggling on him when she brought him out and i know she means he's sweet.

i let him try walking and our five block trip is quite an adventure. we round a corner and come face to face with a red dachshund. it prances up to guthrie and steps back a little, probably offended by surgery smells and the luridness of valium. but guthrie suddenly remembers who he is, at least for a moment. his brain lunges forward and his body attempts to follow. he opens his deadly jaws wide to clamp them down on the sweet nose of this dog and the valium washes over him again. he forgets. his brain giggles. he sits a second or two in the middle of that smooshy attack, mouth open, some of his teeth bared, frozen a few inches away from the surprised dog. and then his whole tired, confused head slides back down on top of his lower jaw, shutting his mouth. the red dachshund walks on past, probably making a mental note to just say no to drugs. when we meet his archnemesis, the small black pug, on up the block, the valium is the only one at the wheel and guthrie strolls past on his wobbly legs. the pug's owner and the confused little pug both stare, wide eyed. i motion to the white surgical tape on guthrie's front paw and say "valium". they both nod and smile.

i carry his floppy self up the two flights of stairs and he does not once try to leap out of my arms and knock me back down the stairs. he sees little floating things that make him cock his head from time to time but i can't see any of them. because he's hopped up on valium and missing five teeth, the vet said he's not likely to eat much the next few days and if he eats, it should be soft food. i am prepared. i have food but will not worry if he doesn't eat.

but guthrie staggers down the long hall, through the living room and directly into the kitchen. he turns to the fridge (the dog food lives above it) and runs smack into the corner of the thing with his loose face. he nearly falls over. he tries again. his eyes are puffy and do not appear to be connected to his brain. his mouth is swollen and his lips are flapping loose around his face. not a single one of his sensory organs is fully committed to him at this point. he sits in front of the fridge, looks up at the bag of dog food on top. he starts to cry. it is low and wobbly and i think he is in pain but his head, if not his eyes, focuses on that bag. he has not eaten in almost 24 hours. i get a can of the soft food and put a small spoonful onto a plate. it is gone before the plate is on the floor. i do not want him to get sick so i offer a spoon at a time until the entire can is gone. we will start with the toothbrush and the dog toothpaste in two weeks.