One of the reasons to wait until 6 months to spay or neuter a dog or cat is shown above. The upper canine tooth (fang) has come in, but the baby fang behind it never fell out. This is an extremely common problem, especially in toy breed dogs, and will be apparent by 6 months of age. This is when most dogs would have had the permanent canine teeth erupt. While pets are under anesthesia, the baby teeth can be extracted, eliminating the crowding of the teeth. This is a delicate procedure since the baby teeth enamel is very thin, but one that pets recover from very quickly. Neutering or spaying can be done as early as 12 weeks of age, but if retained baby teeth have to be removed later, there is the additional cost of a second anesthetic procedure. Worse, pet owners may not notice the retained teeth, and the problem may not be addressed until the next exam. By that time, damage to the teeth and gums may have occurred.
The orange tube delivers oxygen (see the nice pink gums!) and anesthetic and allows us to "breathe" for our patient as need. The rubber bands help to gently hold the tube in place while being easily repositioned during the extraction. A nerve block has been done (hidden by the upper lip) to minimize any discomfort from the extraction.
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