Gingival Hyperplasia

[Shelby's mom]

Hello everyone.

About 9/10 months ago Shelby was sick and to make a long story short she was diagnosed with high blood pressure. She takes 2 different medications for this. The side effect of one of the medications is gingival hyperplasia.

Her gums are beginning to grow over her teeth and out towards the front of her mouth. We were just at the vet about a month or so ago. She explained that it is caused by the medication she is on. There really isn’t much we can do about it. We can’t take her off her meds (and there is nothing else she can take) and the vet doesn’t want to do a dental because this will just grow back.

I was wondering if anyone else has ever experienced this and if so what did you do?

I feel so bad for her, I don’t want to brush her teeth because I know it will make her bleed. I know this will eventually impact her eating kibble, she already drools more when she is drinking. She is still happy, eating and drinking normal. I know she doesn’t play with her toys much anymore. I don’t know if it is because of her mouth or if it is just because she is getting old. She doesn’t seem to be in any pain or discomfort. Maybe I’m just feeling sad knowing she is 10 years old and I know she is not getting any younger. I worry every day about her and don’t want anything to happen to her.

I think I’m going to call the vet next week just to see if there is anything we could possibly do or try. My poor baby

 

[Sharon7]

I'm really sorry to hear this about Shelby. Usually they do just trim the gums back, and it may get to the point you have to do it even if it will grow back. It's not easy watching our pets age and coping with all that comes with that. Sounds like she is doing pretty well other than that. That sure is a weird side effect.
Shelby knows she is loved and treasured and that's the important part!

 

[ghggp]

I am so sorry to hear poor Shelby is dealing with Gingival Hyperplasia. While I have never heard of this I can imagine the level of worry it causes.
How old is Shelby now? Have you spoken to the breeder to see if they have any help or counsel to offer? Are you seeing a specialty vet or your general vet? I certainly hope you can find some relief for her.

 

[RikyR]

I never even knew that dogs could have high blood pressure until Cody had a horrible nose bleed late one night. We also found out then he had late stage kidney disease. Great that your vet caught it early. Just like humans, high blood pressure causes the same kind of issues in dogs.

 

[Shelby's mom]

Shelby is 10 years old. Our last Sheltie lived until 13 so I always worry now that she is getting older.

It was quite a process for her to get her diagnosis, she had a bad bout of gastritis, was drinking ALOT, and peed in the house. She has always had protein in her urine for no reason. We were ruling out kidney disease and Cushing(which we did) but in doing so found the high BP.

According to my vet there are few medications approved to treat this in dogs and she is on the 2 that are approved. Her BP is great but now we have this as a side effect.

Maybe I am just overly concerned. I’m sure it bothers me more than her.