I was about to clean Merry's teeth yesterday when I spotted a small overgrowth on her gum. It is sited on the lower jaw, below the space where her carnassial tooth was removed in October. It was definitely not there a fortnight ago, and is like a flat button - has a stalk and can be moved. Though I have seen dogs with epulis, I have never had a dog in my ownership that had one. Of course, I will be seeing the vet, but should I be worried? Has anyone had one of this type, and is it better to remove it while it is tiny, or leave it till it causes problems? Anybody got any advice, please.
Both of my two had them but we decided to leave them as they were not too big and not causing any problems. Jackie is your best bet for advice on them.
Thanks for the response Carole. It sounds as if I can leave it till our next routine visit - in about 8 weeks - unless I spot any changes of course. I have had a Google, it seems there are three types of epulides, but I think that this may be the most harmless type. @Jackie Any advice please?
I think you first need to rule out anything nasty, but if it's just a harmless epulis and it's not causing any issue, leave them alone, if in the future they ( it) begins to be an issue then you could have it removed, but they do and can come back so only have them removed if they start to bleed get to big and interfere with eating, bleed or get to much tarter build up beneath them. If you do remove the dogs recover quickly, so no worries there, but for now I would leave it alone, you may find a few more in time also,they can come in multiple , If for any reason merry has to have an anaesthetic they that's the time to get it removed. Don't stress have vet check it out, then just check on it every so often.
Thank you Jackie. It is only about 1/3 of an inch at present, but I will let the vet have a look when Eddie goes for his next thyroid test. I wouldn't have ever expected seeing one in Beagle, and it has appeared so quickly. I will have to be careful with her dental hygiene, I don't want to aggravate it, but also don't want food lodging there.
An quick update. We saw the vet at the beginning of March, and he was very casual about this. I asked if it was better to remove it while it was still small, but he said that to leave would not be a problem, as it would come away easily with a cauterising knife. It doesn't seem to be growing very quickly. Wait and see.
An update. Last month I noticed that brown tartar was starting to build up on the two teeth behind Merry's epulis. So, after speaking online to another Beagle owner, I somewhat nervously decided to lasso the neck of it with a loop of dental floss. The following day it looked pink, and the next, purple, before finally developing a blackish look. Merry didn't seem at all bothered, and once she had a decent sized dental chew, it disappeared - there was not even a mark! I have scaled the two molars now, and you really can't tell that there was ever anything there. Good outcome.
