Can a dog adapt if they lose their tongue?

cmbeard

Hello,
Has anybody ever known of a dog adapting to life with a large part of his tongue missing?

Our beautiful weimaraner Otto is experiencing some problems which at the moment are unexplained. His tongue is apparently suffering from some form of inflammatory process which is killing his tongue. He has lost the tip already but it seems likely that he may lose more.

It is such an awful situation and we are desperate to know if there is any hope for him if the worse comes to the worse and he loses more than half of his tongue.

If anyone has any information it would be greatly appreciated!

Many thanks Carla

weimdawgs · Posted: Mon Jul 23, 2007 4:04 pm Post subject:

Hi Carla.

I was just wondering how you and Otto are doing. I look for posts about him all the time. I know you are expecting a little one, but I don't know when. I hope all is well.

Lynn

Kraziquban · Puppy Joined: 27 Apr 2007 Posts: 3

Our weimer ended up with a giant tongue (easily 6" long past the end of the muzzle & the width of a flank steak) after his vaccines 2 yrs ago.

He had come home, was running around and the next thing we knew his tongue was hanging out of his mouth all the way to the floor. He required emergency hospitalization to keep an open airway, given iv steroids, antihistamines. They packed the tongue in ice. Even when he came home the tongue was horribly swollen, monstrous looking & hanging out of his mouth. It took two weeks of steroids, pills before it went back into his mouth. The vet said he had never seen anything like it, & thought a bee may have stung him (found parts of a stinger in the tongue) and with the vaccines, it set off an allergic reaction. The next year we had another reaction after his shots, this time a tennis sized ball sprang up on his leg.

After that he went through allergy testing, is now on allergy shots. He has to be premedicated/hospitalized, monitored for each vaccine.

I hope your dog's tongue is doing better, I know how upsetting it can be & a tongue is not something you typically worry about. But I still have nightmares about my weim's tongue. So does his vet.