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My puppy has a broken tooth. Could pain cause lethargy and not eating?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | American Pit Bull Terrier | Male | unneutered | 4 months and 22 days old

I have a 4 month old pit and today he just hasn't been himself. He has hardly eaten or drank. He's slept most of the day with is odd because he is super high energy. I tried to get him to play and noticed that there was some blood on his toy. I checked his teeth and one of his back teeth is severely broken and was bleeding. Could the pain of his tooth be causing his behavioral changes? I finally got him to eat some canned food, but he still doesn't seem to want to play or do anything really.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Answered By Jennifer Witt, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on April 23rd, 2018

Absolutely the pain could be causing him to lay around. They are very painful. I would wet the canned food down even more so he doesn't have to chew much. He is going to need some pain medicine from your veterinarian. They are going to need to pull that tooth to stop the pain. Poor Rex.

1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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