Chin still drooling after tooth surgery HELP

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Padmesmummy

New member
Joined
Jan 12, 2019
Messages
3
Hi.

I'm new to the group. Wondering if someone can please provide some info!

Our chinchilla padme is approx 10-13 years old. We've had her for 8 years and rescued her from the sspca who estimated her to be 2 to 5 years at the time.

In the middle of December she stopped eating and stated to drool. We took her to the vet and he couldn't see her teeth properly. We started painkillers and food stimulants. A few days later we returned with her and a different vet managed to see her front teeth which were curled under at the top, one broken and the bottom and one over grown at the bottom. She was also losing weight but we risked putting her under anestetic. Her teeth were cut and xrayed her. No apparent other issues except a fuzziness in her chest which they believed to be a chest infection. This was28th December. 1 week later she was doing much better came off antibiotics and our only new battle was getting her back to solid food as previously would only eat her pellets if wet. We have been trying that again for another week or so and the last couple days she has started the drooling again.

Took her back to the vet and they said they didn't know what else to do so we could take her to the Edinburgh vet school which is another £175 Just for another vet to look at her. We have already paid £350 approx so far to our own vet. They gave her more anti biotics today to take but I'm really quite angry that they expect us to pay to see someone else when they could be liasing with them to help her.
Not sure what else to do.

Any one know ??
Thanks
 
So just to be clear, you said they took x-rays, and they didn't notice any overgrowth of the molars or any root elongation? No tooth spurs either? Could you have the vet at least send the x-rays to the vet school for another option? Or maybe at the very least see if they will give you a copy and you can post it on here, there are people on here that have had chins with tooth issues so they might be able to help with what you see on the x-ray.

You said she is not eating her pellets, but does she at least eat her hay? or chew on wood? Other possibilities could be she got something caught in her teeth, like a piece of hay or splinter of wood. Or that she bit her cheek.
 
Hi Yes they took xrays no apparent issues at all just her overgrown ones at the front which they cut.
I'm not sure if I can get copies but can ask.
Not sure what else to do for her. She hasn't eaten hay for some time she's never really been interested in it. There's nothing I can think she would have got stuck and the vet did check her yesterday

I have asked them to send the information over to the vet school to ask for thier option and am awaiting a response. Just feel so sorry for her. She's still eating critical care and some pellets. Thanks!
 
Hi all.
Padme is back to drooling again. She had her teeth trimmed twice now. Seems we are going to have this issue every 2 to 3 weeks. Has anyone had thier front 4 teeth taken out? I'm not sure if this would be an option but taking her back and forward to the vet every few weeks for trimming of the teeth doesn't seem great either. Not to mention expensive. So far spend £430+. This has been going on since December. Not sure what's best for her anymore. She's anywhere between the age of May be 11 and 13. Any advice?
 
Is she able to recover between trimmings and go back to chewing on things at all? Chew sticks, wood ledges, lava rocks, etc? If not the teeth aren't getting worn down. No you can not have the front teeth removed, even if they were able to with out breaking the skull or jaw (the teeth roots curve into the skull so that outcome is very likely) their teeth aren't anchored in holes in the jaw like they are in humans, so the teeth would end up floating around becoming misaligned. It is technically possible to just remove all the teeth, but that is very dangerous and has a high risk of death, infection, and skull and/or jaw fracture.

Have any new x-rays been taken? If so is there any root elongation taking place? Also is it just the front teeth? or are the molars getting regular trimming now as well? If she doesn't eat hay then the molars will grow, pellets don't wear down teeth. Hay is actually the primary diet of chinchillas (around 75%), pellets are just to provide nutrients the hay may lack. Pellets provide a nice assortment of nutrients that actually makes teeth grow faster and stronger then they would in the wild (which is why there are so many teeth issues in domestic chins). There is no way to stop the teeth from growing, she needs to eat hay to wear down the molars and chew on chew toys to wear down the incisors. If she isn't recovering between trimmings, you may need to look at quality of life, and consider it might be time to put her down.
 
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