Excessive drooling

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eycamry

eycamry

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 3, 2009
Messages
196
Location
Irvine, CA
Is it normal to have excessive drooling after a teeth file? I took my girl in for a filing on Saturday because of some drooling and her not eating. Ever since then, she has been drooling A LOT, a lot more than before. Her whole chin and chest are soaked in saliva. She is on Metacam. I know it has only been a few days, but I don't remember seeing this much drooling from a filing last year. Is it normal? Is she just getting used to the new feeling in the mouth? How long should I wait before I call the vet? Thanks.
 
I am sure every chin is different but my girl does not really drool at all after a filing. She doesn't really drool before either since I judge when she needs a filing by her weight and eating habits more than anything else. I would call the vet and ask for his/her opinion. IMHO your chinnie should not be drooling.
 
I would call the vet, she should not be having heavy drool this long after, I could see not eating since they can be pissy but drool means pain. Tiny mouth, big tools used, teeth, cheeks and tongue could hhave been "damaged" during it, I have seen broken teeth happen after a filing many times and the chin needs to go back, the worst is when the fracture happens under the gum and is not visual.
 
My chin went in for his first filing on Jan. 30th, he continued to drool on and off for a few weeks before he got a URI. After recovering from the URI, I brought him in for xrays and another filing on a few spurs. The first vet did not see anything wrong on the xrays but after I forwarded copies of the xray pics to another vet and then the senior vet at the hospital I take CJ too both saw that the roots were just beginning to elongate but that there was no bone loss. He was put on .1 cc (ml) of metacam once daily or twice daily, if needed. The next plan of action was to file all of his molars down to the gumline and since then there has been no drooling at all! He is now eating soft pellets and some hay and nibbles on wood chews ALL on his own.

Every chin is different but I have been told that normally, it should take a few days to week from a filing for them to recover. My chin never drooled as much as you are saying yours is but it sounds excessive to me and she is probably in pain. Are you still giving her pain meds?

ETA: I should have mentioned that it has been 5-6 weeks since all his molars were filed down.
 
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She is on Metacam, .4cc once daily. I really can't tell if she is in pain. She is drinking on her own, but not eating. I've been syringe-feeding her. This is the second vet I've brought her too (if you have seen my last posts). Dr. Greek supposely has a lot more experience in chinchillas, but he is not seeing anything wrong in the xray (neither did the first vet I brought my chin to). Do you think I should find another vet? I really don't know any good vets around here that has as much experience as Dr. Greek.

Dr. Greek's office is closed today. I'll call first thing in the morning tomorrow and see what he says.
 
Sandi said:
The next plan of action was to file all of his molars down to the gumline and since then there has been no drooling at all!
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Sandi... What did you mean by "file all of his molars down to the gumline"? He had no rear teeth left? How long did it take to have them all grown back? How long before he started eating on his own? Thanks!
 
.4cc's? Wow! I was told by 2 different vets that no more than .1cc one time a day but because he was drooling a little over a month ago, they upped it to .1cc every 12 hours. He was on Metacam twice a day until one week after the filings of all his molars. Drooling excessively is a sign of pain as well as her not eating on her own. I'm sorry but I can't help in the vet department for you but I'll keep you and Polly in my thoughts.
 
eycamry said:
Sandi... What did you mean by "file all of his molars down to the gumline"? He had no rear teeth left? How long did it take to have them all grown back? How long before he started eating on his own? Thanks!
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The roots have just, just started to elongate on his left side molars, but there is absolutely no bone loss but to CJ it was causing him pain and therefore not eat and drool. 2 vets said that by filing ALL of his molars down to the gumline that that would alleviate the pain that was causing him not eat. You can't just file one side down as that would cause more problems. He has both sets of his incisors and thats what he uses to eat his "soft" pellets and some hay and nibble on the wood. It's been about 5-6 weeks since they have filed all of his molars down. As of now they have not grown back, his last vet visit was this past Saturday. Oh, he started eating on his own about 8 days after the last filing.

ETA: Ugh! I keep forgetting to add that I am also supplementing with a mixture of CC & Lifeline one time a day as he is only maintaining his weight on his own. I want him to gain some weight slowly as he is now 450 grams but he used to be around 580 grams back in late December of 09.
 
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Thank you so much, Sandi. I'll ask Dr. Greek tomorrow if he thinks filling down all of Polly's molar will improve her condition. I won't be able to bring her in again till Saturday. Hopefully she will be better by then.
 
.4 is a really high dose of Metacam (if it is 1.5mg/ml strength) for a chinnie. I give between .05ml and .06ml daily after a filing. Maybe that is cause for drooling...Please double check the dosage, maybe yours is a different strength but if not you are giving about 8 times the usual dosage.
 
It is 1.5mg/ml strength. Dr. Greek specifically told me that this is a high dose of metacam because unlike cats and dogs, chins do not absorb metacam as well. I will double check with him tomorrow. I know Metacam can do severe damages to cats since my cat was put on it a couple of years ago and I did a lot of research on it. Wow, now I am scared. What if it has done some permanent damages to Polly since she has been on it for the last 3 weeks already. :cry3:

Parkerspetchins said:
.4 is a really high dose of Metacam (if it is 1.5mg/ml strength) for a chinnie. I give between .05ml and .06ml daily after a filing. Maybe that is cause for drooling...Please double check the dosage, maybe yours is a different strength but if not you are giving about 8 times the usual dosage.
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Do not stress, perhaps it is fine. I would just double check.
 
Parkerspetchins said:
Do not stress, perhaps it is fine. I would just double check.
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Thank you, Jean Marie. I did some googling. The dose is 10x higher than recommended. Luckily Polly is still alive and pretty energetic. I am definitely going to stop the metacam today and ask Dr. Greek about it tomorrow. OMG... I will never trust someone else's calculations again when it comes to my pets. :cry3:
 
Maybe they gave you the wrong syringe? When I am given metecam they give me a 1/2 cc syringe and the dose is .4 units. Are you using the 1cc monojuct?
 
I hope that I got the 1/2cc syringe, not the 1cc. I will check when I get home. Thanks for reminding me!

ticklechin said:
Maybe they gave you the wrong syringe? When I am given metecam they give me a 1/2 cc syringe and the dose is .4 units. Are you using the 1cc monojuct?
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This is what I have down for dosage from Dr. Greek from 12/08/09.
0.06 - 0.13 cc per 100 grs once daily as needed and it's 1.5 mg/ml oral suspension.

Sorry to hear about your chin. Hope everything goes well for her.
 
Thanks, Nan. I guess Dr. Greek always gives chinchillas higher doses of Metacam. Did your chin recover completely, or was it the one you had to put down?

Snickers said:
This is what I have down for dosage from Dr. Greek from 12/08/09.
0.06 - 0.13 cc per 100 grs once daily as needed and it's 1.5 mg/ml oral suspension.

Sorry to hear about your chin. Hope everything goes well for her.
Click to expand...


And thanks, ticklechin. The syringe I am using is more like the one on the far right.
 
Snickers said:
This is what I have down for dosage from Dr. Greek from 12/08/09.
0.06 - 0.13 cc per 100 grs once daily as needed and it's 1.5 mg/ml oral suspension.

Sorry to hear about your chin. Hope everything goes well for her.
Click to expand...
So a 500 gram chin would get .3-.65cc a day? That just seems really high given what the two vets I have taken my chinnie to prescribe. Perhaps he knows better...
 
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