HELP! Drooling... again

[eycamry]

My mosaic girl, Polly, had her tooth filed last April. Everything has been fine until a month ago. I found her drooling again, on and off. It was not very frequent, only when she got nervous. However, her appetite has gone down significantly. She stopped eating hay, and ate very little pellets. I started hand feeding her CC. I took her to see her vet in Irvine. Xray was taken, blood test was done. Nothing was wrong except for a minor sore in her cheek. Dr put her on antiobiotics (TPS). Things got a little better until the earthquake. Her drooling got worse, and she ate less and less. Although her weight has maintained for some reason, I still took her to see Dr. Greek in Yorba Linda who is highly recommended by many on this forum. It was last Tuesday. He took a look at her Xray and did not see too much irregularity in her teeth. He did file down a couple of minor spurs that might've caused the sore on her cheek. She was put on metacam in addition to TPS. Now she is getting worse and worse. She won't stop drooling, and has lost 1 oz since Tuesday. I don't know what to do at this point. Neither vets found much wrong with her teeth; she got extremely terrified when going to them. I am not sure if it was the stress that made her worse or there is really something wrong with her. Shall I just wait another week and see if she gets better? Or shall I take her back to Dr. Greek? Sorry for the long post, but I am really frustrated.... Thanks. Any suggestions are appreciated!

 

[RDZCRanch]

You can order lifeline and give that in place of lifeline. It sounds like the sore in her mouth is the major problem. She needs to gain weight though otherwise you're just fighting a losing battle. You can always call Greek's office and explain the situation...that taking her in stressed her more and ask if he has any suggestions for what you can do to stop the drooling and get her to gain weight. I'm not sure what entirely can be done for a sore other than meds and hand feeding.

 

[ticklechin]

Drooling can be caused from pain in other parts of the body, did he take a full body x-ray also?

 

[eycamry]

Yes. Full body Xray did not show anything wrong in other parts of the body.

I have some lifeline. She doesn't like it that much, but I will try to mix it into CC and force her to eat some.

 

[Tanya]

Once Polly feels better and eats on her own, I would reduce the amount of pellets. Chins are born to slice through coarse vegetation with front teeth. Back teeth break up grass by grinding action. Pellets are just crushed between teeth, crashing action does not wear down molars properly and fast enough.
My chins get very little pellets. It does not affect their weights. I offer lots of different hays, different types and brands to keep them interested (maybe try oxbow organic meadow hay, most chins like bluegrass). My chins also get herbal supplement every morning and I mix some herbs, blossoms, roots, rose hips, apple wood with hay for foraging fun. Dandelion helps trigger an appetite. Herbs also improve the absorption of nutrients.
In this case I would probably give only small amounts of alfalfa, stalks can be given in unlimited amounts (great for teeth wear), but not leaves. Some leaves will be beneficial for teeth health and alfalfa is also an appetite stimulant, however if you feed a significant amount of leaves, teeth will grow faster.
I think it's a good idea to get some herbs: hibiscus, nettle, dandelion, red clover, chamomile, rose hips, hawthorn berries. You can also add wheat bran and germ, tiny pinch of flaxseed. Even sick chins really like them.
You can mix oats and catnip to relieve anxiety, tension, restlessness. Maybe try mixing some pumpkin puree with Critical Care just too see if she will like it better this way. Farmers Market is a good brand.
I really hope your favorite girl gets well soon.
Sending healing thoughts.......

 

[eycamry]

Thank you so much, Tanya. I will try to offer her some herbs, but she is an extremely picky eater. Ever since the tooth problem last year, she has stopped eating any hay but alfalfa. Because of that, I had to switch her from alfalfa-based pellets to timothy-based Oxbow bunny basics. And now, she is not even eating alfalfa hay. I don't want to give up, but I am really out of ideas. Right now, all I can do is to hope that she will recover from all the stress and start to gain a little weight. She used to weigh close to 2 lbs, the biggest among all 4 of my chins. Now she is only 1lb and 3 oz. I feel so sad. She IS my favorite and is the most affectionate towards me. I don't want to lose her. :cry3:

 

[Snickers]

I would do what Tabitha said about calling Dr. Greek and explain the situation. I've been there more than once. One of my chins was drooling a lot and pregnant at the same time. I gave her liquid calcium which worked for awhile. She had x-rays done and blood test done and Dr. Greek couldn't find anything wrong with her. She went back later in the year for x-rays and blood test again and he was just puzzled. When I decided to put her down he did a necropsy on her and found out she had an infected molar. She was on metacam and baytril and neither worked. Good luck with her.

 

[eycamry]

Thanks, Nan. It was strange that metacam and baytril did not work. An infection should've shown up in the blood work as well. Do you know if there is a cure? I hope Polly doesn't have it, but from the sound of it, she's got very similiar symptoms. I will definitely call Dr. Greek tomorrow. BTW, what was the liquid calcium for? Does it help with drooling?

 

[Snickers]

I read on a post from AZchins on a different forum a long time ago that her chin was pregnant and drooling. I believe her chin had a shot but not sure on that. Tabitha also had a pregnant chin awhile ago she gave hers a little bit of cuttle bone which worked for her. Mine didn't like the cuttle bone so the liquid calcium worked for me. I'm not sure how the calcium worked but it worked on the drooling for awhile. Maybe you can send Tabitha a pm she can tell you more about the cuttle bone.

 

[RDZCRanch]

I had a female that was nursing three kits and she's notorious for giving everything she possibly can to her kits. While she was nursing all three of them I walked out to find her lethargic and drooling excessively. Her line has no known malo but that never guarantees anything. I checked her teeth and they were aligned properly but bone white. I gave her a large piece of cuttlebone which she ate very quickly and very gratefully. She recovered within a few hours and was her normal self the next day. She got supplemented with cuttlebone over the next few days and her teeth went back to their normal color eventually.

With the past teeth problems your girl has experienced, the sore in the mouth and the recent spurs filed down it doesn't sound like her problem would be more of a calcium deficiency but it never hurts to check.

 

[eycamry]

Thank you, Tabitha. The color of her teeth seems ok. I just gave her some lifeline and dyne, she seemed pretty happy receiving them. I will continue feeding her those along with CC and her medications, hopefully she will gain some weight soon. Meanwhile, I will give Dr. Greek a call tomorrow and see what he suggests.