Spurs?

[kendra]

If a chin has tooth spurs once are they prone to getting them again? Ferdinand is ignoring his hay. I'd hoped he would start actually eating it since he had been picking at it after weaning off cc, but nope.

The vet had suggested bringing him back in to try a filing if he kept losing weight (which thank goodness he hasn't), but I'm wondering if he maybe should go back and give it a try. His weight is stable but not as high as he was before and he is eating pellets. He did have spurs before which were filed over a year ago, could they have come back?

He's generally picky with his hay, preferring it fresh from a brand new bag- and when I say fresh, I mean the first feeding with a new bag he (when he will touch his hay) chow down most of it right away. The second feeding from the exact same bag, isn't anywhere near as excited about!

 

[ticklechin]

Chin teeth can grow 1-3mm a week and more, spurs can happen very fast especially with lazy chewers, those chins who don't chew much and don't use a full range of motion of the jaw across the tooth surfaces to grind them down evenly. With those chins I used 4 different hays, 1st cut timothy, 2nd cut timothy, oat hay and loose alfalfa with some degree of success. Has this chin had a oral exam with x-rays while put under? Or is the vet just clipping the teeth while the chin is awake? My experience is if the front molars which the vet can see and clip have spurs, the rear molars which the vet can't see will also have spurs pointing backwards, almost every time.

 

[kendra]

When it was done before he was put under, had a visual exam and ground them right then and there. This round, he hasn't had the exam yet. He did have x-rays and the vet found "nothing impressive" and neither did another vet at adobe.

 

[Stackie]

Smudge had to get his spurs ground down every 5ish months or so for several years, he was a lazy chewer but also eventually developed root elongation. Incisors were always fine, it was always his rear molars that grew the spurs.

 

[kendra]

Ok, I will call tomorrow to make an appointment. Thank you, good to know they come back, that may have been a big part of his weight loss and liver stuff maybe. And I'll try adding alfalfa hay, I already am doing timothy and oat. Good to know this may be a regular thing too!

 

[kendra]

Just wanted to come back and say thank you, he had a huge spur "jabbing into his cheek," it's now filed and he destroyed a chew toy I gave him (which he hadn't done to any real degree since he'd become sick)!