Al's blimen teeth!

[animalmadchloe]

Think ALS teeth are causing him pain again he's showing the tell tail signs of some some discomfort think the last molar trim was December ! I really don't know what else I can do to stop the over growth, I'm so scared that that one day I'll take him and find out his roots have grown to places they shouldn't poor sausage

[yasmin]

So sorry to read of Al's issues.

I lost Azure and am now dealing with 6 year old Lilac and 4 year old Sean who are having teeth issues.

What I am doing to try and stem it is making sure they have lots of leafy greens to eat – greens with the proper calcium:phosphorus ratio along with seeds with the proper calcium:phosphorus ratio. I theorize (and have read posts/articles that seem to support this) that perhaps the action of chewing leafy items, the adequate calcium and phosphorus within these greens/seeds, and the way degus' guts work in digesting and processing the minerals in these foods might stave off developing teeth issues.

Azure, had to have trimming done every six weeks or so, but her molars still ended up growing into her eye sockets and beyond her jaw. (She passed away at age 4.5 years approx. 6 months after the issues began).

However, her sister Lilac (now age 6) had her first trim last May. After that, I made sure she had leafy greens to eat almost every day. Took her back in to the vet in in July but there was just one little bit of a spur to be taken off then. Now it is January and she is still eating different sorts of hard food. So I am desperately hoping that I have been able to slow the progression of these teeth issues in Lilac's case with the modified diet.

And now, last month, 4-year old Sean had to have his first teeth trim.

How old is Big Al? Did Al have to have spurs trimmed? If so, were they growing towards his tongue or towards his cheek? (I am wondering because I am trying to see if how the spurs are growing is another indicator of how well they can be managed. Azure's spurs were growing towards her tongue pinning it down. Lilac's spurs seem to be growing towards her cheek – which I think the vet said makes it easier for her to grind them down a bit herself. Unfortunately, Sean's spurs are like Azure's – growing towards his tongue.)

[animalmadchloe]

They boys are in a very good calcium balanced died now and eat plenty of greens and have unlimited hay as soon as I knew he had problems I changed everything we got the boys in sept 2012 at a couple months old, this will be ALS 3rd time going about his teeth and both previous time he had spurs removed, I don't know which way they were growing the vet never said, but I'll ask next time I go, the last time I went the vet said if it keeps happening it's more likely to be genetic than diet, I think it's been 6-7 weeks between vet visits

[yasmin]

Please let me know about the spurs when you find out.

Best wishes to Big Al. (Poor baby, having to go to the vet so much. Lucky baby for having a pet parent that takes him there. )

[animalmadchloe]

Lol I am a worrier and even if that's nothing wrong I presume it's his teeth so it may be nothing at the money he's not struggling to eat like before yet he just does this weird like mouth thing so I know he's starting to get uncomfortable

[moletteuk]

Oh dear, it does sound like he might be having issues again.

The only thing I can think of is to reduce the commercial food a bit more to make them eat even more plant material. Your boys like fresh stuff don't they?

[animalmadchloe]

They will eat spinach grass and dandelion leaves / flowers all except Dennis lol

[animalmadchloe]

Got home today and al had a really watery eye, I wiped it dry I'm
Not sure it it was the actual eye it's self watering or he got it wet from the water bottle :s

[animalmadchloe]

Think it was just from the water bottle not noticed any trouble with it since

[animalmadchloe]

Al had his teeth done again today his molars were fine so were his front ones but she said one was a little over grown so he had to be put under again but made a speedy recovery it's been 3 months since his last teeth filing so hopefully it's slowing down

[moletteuk]

That's really encouraging and also good that he made such a quick recovery

[animalmadchloe]

Mar 5, 2014 19:49:40 GMT moletteuk said:

That's really encouraging and also good that he made such a quick recovery

Yes he defo made a quicker recovery than last time bless him

[ntg]

I'm glad he did better with the anaesthetic this time AMC! Fingers crossed the frequency of his visits starts to decrease!

[animalmadchloe]

Sadly ALS spurs came back again so he spent the day at the vets yesterday they've now changed it so I can't pop in after work and have his teeth done I have to drop him off in the morning and collect him in the evening unfortunatly mr grey started showing signs of having teeth problems and he also had spurs growing the vet recommended that at some point I take Dennis and earl down to have there rear teeth checked too as there all from the same litter that could all have the same genetic teeth problem great thanks pets at home!! Thankfully al and mr grey sailed thru there ops

[moletteuk]

Sorry to hear Mr Grey needed his doing to and the others could be at risk

I think it's worth trying some more fresh plants again, now is the best time of year because everything is at its most tasty, mine change their mind all the time about what they like and don't like. It's really helped Yasmin's goos' teeth anyway.

[animalmadchloe]

Then do have fresh dandelion leaves flowers and grass but I'm not very clued up on other fresh plants, they eat spinach lettuce cucumber and some green veggies what else can I try?

[yasmin]

Clover leaves and flowers, spinach, dill, basil, carrot tops, beet greens, grasses, dandelion roots (as well as the leaves and flowers). Also seeds like cumin, dill, coriander, poppy, sesame and fennel. All of these are easy to find all year around (in gardens/property and in organic food stores) and, in combination, they hopefully provide a balanced Ca:P ratio.

Best wishes to Al and Mr Grey. I hope that Dennis and Earl are spared this fate (just because two have likely inherited this, doesn't mean the others have). This is a lot for you and your goos to cope with but, from my own experience, anything you can do for them is worth it, eh.

[animalmadchloe]

May 28, 2014 21:28:52 GMT yasmin said:

Clover leaves and flowers, spinach, dill, basil, carrot tops, beet greens, grasses, dandelion roots (as well as the leaves and flowers). Also seeds like cumin, dill, coriander, poppy, sesame and fennel. All of these are easy to find all year around (in gardens/property and in organic food stores) and, in combination, they hopefully provide a balanced Ca:P ratio.

Best wishes to Al and Mr Grey. I hope that Dennis and Earl are spared this fate (just because two have likely inherited this, doesn't mean the others have). This is a lot for you and your goos to cope with but, from my own experience, anything you can do for them is worth it, eh.

is that clover leaves as in 4 leaf clovers or a different plant?

[moletteuk]

Yes, red or white clover are both fine in moderation, the leaves are normally in 3 'lobes', they only rarely have 4. Do an internet search for pics, they are easy to identify.

Some ideas in this thread: deguworld.proboards.com/thread/17333/wild-plant plus narrow/broad leaved plantain, nettles, hogweed, tree leaves like fruit trees, hawthorn, blackthorn, hazel, birch. Kitchen herbs. Bought things like JRF garden herbs and readigrass.

[ntg]

I'll just say, my local B&Q has a load of grow your own herb kits on clearance at the moment. It might be worthwhile looking into for later on in the year when fresh stuff is harder to find and then you know it's all organic as well?

So sorry to hear about Mr Grey having trouble as well