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Post by brydyslass on Nov 23, 2014 19:29:15 GMT
Hi. I'm at it again. I have just checked on wee Jake and discovered he has lost 3 front teeth!!! I'm worried sick. I have given him some porridge oats to eat, even though I know they are not great for him because of the cataracts. He feel from the top of the cage about 10 days ago and seemed to have recovered from it, now I'm not so sure. So many questions.
Will the teeth grow back?
If not can he survive, not ready to lose him yet?
What can I give him to eat? Normally both him and Squeak get a high percentage of natural leaves and seeds and flowers and some pah nuggets only a couple of times a week.
Worried sick
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Post by animalmadchloe on Nov 23, 2014 20:07:47 GMT
I'm pretty sure they will.grow back can you feed him softened pellets maybe let them absorb a little water so there softer to bite? I'm not really sure in this situation but I'm sure someone with better advice will be along soon
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Post by brydyslass on Nov 23, 2014 20:21:53 GMT
Thank you. So I might be panicking too much at the mo! Hopefully
Should I still take him to vets? My vets are so so with goos.
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Post by animalmadchloe on Nov 23, 2014 21:12:32 GMT
If it was me I would but I worry over every little thing! You need to make sure your goo can eat enough food to stay healthy and not slowly starve. ( sorry to put it bluntly)
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Post by moletteuk on Nov 23, 2014 21:15:39 GMT
Have you managed to get a good look and see how far down they are broken? If they have been bashed and loosened and fallen out at the root, they take about a month to grow back. If they have broken and there are stubs left, they grow in the visible part of the tooth in 10 days or so. If you can't get a good look yourself, then I think I would visit the vet so that between you can have a proper look to see what the situation is. Hopefully the roots haven't been damaged and they will grow back in OK, but you will need to keep a close eye, I suppose an xray would be good in an ideal world and a check of the cheek teeth. Have you had any teeth issues before?
Foodwise, I think you need to suck it and see, if you'll pardon the pun. Offer a variety of things and see what he can manage. A lot of foods if you got the size right, they only use the front teeth to pick it up, all the chewing is done at the back. So experiment with different things in different sizes, at least there is a wide choice of things they can eat, so he shouldn't starve.
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Post by brydyslass on Nov 23, 2014 22:00:15 GMT
Thanks. Never had tooth probs. I will leave him a day or too before I go to vets. I have read elsewhere tonight that puréed veg can help bulk him up, as he has lost a wee bit of weight over the last couple of days. Granted in hindsight he hasn't eaten as much this week.
His neighbour Squeak, hopefully soon cage mate, has also broken his front tooth tonight! It split into the roof of his mouth. Managed to get him to bite on a piece of metal and he broke off the bad bit. I will have to keep an eye on them both over next few days.
The joys
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Post by ntg on Nov 23, 2014 22:25:24 GMT
Just a quick word to say really keep a close eye on how those teeth grow back! One of my boys had a small malocclusion a few months back, so I took him to the vet where he knocked his own problem tooth out in the stress of it all.
Roll on to now and his tooth is growing back in at a completely wrong angle. To me this is most likely to be from trauma that's misaligned the root somehow, as his teeth have always grown perfectly together. Of course most the time they grow back perfectly fine but it's always worth paying the extra attention, just incase! I hope he's doing okay!
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Post by brydyslass on Nov 24, 2014 17:48:59 GMT
And so the fun continues. Had to take both of them to vets tonight. When I came home from work Jake looked awful. Brown pussie eyes and just sorry for himself, so phoned vet who agreed to see me. I took squeak along to get his split tooth checked, let's face it, in for a penny in for a pound.
Squeak got the okay - no surprise.
Poor wee Jake hasn't got off so lightly. Looks like he has a long piece of tooth in the lower half of his mouth which may be blocking access to his molars. Vet going to investigate and possibly remove tomorrow under anaesthetic. Gulp. When I came home I wondered if the slither may be one of the missing teeth embedded into the soft tissue. I will check with vet tomorrow.
I have managed to get him to eat veggie baby food as well as the oats. The poor wee soul is starving.
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Post by animalmadchloe on Nov 24, 2014 20:03:33 GMT
Oh no poor little baby
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Post by moletteuk on Nov 24, 2014 20:31:44 GMT
Good luck for tomorrow.
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Post by deguconvert on Nov 25, 2014 2:06:46 GMT
I hope things go really well for him!! How painful to have a sliver from a broken tooth in the soft tissue! Do let us know how it goes.
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Post by brydyslass on Nov 25, 2014 15:37:59 GMT
One wee fella back from vets. Turns out it was a spur from the molar. Explains why his cheek has been damp lately. Vet was not keen on giving me antibiotics as Jake has been producing reddy brown discharge from his eyes the last two days, to the extent he was all gummed up this morning. I did get them though. I was a bit peeved when the nurse said we have put a wee bit of food in his box. It was rabbit food!!
The poor wee soul has also developed a limp in the last 24hrs. Have a feeling that he has strained himself with struggling against us over the last two days. hopefully rest in a small cage will improve this. Vet never noticed it.
So now it is hopefully on to recovery and his teeth growing in straight and getting his weight back up. He is cuddled up next to Squeak as I type this. So cute
How many bite sized Shredded Wheat can I give him in a week?
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Post by moletteuk on Nov 25, 2014 17:47:54 GMT
Glad he is back fairly safe and sound. Shredded wheat - as few as possible, they can be good for getting the antibiotics into him, but I wouldn't feed any more than you have to. Other forum members with degus with similar dental issues have found it helps to follow the high plant matter, low carb, high calcium, low phosphorus diet we recommend on the forum. Basically this means lots and varied forage, high calcium seeds, and virtually no grains (they cause glucose spikes, can cause cataracts, and have high phosphorus & low calcium which causes dental disease). Have a look at Yasmin's thread on her dental goos deguworld.proboards.com/thread/17403/degus-danger-developing-dental-issues?page=1I know you need to get some weight back on him, but oil seeds will do this even better than grains. Did the vet do an xray to check the tooth roots to see if they are affecting his eyes? Did you find out what the situation is with the front teeth? Hopefully the limp will right itself fairly quickly.
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Post by brydyslass on Nov 26, 2014 7:36:17 GMT
I'm just putting the antibiotic straight into his mouth. He still can't tolerate hard stuff. Understandable I suppose. As far as I know there was no X-ray taken. There is the glimpse of Orange on the top so hopefully.
The wee soul is still a little drunk and Squeak will not leave his side!
He is on a fairly high plant diet, around 50-75 percent. I also use Bephar Degu seed mix. As well as a mix of seeds I have seen on the forum. I wondered if it wasn't helping and whether I should introduce more hard extruded foods, which I am not keen on but if it helps grind his teeth down. Both of them are little stinkers for not eating hay!
Thanks
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Post by moletteuk on Nov 26, 2014 17:00:38 GMT
It's good that he already gets a lot of plant matter. Are you supplementing for vitamin D? If they currently don't get any or very little commercial mix, then you need to artificially supply vitamin D. There is some more information on that here ,although personally I think this level of vit D is a little high. A lot of the wear on the teeth happens at a micro scale, in particular from the hard silicates in grass and other greens. Have you tried fresh grass or Readigrass? Of course, if Jake is prone to having a spur growing in a place he can't grind it away, then no amount of chewing will help this and it will be something you have to look out for. Getting the diet right, with optimum calcium phosphorus and vit D can help to get the teeth to grow strong and at an appropriate speed.
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Post by brydyslass on Nov 29, 2014 21:03:03 GMT
Jake is slowly putting weight on. He is still a little subdued. Last night was the first time he really ate anything without being offered it and started drinking from his bottle by himself. I have been chucking all sorts of suitable fresh veg/greens at him. His poo has become a little soft tonight, not great finding it in your fingernails:-/. Assuming it is due to the upset in feeding and reaction to everything that has happened.
The antibiotics are helping with his eye. It is now open a lot more and not discharging much. His limp is still there. Was getting better but he strained it in the cage last night! I have been a little naughty and gave him a single drop of metacam last night and tonight. Hopefully it will help with his limp and won't need to use it tomorrow.
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Post by deguconvert on Nov 29, 2014 21:06:32 GMT
You might want to back off on the greens a titch, as they can cause runny poos. Have you been giving him any porridge oats?
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Post by brydyslass on Nov 29, 2014 21:16:20 GMT
Will reduce greens. Porridge most days at moment - only a few flakes to get medicine into him now he is eating near normal. Really hoping that the spurs don't came back after all this!
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Post by brydyslass on Dec 6, 2014 15:51:53 GMT
And so it goes on. Had Squeak at the vet the other day to get his insicors cut. He bounced back really quickly from the whole thing. Jake had Beeb doing really well too. I was beginning to think we were on the up. Jakes limp even appeared to be improving.
Then I got up this morning to find that Jake is a wee bit wobbly. Once he is fully awake he is a bit better. He is still eating and drinking. I have supplemented his food with some baby food again. His weight has dropped since Thursday. Could this be a stress reaction to everything that has happened over the last couple of weeks. He can be a bit of a sulky boy. Not sure
(I have cleaned out their cage today and changed it around which I know is a bit dodgy as Jake has cataracts, but him and Squeak have been together full time for the last 10 days. I have added extra steps for him.)
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Post by deguconvert on Dec 6, 2014 21:50:58 GMT
Oh no! I have no idea . . . although stress is a very strong contributor to health issues. I think you are doing the right thing. Do you have a snuggle pad that you can warm up and put in with him? Keeping him warm while he is a little down would be helpful to him I think.
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