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Post by saddlers on Dec 12, 2014 17:06:36 GMT
We recently noticed that our grey degu Jerry, had been losing a bit of weight and started pawing at his mouth so we took him to the vets today for dental work. Gobsmacked at what they found...one of his molars had gone rotten to the point where some areas were necrotic and as a result he had open infected wounds in his mouth. How he has been hiding this fact is unbelievable. The vets said because the tooth was so infected, they had no choice but to remove the tooth, and managed to do so fairly easily. He has had his wounds cleaned, and is now on antibiotics and painkillers. He will need to go back for further dental work in a few weeks, because they saw spurs on his other on his other teeth, but his breathing started to get a bit shallow, so they are going to give him a few weeks to get over the trauma of this one and then we go back again. Just dropped him back into his cage he looks like nothing has happened, his female companion went straight over to him and spent a few minutes grooming his face
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Post by deguconvert on Dec 12, 2014 17:18:26 GMT
What a shock!! I hope that he recovers brilliantly, and is able to take the future surgery very well. I sure hope having that tooth out and all the necrotic tissues will make him feel better. SOOO glad that you took him in and had it looked at. Talk about being able to hide pain and illness!
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Post by animalmadchloe on Dec 12, 2014 19:05:10 GMT
Poor little thing xx
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floss
Foraging Degu
Posts: 86
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Post by floss on Dec 12, 2014 20:03:31 GMT
Poor thing! How old is he?
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Post by saddlers on Dec 12, 2014 20:05:10 GMT
Jerry is almost 4
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Post by moletteuk on Dec 12, 2014 20:21:37 GMT
Oh no, poor Jerry! Could the vet give any ideas what/ why/ how this has occurred?
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Post by saddlers on Dec 12, 2014 22:43:08 GMT
He had a fight a few months ago with his old cage mate Alfie, and suffered a couple of mouth wounds, I can't help but wonder whether he injured the gum or damaged the tooth and the issue has arisen from there
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Post by moletteuk on Dec 13, 2014 11:43:24 GMT
Well that seems logical, and is definitely better than thinking it's completely random!
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floss
Foraging Degu
Posts: 86
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Post by floss on Dec 13, 2014 17:58:11 GMT
Yeh if a tooth is cracked or even just loose tiny particles of food can get down into the tooth or the side of the tooth and cause it to rot my horse is having to have 3 teeth out for this reason!
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Post by saddlers on Dec 13, 2014 19:44:46 GMT
He is looking much brighter today, being selective with his foods, but I suppose that is to be expected...he can have what he wants at the moment
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Post by yasmin on Dec 15, 2014 0:52:42 GMT
Good you caught that. Amazing that the vet removed the tooth. Not sure if vets here could/would do that. Glad to hear he is feeling a bit better today. Best of luck to Jerry. Hang in there, little fella.
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Post by deguconvert on Dec 15, 2014 21:26:17 GMT
DITTO!
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Post by saddlers on Dec 17, 2014 15:19:04 GMT
I think the vets felt there was no choice, and that the damage around made the extraction fairly easy
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Post by moletteuk on Dec 17, 2014 20:48:01 GMT
This is quite interesting because when Flossie's split tooth occurred, our vet said that extraction was a possibility, and that they would do the affected tooth and also the one opposite as it wouldn't wear otherwise. And, from talking with Ntg, with her problem with one of her boys incisors, I know her vet has mentioned the possibility of extraction. I know that both me and Ntg were both very surprised at how ready our vets were to propose the possibility, so maybe degu dentistry is moving on with more forward thinking vets. Actually, I do know that my vet has a vet dentist they regularly do referrals to for anything more adventurous than extraction, so from that I infer there is more advanced stuff going on too.
Anyway, that reminds me that you might need to keep an eye out for Jerry's tooth opposite the one that was extracted overgrowing.
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Post by saddlers on Dec 17, 2014 23:19:45 GMT
They have said he will need to go back for more dental work, so I can have a chat with them then.
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Post by saddlers on Dec 18, 2014 12:32:01 GMT
Well the little guy has certainly got his appetite back...he is eating everything and anything....he has gained 20g since the op!!
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Post by deguconvert on Dec 19, 2014 16:07:51 GMT
LOL!! WOW!! Good thing he isn't a dog, cat, or something bigger like a cow or horse.
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Post by brydyslass on Dec 22, 2014 16:28:06 GMT
Saddlers I understand what you are going through. I hope your wee guy gets rid of his dental problems soon
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