Stitch's front teeth

[shzam]

I'm really worried about my Degu stitch's teeth. I've known for a while he's had teeth issues. 
His top two front teeth are worn down to barely a few mm long whilst his bottom teeth are huge.
I've booked an appointment with the vets however that's not for almost a week!

I'm really really worried and not sure what to do! 

[moletteuk]

If he gets into real difficulty it is usually possible to get an emergency appt at the vets, so do ring them if he gets worse. Are they experienced degu vets? He may need a light anaesthetic for the vet to do a full mouth examination and properly examine all the teeth, he should really have his molars checked out while he is there, and xrays should probably be done too.

What other symptoms has he had, you say you have known he has had teeth issues for while?

What kind of diet is he on? Are his front teeth nice and orange?

[shzam]

Mar 5, 2015 18:13:55 GMT moletteuk said:

If he gets into real difficulty it is usually possible to get an emergency appt at the vets, so do ring them if he gets worse. Are they experienced degu vets? He may need a light anaesthetic for the vet to do a full mouth examination and properly examine all the teeth, he should really have his molars checked out while he is there, and xrays should probably be done too.

What other symptoms has he had, you say you have known he has had teeth issues for while?

What kind of diet is he on? Are his front teeth nice and orange?

Thank you for the reply moletteuk,
I'm not sure if they're experienced Degu vets, though I'd been quoted by them on a price to have his teeth filed down (£42).
Over the past couple of weeks I've observed his teeth and was informed to encourage him to grind them on bark more often. When in his cage he doesn't chew so I placed him in his carry case with just a few pieces of bark and he used them a little more than he usually would, but I couldn't leave him in there all day!

As of yesterday he's started rubbing his mouth a lot and licking around his teeth.
When eating he scratches at the treat with his bottom teeth and then licks it.

EDIT: It appears as if he's having difficulty eating

He has the occasional milk drop and is primarily on a diet of the nugget food from P@H.
From what I can observe his teeth are still orange.

Again thank you for the reply.

EDIT 2: On closer inspection his top two teeth, from what I can actually see, appear slightly paler than the bottom two. The bottom two are a nice orange.

[moletteuk]

Perhaps you could ring round and see if there are any other vets available sooner, or try ringing the current vet again, I think he is likely to be in some discomfort if he is rubbing at his teeth as they usually hide pain well, and may go downhill quite fast if he can't eat properly. As I hinted above, it is possible he has issues with other teeth too, not just the visible ones, so do make sure they fully check all the teeth.

If the teeth have worn unevenly between top and bottom, then there is likely some reason for this more than him just not chewing enough. Teeth problems can be due genetic issues or poor diet or a combination of the two. As dental issues become more common in degus we are discovering that changing the diet to something closer to what they eat in the wild and including lots of varied forage (fresh if possible) can have a positive effect and also we need to pay attention to the calcium and mineral content of the diet as it is quite common for the diet to become deficient in calcium.

Here is a thread about another forum members journey through dental issues deguworld.proboards.com/thread/17403/degus-danger-developing-dental-issues?page=1

In the meantime, he may appreciate some food in small pieces and some small oil seeds and perhaps some veggie baby food to try and keep him eating until he sees the vet.

[shzam]

Mar 5, 2015 20:21:30 GMT moletteuk said:

Perhaps you could ring round and see if there are any other vets available sooner, or try ringing the current vet again, I think he is likely to be in some discomfort if he is rubbing at his teeth as they usually hide pain well, and may go downhill quite fast if he can't eat properly. As I hinted above, it is possible he has issues with other teeth too, not just the visible ones, so do make sure they fully check all the teeth.

If the teeth have worn unevenly between top and bottom, then there is likely some reason for this more than him just not chewing enough. Teeth problems can be due genetic issues or poor diet or a combination of the two. As dental issues become more common in degus we are discovering that changing the diet to something closer to what they eat in the wild and including lots of varied forage (fresh if possible) can have a positive effect and also we need to pay attention to the calcium and mineral content of the diet as it is quite common for the diet to become deficient in calcium.

Here is a thread about another forum members journey through dental issues deguworld.proboards.com/thread/17403/degus-danger-developing-dental-issues?page=1

In the meantime, he may appreciate some food in small pieces and some small oil seeds and perhaps some veggie baby food to try and keep him eating until he sees the vet.

I'll see how he is in the morning and ring the vets again to see if that date can be pushed any sooner! I'll ask on the phone about an xray as well just to make sure everything else is in working order! 

I don't believe the issue would be entirely due to poor diet as he's eaten the same as his buddy Diego for a good part of his life - Diego's teeth are fine. When this whole ordeal is sorted i'll start to alter their diets slightly to incorporate more fresh forage to hopefully avoid the issue re-occurring. 

Could I possibly ask what oil seeds you'd recommend as well as what baby foods? 
Did have a quick look around online but not to much avail! 

Thank you!

[deguconvert]

I am not so good at giving specifics for dietary needs, but if you don't mind doing some reading through these, they can be very helpful. Have a look through the links contained in this thread. deguworld.proboards.com/thread/15795/links-interesting-food-threads

[moletteuk]

I didn't mean to imply any blame about diet, some of the current diet thinking is quite new and not always as easy to achieve as pellets and hay, it's just that diet is the only thing we have any influence over, so it can be worth experimenting. Let's see what the vet says, we have very little info to go on at the moment.

Baby food is anything vegetable based, no meat, no fruit. For oil seeds have a look at the nutrition charts deguworld.proboards.com/thread/15602/vegetable-seed-nut-nutrition-charts Things like linseed, hemp and sesame are good for energy, and things like nigella, fennel and coriander are good for calcium. You could also crush up the pellets a bit with a rolling pin.

[ntg]

Just a word on the diet front from a science perspective.

No, diet is unlikely to be the only factor in teeth issues but there is evidence from other owners that it plays a big role. It is more likely to be a combination of diet and genetics (and in particular epigenetics), as individual differences within the genes can change how the diet affects them.

Whether they are more resistant, or more susceptible, to dental disease is probably why you're other degu seems to be fine whereas Stitch is struggling, but we do have examples that have shown that changing the diet can help these more susceptible degus. And, as it's not exactly likely that we'll start genetically profiling degus, it's the easiest change we can make to their lifestyle to not only help them to be healthier for longer, but to also add a little interest into their diet.

Now on the tooth front, with him only using his bottom teeth, it sounds like there is something up with his top set, whether it be the molars or incisors. It would be worthwhile getting an xray just to check that his roots are growing okay and not causing him any discomfort as well.