(I hate being one of those people who only post on a forum when they want something, so please accept my apologies for that - I'm usually too shy to even lurk in most places. PS: My browser crashed when posting this, so if this post is a duplicate, I apologise for that too)
As back story, I rescued a family of three young chins nearly two years ago; the mum of the family had severe malocclusion and root elongation (not disclosed to me at the time beyond being warned that she was a "fussy eater" - when I spoke to the person I got them from, I was told she'd just had her teeth done and so he didn't think it would be an issue) and although she had a few months where (I hope) she was happy, sadly she had to be put to sleep.
Due to this, I'm really paranoid when it comes to the health of the remaining chins; strict diet (Beaphar Care+, Oxbow Timothy Hay with occasional lucerne, the only treats they get are rosehips and they get filtered water - when my Brita jug cracked, I spent a week buying them Evian >.>), regular weight checks and always a good supply of varied gnawing material.
So, when I noticed a few days ago (Monday) that the baby of the family seemed to be struggling with her pellets. She was taking twice as long to eat as her dad and there was crumbled pellet dust around her feet. Other than that she was showing no other symptoms and seemed her normal self, she hadn't lost any weight either so I initially put it down as just something to keep an eye on.
Yesterday afternoon (Thursday), I noticed that there was a lot more food leftover than normal and when I gave her a rosehip, she kept dropping it. When I gave her a scratch under the chin, I could feel little bumps at the back of her lower jaw bone and now she does seem to have had some eye discharge judging by the fur around them.
She's still trying to eat her ordinary food, though I've given her some homebrew Critical Care (pellets, hay, lucerne and a couple of rosehips ground down to a flour like consistency) which she's been such a star and eaten as mush straight off a spoon. As I write this, she's eating some Justgrass and the leafier bits of lucerne. She's active, still bossing her poor dad around and doing her usual trick of pooping lots on the flying saucer wheel and going for a run to fling poop at me when I'm sat at my desk. If it wasn't for the physical symptoms I've observed and the not eating much, you wouldn't know there was a thing wrong with her.
I'm calling the vet tomorrow to schedule x-rays and a dental exam as soon as possible but I'm absolutely terrified of what they might show. I know there are a lot of chinnie folk on here that are far wiser and experienced when it comes to these things so (after the wall of text) that's why I wanted to ask this here:
If the x-rays show signs of root elongation, especially on the upper jaw, would it be better for the chin to be put to sleep before she begins to suffer or to wait and see?
It breaks my heart to even think about it but I've read enough about this condition and seen the effects first-hand to know that it doesn't come with happy endings. I don't even want to consider the impact it'll have on her dad. My chinnies mean the world to me, so if anybody has any advice or information that could help, I'd really appreciate it.
Thank you.
As back story, I rescued a family of three young chins nearly two years ago; the mum of the family had severe malocclusion and root elongation (not disclosed to me at the time beyond being warned that she was a "fussy eater" - when I spoke to the person I got them from, I was told she'd just had her teeth done and so he didn't think it would be an issue) and although she had a few months where (I hope) she was happy, sadly she had to be put to sleep.
Due to this, I'm really paranoid when it comes to the health of the remaining chins; strict diet (Beaphar Care+, Oxbow Timothy Hay with occasional lucerne, the only treats they get are rosehips and they get filtered water - when my Brita jug cracked, I spent a week buying them Evian >.>), regular weight checks and always a good supply of varied gnawing material.
So, when I noticed a few days ago (Monday) that the baby of the family seemed to be struggling with her pellets. She was taking twice as long to eat as her dad and there was crumbled pellet dust around her feet. Other than that she was showing no other symptoms and seemed her normal self, she hadn't lost any weight either so I initially put it down as just something to keep an eye on.
Yesterday afternoon (Thursday), I noticed that there was a lot more food leftover than normal and when I gave her a rosehip, she kept dropping it. When I gave her a scratch under the chin, I could feel little bumps at the back of her lower jaw bone and now she does seem to have had some eye discharge judging by the fur around them.
She's still trying to eat her ordinary food, though I've given her some homebrew Critical Care (pellets, hay, lucerne and a couple of rosehips ground down to a flour like consistency) which she's been such a star and eaten as mush straight off a spoon. As I write this, she's eating some Justgrass and the leafier bits of lucerne. She's active, still bossing her poor dad around and doing her usual trick of pooping lots on the flying saucer wheel and going for a run to fling poop at me when I'm sat at my desk. If it wasn't for the physical symptoms I've observed and the not eating much, you wouldn't know there was a thing wrong with her.
I'm calling the vet tomorrow to schedule x-rays and a dental exam as soon as possible but I'm absolutely terrified of what they might show. I know there are a lot of chinnie folk on here that are far wiser and experienced when it comes to these things so (after the wall of text) that's why I wanted to ask this here:
If the x-rays show signs of root elongation, especially on the upper jaw, would it be better for the chin to be put to sleep before she begins to suffer or to wait and see?
It breaks my heart to even think about it but I've read enough about this condition and seen the effects first-hand to know that it doesn't come with happy endings. I don't even want to consider the impact it'll have on her dad. My chinnies mean the world to me, so if anybody has any advice or information that could help, I'd really appreciate it.
Thank you.
