Malocclusion and teeth filing

[eycamry]

My favorite chinnie, Polly, might have malocclusion. I saw some signs last night and am bringing her to see the vet in an hour. I read here that some chins with malocclusion have their teeth filed down regularly to prevent roots from overgrowing. I would like to know how much time can teeth filing buy before it gets too painful. I really really hope that teeth filing is all what Polly needs. :tantrum:

Thanks.

 

[Chinniechantel]

I am so sorry to hear about Polly. Every chin varies on the time in between filings. I have heard that people need to get them trimmed every 3 months and others once a year. Hopefully the vet can tell you more when they figure out the details of the problem. Good luck, Polly will be in my prayers.

 

[Sandi]

Teeth filing will not stop the roots from growing. If its genetic malo, the roots will continue to grow even if you file his teeth. Definitely get xrays to know for sure. Sorry you & your chinnie are going through this. Good luck at the vet!

Sorry - I should have stated that my vet told me this as my chin had this disease - after teeth filing, his roots continued to grow, we took another set of xrays and they showed this, so I had to make the decision to put him down.

 

[LovableFuzziezandCrawliez]

Malo is tough to go through emotionally! My 10 year old pet chinnie (2nd chinchilla I ever had) is going through malo - reaching the end as now I have to put her down.

First it went well - she only needed her teeth filed every 3 months for a year then only twice a year for the longest time. It seemed to be getting better...well under control anyways. But then recently (since Feb) I had to take her in almost every month cause she won't stop drooling. They kept trimming a little bit off each time - explaining that there may be certain seasons of the year where their teeth grow faster than others.

But after X-rays it is clear that her roots are growing out of control and she is going to be euthanized next week. Quality of life.

BUT I hope it all goes well with your chinchilla. I do strongly recommend X-rays in cases of suspected malo because it lets you know exactly what is happening and you will know what to expect.

 

[eycamry]

Thank you!

I am so sorry to hear about your losses, Sandi and Katie. And thank you Chinniechantel for your prayers. It is very hard on hubby and I as Polly is our most favorite because she is such a sweet girl. She is still at the hospital waking up. I will pick her up in an hour and talk to the doctor. The doctor seemed to be quite experienced. Hopefully Polly will only need occasional teeth filing.

Katie, how old was your girl when she first developed malo?

I'll post what the doctor says after we come back.

Thanks!

 

[eycamry]

Good news!

We are back. She doesn't have the typical malo. The X-ray showed that her teeth look perfectly fine except for a little bit of side growth which caused sores on her cheeks and tongue. The doctor filed those down and treated her for the sores. She is going to be on metacam for 10 days and baytril for 30 days. We'll keep a close eye on her. Hopefully she will start eating hay again.

Thanks everyone! I am sooooo relieved.

 

[InkedupTara]

good news!

 

[eycamry]

HELP!

Ever since Polly came back from the vet, she's been quite lethargic. I have not seen her eating her pellets. Last night we changed her bedding, and I realized that she is not pooping either. I gave her some hay. She tried to eat it, but didn't seem to be able to bite down. I gave a piece of her favorite shredded wheat, but she didn't seem to be very interested in it. Only took a couple of bites.

She is on metacam and baytril now. Shouldn't she be pain free? What should I do? Should I give her some critical care? I don't want her to lose any more weight. I called my vet, she is not in today or tomorrow, but another vet will call me back.

Can she be traumatized from the vet visit? She was soooo scared and hid in my jacket the whole time when we were waiting for the vet. I really don't her to go through that again.

Any advices?

Thanks.

 

[mishellyshel]

I took my chin on Monday to the vet and they determined that he has a mouth infection and he has been the same way. I tried giving him the regular CC but he hates it. Am waiting for both Lifeline & flavored CC. He is on a cherry flavored antibiotic which is wiggles when I give it to him but gets it down. He will eat treats (but i dont want him to only eat them) but I found that crushing up his pellets (with a little shreddie or oats) helps a lot cause he can use his tongue while his mouth heals. i put it in my palm and he will take it then i leave the rest in a small bowl in his cage and in the morning most of it is gone. hope that helps. byt he way i crush it with a mortal & pestle or you can use the back of the spoon. someone also suggested a blender.

 

[arf2184]

Get her to eat. Don't wait. Baytril has a tendency to make them go ff their feed anyway. Add to that the fact that her mouth probably feels weird from the filing and sore from the sores, and she probably doesn't feel much like eating, but she needs to. Feed her CC or crushed pellets...as much as you can get her to take. At this point, you need to keep her gut moving or you'll have a bunch of new problems to deal with.

Are you giving her a probiotic (like acidophilus) too? You should be in between Baytril doses. I'm assuming she's on oral Baytril. I would not keep her on it for 30 days. That just seems way to long, especially if there is no sign of infection and it's just a precaution.

 

[eycamry]

I don't have any critical care or lifeline at this moment. Where can I get it? I hope the vet has some. I am mixing PANF into her Mazuri pellets. If she eats the pellets, she will be getting some acidophilus. I will crush her pellets and hopefully she will eat some. The thing is that she is not showing any interest in eating.

I am not planning to give her metacam and baytril for the whole treatment period. As soon as she starts to show some signs of recovery, I will start to ease off on them. My cat was on metacam for her arthritis. It made her really lethargic.

 

[Sugarmama]

You can crush pellets and hay in a blender. If you have probiotic, add that too. Add some water and force feed her if you have to. You've got to get food in her gut, or stasis will set in. Then you'll need motility drugs to get her gut moving--if you don't need them already. The not pooping is not a good sign.

Is she peeing? You need to monitor her intake, because if she isn't drinking enough to pee, she's dehydrated and won't pass poos. She needs simethecone, belly massage, and exercise to help get her belly moving.

You can call around different vets to see who carry it--sometimes exotic bird vets do. Or, Menagerie has it and can overnight it to you. But I wouldn't wait until you get it to start handfeeding. It will be too late.

This is another example of why we need to keep Critical Care on hand for unexpected emergencies.

ETA: Lifeline is available at www.chocolatechinchillas.com but is not a substitute for CC.

 

[mishellyshel]

I ordered the lifeline from: http://www.chocolatechinchillas.com/
I ordered the Critical Care from: http://weecompanions.com/
make sure you get the flavored my chin wanted nothing to do with the regular.
i just kept putting my hand in his cage everytime I passed by with either a handful of the crushed pellets, a cheerio, a shreddie, some oats. anything I could to get him to eat. i gave him a 1/2 small raisin. figured it was soft for his mouth. anything I could do to make him eat and it worked after the 2nd day. I am hoping to get the critical care today so i can start bulking him up, he has lost some weight, at this point about 35 grams. the vet said if it gets to 10% of his body weight to call her, I am hoping with the lifeline & CC over the next week, I can get him back up to his normal weight.
did you buy a digital scale?? I got one at walmart for like 25 bux. It was worth it cause now I dont have to wonder. Richie is fine sitting in it. but my other chin Stitch is a total spaz and I can never get a good reading!! lol

 

[arf2184]

You said she's not pooping so you really need to force feed her, maybe even at this point talk to the vet about Reglan and Propulsid to get her gut moving. You really don't want her to go into GI stasis so she need to eat. It can't wait two days for your vet to be in.

I'd start with crushed pellets until you can get some CC. Get a syringe or eye dropper, mix the pellets with some water and start putting it into her mouth. She's not going to like it and will most likely fight you, but get her take as much as you can and then try again in a few hours.

If your vet doesn't have CC you can get it from menagerie on here. Tell her you need it asap, she's great and usually ships fast.

ETA: You can add a drop of honey to the pellet mix to sweeten it. Not a lot, but it may help in getting her to take it easier. Definately add some probiotic to the mix. A coffee grinder works for crushing pellets too if you have one.

 

[eycamry]

Just talked to the vet. She is precribing a motility drug to keep her gut moving and to increase her appetite. I asked if she would recommend CC, she said that she has included another form of supplement for me which does not contain as much sugar and fruits as CC. I found another pet hospital that has CC and I will get some anyway just to keep as a backup. I will force her to eat.

Thanks everyone. I'll keep you posted. Please pray for Polly. I can't lose her.:cry3:

 

[Chinniechantel]

Polly is my prayers. Critical care does not have sugar and fruits...it is just flavored. What did she give you? I don't know of many other supplements that are chin safe, or anything as good as critical care. I would order some anyway. Do force her to eat, massage her belly in a downward motion, and keep her hydrated. The best of luck.

 

[eycamry]

I am back with a pack of CC. The vet gave her metoclopramide and probiotics. I heard her wrong on the phone. She actually suggested vegetable baby food, 3-6cc 3 times a day. Is that a good idea? I think I will still give Polly CC for now. I am moving her to a smaller cage so that I can actually see if she is pooping or peeing.

Can someone tell me how to prepare CC and how much to give? Do I just follow the instructions on the package? Thanks.

 

[aznmexaggie]

Mix the CC like the package says. I normally mix it, let it absorb the water, and then add a tad bit more water to make it into a little thinner-than-pudding consistancy so I can syringe it. When I handfeed CC to an adult chinchilla, I normally do about 15-20 cc per feeding, every 4-6 hours depending on if I'm just supplementing or if the chinchilla is completely off feed.

The probiotics and motility drug, metaclopramide will be very helpful as well.

I would not do the vegetable baby food. CC was formulated especially for ailing herbivores who need the extra nutrition... I would stick with that.

When you move her to the smaller cage, I would also put paper towels on the bottom so that you can see how much she is pooping and peeing.

ETA: One of my chins has teeth which need filing to correct the occlusion angle and to prevent further root elongation and after her filings, she normally loses her appetite for a couple days, just eating a bit of pellets. Luckily, she likes the CC and will take it like candy. Generally she heals quickly though and with the Metacam, she doesn't seem like she is in too much pain, although she avoids chewing hay until she feels better... I normally feed the CC until she starts eating hay again in addition to her pellets.

 

[eycamry]

Thanks, Sumiko. I made the CC into a paste and fed her about 6cc using a syringe. She did not like being force-fed, but ate the paste. I will keep observing her over the weekend. Hopefully she will get better.

She is making that jerking (or hissing) noise when I get close to her now. She really doesn't like to be held and force-fed. I don't know how I can do this for much long before getting bitten. But as long as she gets better, I don't care what it takes.

 

[LovableFuzziezandCrawliez]

Katie, how old was your girl when she first developed malo?

Sorry I didn't post this sooner! She was 7-8 years old.


Good luck with the hand feeding!! Some chinnies get used to it pretty quickly and love the CC - others hate being forced to eat. Let us know how she does and I hope she begins to eat on her own ok.