Molar Spurs (Novel Length fyi)

[caiti]

So about 9 months ago my chin, Chloe, had an upper respiratory infection, possible tooth root abscess and GI stasis. She recovered from that but now I think she has an abscess from a molar spur.
Last night I noticed the classic drool neck, odor and pawing at mouth. I noticed she'd been eating less hay the past 5-7 days and maybe pawing at her mouth. I started her on baytril, metoclopramide and probiotics last night that I have at home (I work in an animal hospital I don't suggest everyone treat their own animals or go out and buy a small veterinary pharmacy for yourself).
Today I took some rads, sedated exam. I found no abscess and roots look ok but she definitely has maloclussion. Her rads from 9 months ago are very different looking (just the crowns of her teeth, roots are the exact same). She has spurs that I suspect caused an infection and I just couldn't see the laceration on her cheek. I may have seen a abscess/wound in the way back of her mouth but I couldn't manipulate the light enough to get a good look.
There is a vet at my hospital that sees exotics though she does not see them exclusively and is not considered a specialist. I'm sure she's done spur filing before so I'd rather be the surgery tech for a routine-ish procedure than have it done elsewhere.
The vet does not feel they are bad enough to file. I disagree and want to go ahead with the surgery. I don't see how they would get better on their own.
I was just wondering what people's experience with removing spurs were? I will try to get her infection under control before the surgery, though the spurs are just going to keep cutting her cheek/gums so I'm wondering if I should just do the surgery asap. I think it would be pretty quick if we were smart about it. She would probably be sedated for as long as she was today anyways!
Just wanted to know some opinions about surgery while being ill and recovery process etc.
Thank you very much.

 

[ticklechin]

I can't open the image, can you post a link to a image site?

 

[caiti]

These are screenshots of her rads from December (all right side)

http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/caitlinjbohner/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160827_095105-1_zpsyty0pa8h.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/caitlinjbohner/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160827_095105-1_zpsyty0pa8h.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0
And these are pictures I took of the computer screen (very low quality but it's all I could get) of her rads yesterday. Also right side.

http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/caitlinjbohner/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160827_095105-1_zpsyty0pa8h.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0
Hope this works and you can see the images!!

 

[caiti]

Ok so I apparently can't use computers. If you click on any of the links it will bring you to 4 images. The first 2 are from yesterday. The last 2 are from december. Gah!

 

[Smidgeyy]

I definitely see some root elongation in those rads(my comp has crappy exposure that I never bothered to fix so it's difficult for me to see, but that's what it appears like on m end). Ticklechin is the person to ask, that's who I went to when I was having issues with mine. We just had a RE case at work the other day and these rads look very similar. To me it looks like they're growing into the jaw and eye socket, for which there is absolutely no cure. RE and Malo are two things I would have euthanized on the spot for... I was fully prepared to put my guy down had he come back with any dental disease. Luckily that wasn't the case and a one time filing was enough to fix the problem. His teeth overgrew due to the lack of eating/chewing when he was ill.

Definitely check in with ticklechin. There's nobody that I trust more regarding anything involving a chinchillas mouth.

I'm sorry that you're having these issues with your baby. I was in an panic at the thought of my guy having Malo, so I can't imagine having to actually go through it. I wish you the best, hopefully ticklechin can help you out.

 

[caiti]

Thanks for the info and the sympathy. I am kind of freaking out but what can you do, you know?
Her roots have looked like that for years. I don't have her first set of rads but I thought the same when I first saw them as well, I was panicked. But they haven't changed, I've been waiting for them to.
I can feel the three molars/premolars growing through her jaw on both sides of her mandible. I felt these bumps since the first day I got her. They have also not changed and are completely symmetrical both by feel and on her radiographs. She does not have watery eyes either which is a little of a relief.
I have a suspicion that might be somewhat of a normal thing. She's lived 6 or 7 (I forget!) happy years with me with no dental issues other than the past year, despite my paranoia haha.
She's drooling pretty bad today though she is still nibbling at her pellets and hay, albeit eating less, and drinking normally. I shaved some fur so she won't get matted and she looks ridiculous but it's helping.
I don't know if I can file her spurs with the dental hand piece we have. I don't think it will fit in her mouth well enough to let us see where to file.
I contacted some vet friends who work with people who see exotics and I will likely call Tufts.
My next pet will be a pet rock I think.

 

[Smidgeyy]

Definitely shoot ticklechin a message, nobody has more experience than she does. Like I said, I trust her judgement 100%. I've only seen a handful of chin rads personally so my experience is limited. I'm hoping that the issue is stable and it's really just the spurs that are giving her problems. No change is a great sign though. I'm sending positive thoughts.

My vet tends to just clip the teeth off, which bothers me. She did so on a semi sedated piggie and I almost had a heart attack. No way could I trust her with dental work on my chin, especially after she almost killed him TWICE. She's great with other animals, just apparently not rodents/guineas. Working with her is not particularly fun anymore Lol. I actually had his dental work done at North Star, in NJ. Not sure where you're located but I was happy with that vet. He gave me the meds I asked for and that was ultimately what saved him. The vet I work with ignored me when I asked for certain medication. /facepalm/

A pet rock would be great... These animals will be the death of me one day!

 

[caiti]

Update

Brought her to Tufts this morning. She is scheduled for a CT scan and if that looks good dental surgery to follow. They found an abscess in her mouth and agree antibiotics won't cut it alone. They talked about taking out her tooth if it's a tooth root abscess but that makes me nervous.
Now she's on meloxicam so I hope that makes her want to eat but I've been syringe feeding her too.
:tissue:

 

[ticklechin]

If there is a abscess that is apical then the vet is correct, without removing the tooth the issue will never be resolved with just antibiotics alone. The xrays to be frank do not look to be severe enough to cause the symptoms listed-elongation is silent until well advanced and I don't see advanced nor so I see malo that is enough to cause severe symptoms, some wave mouth but not enough to cause lacerations. The abscess will cause all of the above including the URI, a classic symptom. You are at a point where all you can do is have the tooth removed, if it does not go well during surgery consider giving the vet the leaway to PTS while under I am sad to say.

 

[caiti]

Thank you Dawn. So Chloe had a CT scan and teeth trimming last wednesday. They do not believe it is a tooth root abscess but she has large lacerations on her cheeks and tongue, which have abscessed. The doctor there did not want to take the teeth out anyways as she said due to the elongation it would risk fracturing the jaw. The CT scan showed more severe spurs than you can perceive on the radiographs.
She went home with buprenorphine for a couple days to add to her regimen. At this point, she's really not eating much. When she was on buprenorphine she may have been drooling more (not sure if that is a side effect in chins) but she was eating some pellets. I may try to get some more but also she may just need additional antibiotics if the lacerations are still bothering her then they are obviously not clearing up.
I was trying to decide if I would euthanize her while she was under if they told me her prognosis was bad but that was not the conversation I had thank god. I think I ultimately would have instead of waking her up just to say goodbye as much as that would have sucked lemons.
So as of now we are pretty much doing the "catch/medicate/shove-CC-down-your-throat" dance three times a day. She loathes me I think.
Thanks for all the info I will keep you updated!

 

[caiti]

UPDATE- Tissue Necrosis

Sooooo I've been giving injectable baytril. Tried to be smart and dilute it with LRS to avoid tissue necrosis. Apparently it didn't stick. We did surgery on her at work to repair all the necrotic lesions. So now I'm sticking to oral antibiotics forever. Just wanted to let everyone see what happens. I know some people use injectable baytril and it works out fine but Chloe is not part of that demographic. I was looking for it and it was very hard to find due to her fur. Once I shaved her back lesions just kept popping up. We debrided them and three got sutures. Poor Chloe, I just keep torturing her. I feel so bad for doing this to her but I'm just going to try to fix it and learn from it.
Pics are only from aerial, she was too squirmy for side view but most of the lesions you can see, or at least parts of them. Her head is to the left, tail to the right.
http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/caitlinjbohner/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160906_113055_zpst3k3ksxf.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0
http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/caitlinjbohner/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160906_112946_zpsnddlosuk.jpg.html?sort=3&o=2
http://s1067.photobucket.com/user/caitlinjbohner/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20160906_113033_zpspcgzusaf.jpg.html?sort=3&o=1