Hi all,

Boy, I seem to be really active lately. I wish I could be happier about
that . . .

Anyway, a little over a year ago, my boyfriend and I acquired a very
large ferret who was languishing in his pet store home. Because he was
born big, he was not bought. Then, because he remained in the cage
with 4(!) fresh litters that came and went, he was kept on the gruel,
instead of transferred over to kibble. The little babies went fast,
leaving him often alone, with nothing to do but eat and sleep. When
we first got him, my older two couldn't get him to play. He was very
stubborn about eating kibble, but we didn't give him any gruel on the
vet's advice. She wanted him to lose at least half a pound. Thankfully,
I walked into the pet store for food and fell in love with a little
girl who had just arrived and was a ball of fire. (Of course, she ended
up having coccidia (sp?), but you'd never know it now.) She wouldn't
leave our big guy alone and she could really get him moving. At our vet
visit yesterday, I was so thrilled to find out that Chouji had lost a
pound! He is back into a normal range and is much more energetic and
playful.

Unfortunately, there was bad news. As I waited for the vet to come in
to give him his shot, he had an accident. I cleaned it up, but he was
looking so miserable that I picked him up for kisses. Every day, he
gets tons of kisses on his left snout (he always turns his head that
way). This time, my kiss made him jerk away. I scruffed him and noticed
that there was an abrasion on his top lip. I pulled his lip back and
wanted to cry. Half of his upper canine is gone. It looks like a cavity
weakened the tooth and it just split. He hasn't had any falls and I
don't think he is cage biting, but I could be wrong. Right now, our
theory is that the lack of crunchy food for so long led to a cavity and
for all my teeth brushing, there was no way I could have known. He is
going in for surgery and teeth cleaning on Wed night. I can't get him
there in time on Thursday and still get to work, so they are going to
keep him for me overnight without charging a boarding fee. I'm so
miserable for him. I've been watching him very carefully and he keeps
getting his upper lip caught on his lower canine. The vet says he will
be ok with only 3 canines, but I feel horrible, anyway.

I'm wondering if anyone else out there has a ferret with missing
canines? Did it take long for them to stop biting their lip? Do they
get bullied more in wrestling matches? I know the teeth cleaning will
give me a heads up if the other teeth are structurally weak, but that
gives me little comfort. I'm compulsively checking all four mouths
now.

~Jennie

[Posted in FML 5768]