Puck, who's only three, recently got very lethargic and stopped eating.
His face was very puffy and when I rushed him to the vet found out he
had a badly infected upper molar. The vet gave him fluids, got him on
antibiotics and within a couple of days he was back eating his kibble.
A week later he was back at the vet's to have a bad tooth pulled and
the rest of his teeth cleaned. Ended up one molar and a pre-molar had
to be pulled.

When I got to the vets to pick him back up that evening I was surprised
to see the vet had taken before and after pics of both sides of his
mouth, upper and lower.

Right side before - that horrible looking molar and the premolar to the
right of it were the ones pulled. You can see how bad the decay was -
all the way up to the root and into the gum.
http://www.ferretocious.com/puck/rightbeforedental.jpg

Right side after - with the two bad teeth pulled and the rest of them
cleaned.
http://www.ferretocious.com/puck/rightafterdental.jpg

Left side before - bad tartar buildup on the one molar but thankfully
it was only on the exposed part of the tooth - not going into the root.
http://www.ferretocious.com/puck/leftbeforedental.jpg

Left side after
http://www.ferretocious.com/puck/leftafterdental.jpg

Note that Puck is only about THREE YEARS OLD! I've never had a ferret
with teeth that were this bad and Pan, who came from the same household
(I adopted them together a year ago) and who's the same age, has
perfectly white tartar-free teeth. I checked everyone's teeth after
this and the only one that needs a cleaning is Roxy who's about 4.
Ringo, at 6 1/2, has perfectly white teeth.

I guess ferrets are just like humans - some have better teeth than
others and are less prone to tartar buildup and cavities. So check your
fuzzies' teeth and get them cleaned before they end up with teeth that
have to be pulled. This was a pretty costly bill - I spent $600 between
the two vet visits.

The good news is Puck was bouncing around happy as can be the day after
the surgery. Where his teeth were pulled has nicely healed over. Here's
video of him - 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn7CfmOYw3Q

The vet I go to is Dr. Johnson at Northwest Animal Care in Everett,
WA. Pricey, like most ferret vets, but I really like him. He's VERY
knowledgeable about ferrets and obviously loves them. Definitely
recommend.
http://www.nwanimalcare.com/

Laura

[Posted in FML 6254]