>From: "Michael F. Janke" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: snaggletooth
>We just rescued a 2 year old boy this past weekend. ...
>On to the point of this post... His left lower canine is comes out at a
>slight angle. The end result is that a pocket to receive it has formed in
>his upper, inner lip. He eats well and appears quite healthy and it
>doesn't seem to bother him, but I'm still concerned. Has anyone dealt with
>extraction of this tooth? I understand that the possibility exists of
>breaking the jawbone during the extraction.
We have removed *upper* canines from several ferrets with no problems.
Encouraged those ferrets to eat more and put on good weight afterward. But
lower canines are new to us too.
Just yesterday we rescued a kit from a local pet store, who has a really
crooked mouth (my vet called her parrot mouth, hence her name -- Perry).
About 5 days ago a woman called me and told me about this kit, which she had
purchased from the store but returned her after the vet pointed out the
problem with her teeth. She was concerned because the pet store was
intending to sell her anyway, *without* informing the new owner about her
mouth (guess they were trying to pull a fast one).
I put the word out on the local mailing list and several people went into
the store and tried to convince the manager to sell her cheap, or surrender
her to the rescue to have the problem corrected. The pet store claimed
their vet said her teeth were "not a big problem" and took names and numbers
and said if she didn't sell at her curent price, they would consider all
offers later. Never mind that she already can't close her mouth completely.
One of her lower canines is already putting a hole in the roof of her mouth,
since that's how crooked her jaw is. She's about 7 weeks old. The pet
store was trying to sell her for whatever they could get, and finally we
marched in there, offered them a sum and said we weren't leaving without her
so they best get on the phone and talk to whoever made the decisions there
about selling her to us. We also made a few suggestions about moistening
the kibble for the other kits and such, and I was surprised when the
employee hurried into the back of the store and came out immediately with
fresh, moistened kibble and a freshly cleaned cage, no shavings and some
safe toys. It's amazing how fast they'll work when you tell them you
operate the local ferret rescue and club :-)
Anyway, her one lower canine sticks up into the roof of her mouth, the other
is sticking into the area where her upper gums and lip meet. Both will need
to be removed or she won't be able to close her mouth, much less eat. Our
vet said that extraction was actually fairly easy, but that she would need
to go back in a couple of months to ensure that the entire root had been
removed, and that there was no infection in the gum. He said he's removed
a few, and didn't mention anything about broken jaws or other horrifying
things.
My question: she's also got a severly prolapsed rectum (probably a result of
eating hard kibble too young and being descented so early) and I'd like to
make life more comfortable for her. We're giving her moist kibble so things
are easier for her to swallow without having to close her mouth all the way,
but is there anything else I can do for her poor bottom?
I'd also like to thank our local community of ferret fanciers, many of whom
stopped in to the store to express their concern over her mouth and her
future to the manager, and also who have offered to help pay for the surgery
to remove her teeth. Our rescue is pretty tight on funds, and several
people who would have bought her from the store if the price was right have
decided instead to put that $$$ toward her surgery. You're all a really
terrific group of people. Perry thanks you all :-)
Sheena - [log in to unmask] | "To Err is Ferret ... To Forgive|
VP - Greater Vancouver | "... Well, That's Our Job" |
Ferret Association (Wherret Web Pages Coming Soon!)
We're on the Web! http://www2.portal.ca/~cmc/ferrets/fagv/
[Posted in FML issue 1850]
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