Regarding Princess Tubby

[shanmonster]

It would seem there are a few of you who do not understand the Princess Tubby situation. Some think I was considering getting her euthanized trivially. Well, I'd like to disabuse you of that notion. Here is the situation. Princess Tubby, like her mother ChiChi, has a hereditary jaw deformation. In Princess Tubby's case, her bottom jaw is significantly larger than her top jaw. Chinchillas' teeth never stop growing. Because Tubby's jaws are misaligned, this means her bottom teeth are not being worn down correctly. As a result, they are curving up and into her gums.

The pain this causes her makes it very difficult for her to eat. As a result, she has become anorexic. Her mouth is filled with sores, and she is pretty much skeletal.

She was taken to be seen by the veterinarian on Tuesday. I assumed it was so she could be put down, but the veterinarian thought dental surgery was worth a gamble. This is not a permanent solution. When her teeth grow back, as rodents' teeth are wont to do, they will pierce the inside of her face again.

The trick is to make this hold off as long as possible.

If she only has to have surgery every six months to a year, it's not so bad. But--as in ChiChi's case--they grow back once a month--it's extremely hard on the chinchilla. In order for the dental work to be done, the chinchilla has to be anesthetized. The chinchilla also needs to undergo a course of antibiotics, and must be force fed until she's able to begin eating again on her own.

So Tubby had her first surgery yesterday. When she got home, I was amazed at how much weight she'd gained that day. Apparently, the IV drip really went a long way toward restoring her normal body weight. She's still only barely eating, so f00 went shopping for chinchilla soup ingredients. We're mixing up a batch of fruit yoghourt, alfalfa meal, Ensure, and a few other things to jam down her gullet with a syringe. She's not too impressed with that. Neither is she impressed with the antibiotics we've been giving her. It must taste awful, from all the gurning she does.

She goes in for another checkup next week. I hope the results are good....

Comments

[naja-pallida.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you went with the surgery instead. I hope she pulls through ok. Anesthetic is so hard on small animals, and the antibiotics are hard on their kidneys, but they're fighters.

Is she just not a chewer? To wear down her teeth, I mean. My chins devour every block of wood or cuttlebone placed in (or near) their cage.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Yes, she chews, but because of the shape of her jaw, she can't wear down the teeth properly.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

Addendum: She's not chewing right now because her mouth is too sore.

[diatryma.livejournal.com]

From a completely ignorant standpoint, is there anything you can do to her jaw itself? When human jaws are that overgrown, you can have surgery to realign them. I suppose with smaller animals, the cost would be prohibitive, though.
I hope the surgery works and that she does well in the future.

[shanmonster.livejournal.com]

I guess there was one surgery of this type done on a chinchilla in the States. It was the only operation of its type, and the teeth were dead afterwards. I don't know how that worked out, because if the teeth will no longer grow, and the chinchilla kept chewing, I'd imagine its teeth would eventually be worn away, presenting entirely new problems.

[prolixfootle.livejournal.com]

In similar circumstances, I've added Kayro Syrup to help add weight and give them some quick energy...

[glitterybint.livejournal.com]

Im sure i've seen rats and rabbits with this problem too, and in those cases their teeth were simply clipped every few months. Is this not possible with tubby? I remember it was a bit unpleasant for them but didnt need anaesthetic or anything.

Hhmm, Im guessing that wouldn't work or it'd have been done before resorting to surgery. Bummer.

[fourcorners.livejournal.com]

Yay, Princess! I'm glad that her problems are behind her, for this month at least. Is there a way to file down teeth on your lonesome?

[f00dave.livejournal.com]

Not while she's conscious, I'm afraid. Also, the hooks can grow in places that are unfilable (behind the rear molars) in occasional cases. The long-term prognosis from the vet is pretty much what I'd concluded beforehand: strong probability of reoccurrance. In which case, if it remains twice a year, we may be able to afford it, but not otherwise. :-(