From:
Mike Janke
Date: 2001-10-25 09:35:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Pawing at mouth
Pawing at the mouth is often a sign of nausea, though I suppose a
painful tooth could make a ferret paw at his mouth.
You didn't say whether it was an upper or lower canine, but I assume
the former since those seem to be the ones that get chipped or broken
most often. The tooth may be able to be repaired or removed if it's
really a problem. Removal can create a problem though. I understand
that sometimes, because of the length of the root of the upper
canine, a hole can be created between the nasal cavity and the
mouth. I think that condition is called a oranasal fistula (sp?).
One of mine had to have an upper canine removed because of a
reoccuring, severe infection. That was well over year ago and she's
not had a problem since, though on occasion she does tend to curl her
lip back on that side in kind of an Elvis impression. :-)
mike
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "Rae Edmiston" <raee@c...> wrote:
> I took my boy Faoli in for his booster shot 2 weeks ago, and he
reacted! He
> hadnt reacted to his first three ( he is a year old and was
getting his
> first booster) so we gave him liquid benydril and he stopped
yackin' and
> squirtin' ... while we were there the vet noticed that Faoli had
chipped his
> tooth...I hadn't noticed I guess cause I never look at his
teeth...She
> assured us that it wouldnt bother Faoli and so we just kinda been
keeping an
> eye on it, well last night he was pawing at his mouth and I was
worried he'd
> scratch the top of his mouth with his nails (they are clipped
short, but you
> know) and I was wondering if maybe it was a sign of his tooth
hurting more?
> When we checked it, it SEEMED like the tooth had chipped off even
more (its
> one of the longest "fangs") If so what on earth do you do for a
fert thats
> broken his tooth? Fert dentures? I dont want him to be hurting!
And he's so
> goofy, cause he still bites at the darn cage when he wants
out...which Im
> sure is how he broke it in the first place...
>
> Any help would be nice..
> Thanks in advance!
> Rae and her 2 wacky fuzzy butts