From:
Ellen List
Date: 2005-07-01 01:44:46 UTC
Subject: broken fang tooth
To: <ferrethealth@smartgroups.com>
Message-ID: <BEEA184E.88A7%ejlist@adelphia.net>
Re: Lucy =
I phoned the vet last night. Within 10 minutes of the fight, the bleeding
had stopped and Lucy was no longer whimpering, but between her hands and
tongue, she was determined to work that tooth out.
Because of her Insulinoma, I was told to hand feed her chicken or turkey
baby food mixed with water. The food so that her blood sugar stayed
relatively stable, the water to keep her hydrated.
She ate eagerly. With every lick, her tooth moved from horizontal and
resting against her little front upper teeth, to protruding straight out
from the right side of her mouth. Amazingly, she gave no indication of bein=
g
in pain. After eating 1/2 a jar of food, her tooth popped out.
I hand fed her every 3 hours throughout the night.
=
We made the 3-hour round trip to the vet this morning. The root did not com=
e
out with the tooth. The socket was red and swollen. Started an antibiotic.
Will probably have to have surgery to get the root out. (Lucy's regular vet=
is on her honeymoon.)
The sudden change in diet precipitated a little diarrhea, so Lucy got some
Sub-Q fluids. I=B9m adding more water to her baby food.
Eighteen months ago, her vet had mentioned that Lucy's canine tooth was
cracked, however, a re-check of the chart revealed that the crack was in th=
e
LEFT tooth, not the one that had broken off. Sigh.
During the exam today, I noticed that the LEFT canine tooth was milky-white=
on the lower half. It was not that way last night.
Lucy is eating her baby food well, loves the hand feeding, and does not see=
m
to be in any pain. She is meandering about the house as usual, but I am
wearing the antibiotic--she still has her sense of humor.
Some of you have asked about the severity of the fight. It really didn't
appear to be that bad. My four ferrets have been jockeying to keep their
positions since my son's and daughter-in-law's 3-month old ferrets arrived
in early June. The battles had actually toned down quite a bit and I
believed the war was waning. I can't imagine how that tooth got
cracked--maybe it hit the base of the floor lamp, because the little male,
Tuttle, had no marks and had not retreated to behind the bookcase, as he
does when he feels threatened.
Many thanks to all of you for your emails, posts and suggestions.
You helped a scared mommy survive the night.
Ellen