From:
"Clover Williams"
Date: 2007-09-08 02:45:29 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] cleaning teeth w/defective jaw
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
This isn't an emergency, at least not yet, but I have a 3.5 y/o ferret with a birth defect that
prevents him from opening his jaw far enough to use his teeth. He can open just enough
to lap tiny bits of soup or to grab cut-up soft food with his lip area, then use tongue and
gravity to get the stuff in his mouth. The original shelter mom says she took him to a vet
years ago, who told her that it was a birth defect, and that corrective surgery would be
very risky. Right now I'm trying to reach her, so that I can get the original xrays and
records for comparison and posting if nothing else.
OK, here's my concern: Although he's a happy, active guy, his breath doesn't smell very
good and I can foresee that this may be a problem in the future. I don't see how they could
be scraped or pulled, even under anesthesia. In fact, if he ever needs any kind of surgery I
don't see how he'd be able to get anesthesia. Leaving that last issue aside for now, I could
probably get the dewlap side with a q-tip and some enzyme stuff, but I'd be sort of poking
blindly and the product might be rubbed off by the time it reaches those bad back teeth. I
MIGHT also be able to fit a small q-tip past his front teeth to get the tongue side, though
that's much iffier. And it would also be blindly poking. But I really think I need to start
cleaning his teeth. Is there a better way? Maybe a safe rinse? Or an enzyme paste or gel
that would foam up, so that even if I didn't get the tooth exactly right, it would still clean
the general area?
(Don't the Chinese have a curse--"May you live in interesting times"?)
Clover
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