Gandalf Update! (Long)
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| Fri, 01-28-2005 - 6:30pm |
I know this is off topic, but I wanted to post about my chinchilla's surgery here since my P2 friends are waiting to hear how he's doing. Sorry if it's too long or detailed. LOL ;-)
Well I called the vet's at 2pm yesterday because I couldn't concentrate on work and hadn't heard anything. The tech told me Gandalf was still sitting in an aquarium and that his surgery would start around 3pm. I decided to leave work at 2:30 and got to the vet's by 3. The tech told me Gandalf was just then "on the table" and asked if I'd like to come back in an hour or so. I said yes, as long as they called me on my cell phone if they needed to ask/tell me anything. I went home to spend a little time with Misha & Gracie. Then I returned to the vet's at 4pm. They said he was still in surgery. I think it was around 4:20 or so when he was finally finished. I kept myself busy playing with two kittens that were in a big cage in the waiting area. One was a tuxedo and the other an adorable tortie. If I didn't have 5 already I would have adopted the tortie in a nanosecond! LOL She kept talking to me and wanting me to pet her. It broke my heart when I finally had to leave and she looked at me with those pleading eyes.....but I digress.
The tech brought Gandalf out to me when he was groggy and just waking up from the anesthesia (they used gas so he'd come out of it easier. The other vet who'd done Gandalf's surgery last October used injectible anesthesia). She gave me a towel to cradle him in and let me sit in an exam room so he wouldn't be upset by the dogs in the waiting area. I held him and pet him for awhile until the vet came in. She told me she'd spent a great deal of time in the past couple days reading up on chinchillas and their dental problems. She said she wants to learn more since there still isn't that much known about such exotic animals in veterinary science compared to dogs & cats. She said she had online consulting that she does with other exotic specialists around the country. She said she'd forward his digital x-rays to a chinchilla dental expert for a second opinion as well as ask around about what diet & roughage would be best to help keep Gandalf's teeth naturally ground down. She had discovered there were no absesses or broken parts under the gumline (thank God) and she did remove a broken bit of tooth above the gumline and removed the points on the back teeth that are closest to the front since they weren't meeting properly. She trimmed his front tooth a little also, but she said the front teeth were in good shape are weren't really the problem.
The x-rays showed that the roots on his bottom teeth are growing too far into his jaw which no doubt must cause some pain. She did not see any obvious evidence of roots growing in the upper teeth towards his eye sockets (which is a relief, because that is what would make me consider euthanasia because that would be unbearably painful). She said she'll get a second opinion on that though just to be sure. She gave him an injection of some pain killer after surgery and at my prompting and insistence she agreed to send 5 days worth of liquid anti-inflammatory pain meds home with me to give him. If he is tender and won't eat pellets or hay for the next few days I can give him green bean baby food (which he loves).
His prognosis so far....he's not out of the woods, but there is hope. She said she'd read of vets removing teeth in chins where the roots were causing pain, but she said it could not be done all at once or the pain would be too much and the chin could die. She said they had found removing one tooth at a time is the best way to go. You have to put them under anesthesia and take one tooth, recover and they can deal with the pain if allowed at least a week before coming in for the next tooth to be pulled. It would involve 8 straight weeks for the bottom teeth to be removed. I am assuming you'd need to remove the top ones too? I will have to ask her when I talk to her again in about a week. I asked if the chins who'd had teeth removed were depressed since they couldn't chew anymore (which is such a big part of their natural instinct). She said no, that they've actually done well. She did say it should be a last resort though.
She said all the research she read indicated that his problem was likely dietary and not genetic. She said he needs to eat more hay and roughage to keep the teeth ground down and that pellets & raisins did not help grind teeth like hay would. (She said she wasn't sure the shredded wheat squares I gave him recently are good for chins since it is a grain. She will do more checking on that). I told her I'd gotten conflicting advice from the younger (less experienced) vet I'd first taken Gandalf to. She had said if a chin has malocclusion of the teeth at age 2 that it's likely hereditary (genetic). She said if they get it later in life it's not as likely to be genetic??? The vet I saw today said perhaps that other vet knew of something she didn't know, but that she had not seen any research that indicates this would be genetic and that I should be able to just let him live with Cocoa again and let them have babies if they want. I wish I knew which vet is right. It's so confusing!
I am cautiously optimistic. I worry that he's in constant pain with the roots growing into his jaw real deeply. The vet said if he keeps his teeth ground properly the roots should not grow any more so the problem shouldn't get worse. She may have me bring him in monthly, as I'd done with the other vet, to be checked and have any minor points filed off the teeth as needed. If it comes to it then I will consider having teeth removed as long as that in itself doesn't cause him too much stress/pain. I would love to let him cuddle his friend Cocoa again. I wish I could figure out if it's a good idea or not. I really don't feel good about neutering him at this point since I know it's not something vets do every day on such small animals, and I can imagine it would cause pain as well as potential complications should the operation not go well.
Thank you for reading my novel here. LOL Thank you all for your friendship and support & prayers which I couldn't do without! Do you think this vet today is the one I should stick with? Even if she doesn't know everything about chins she seems willing to do the research/consulting. The first vet I saw (with only 2 years experience) was good at filing his teeth and handling him, but I don't think her clinic was as modern or clean as the one I took him to today.
Other than some head shaking and a few funny noises, Gandalf seemed to come out of anesthesia well. He's resting now in his spacious, multi-level cage and I'll be checking on him soon.
I am still discussing things with dh. I hope now he'll not be so quick to give up. It's not easy, but I want to give Gandalf every chance as long as he's not suffering and has some enjoyment of life left.
As for today, he's not eating except for the baby food and he's obviously still in some pain and just wants to sleep. When dh gets home in an hour I'll have him help me give Gandalf his liquid pain medicine.
Hugs from a very relieved (formerly stressed beyond belief) furmom!




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Bless your heart for taking care of Coco and for having adopted her with her jaw/dental problems. I am sure she knows how much you all love her. I know how scary it is puting your furbaby under anesthesia. You are doing the right things though and I'm sure she'll have a much longer, happier life thanks to you! I have heard Bichons are wonderful dogs. Is it true they don't shed much?
I'm worried still about Gandalf. I went back to the vet yesterday to buy some Critical Care. (A food by Oxbow that you mix with water to feed with a syringe. It has all the Timothy Grass Meal, Soybean Hulls, Acidophilus, etc that would be good for him). He doesn't want to eat it since it has a strong Anise smell. I tried mixing in his favorite green bean baby food and got him to eat a little that way. We noticed last night his two bottom front teeth are uneven. I am frustrated because that is probably why his lip is now swollen. :-( The longer tooth probably dug into his lip when he tried to eat. We're taking him back to the vet tomorrow and I am not looking forward to the idea that they'll likely have to sedate him to file the longer tooth down to the same level as the other tooth. I am beginning to think the vet he'd gone to last October is better at teeth trimming than this one. I'll keep you all posted here on what happens. He looks miserable so it's making me feel so bad to put him through this. I don't think we would put him through having teeth removed after hearing what an ordeal it would be for him. I don't want him under anesthesia so often.
Hi Kathy!
Thank you so much for your kind words. We have something else in common....I also have helped Sheltie rescue this past year! :-) I think I posted about it last August. There was a Sheltie a friends's DIL had that she wasn't taking good care of. Her dh went over to Iraq and she just stuck his dog down in the basement for hours and never gave her the love she was used to from her dh. She wanted to get rid of the dog since she was pregnant and feared the dog would hurt her baby. I did research and got in touch with some Sheltie resuce in Minnesota that offered to take her. It was so rewarding! The DIL gave me the dog and I drover her to the airport where a volunteer had flown a little plane down from Minn. to pick up the Sheltie! She got to fly off in first class to her new life. :-) She was soon adopted and now lives happily with a woman and her other Sheltie. I will attach a couple photos from that day. I told them anytime they need someone to drive a Sheltie from this area to another city that I'd help.
That must be awesome working with wild bird rehab too! You are an AWESOME furmom! We are always hoping to have one human kid too, but that would involve in-vitro and insurance doesn't cover it. I can honestly say I will be disappointed if I never have a baby, but just being able to love & care for animals makes up for it. :-)
Oh, no!
Thank you Scully! I will see what the vet says tomorrow...he's got a swollen lip now and isn't eating/drinking on his own. I will let you know what happens. This is more difficult than I thought it would be.
Hugs,
Thank you so much Susan. It is so heartbreaking seeing him miserable since the surgery. The vet messed up and didn't file his front bottom teeth even, so I think he'll face one more short sedation to correct that problem so he can eat again. I want to limit the anesthesia so I doubt we'd ever agree to have his teeth removed one by one. I am waiting to see what the chin dental experts she consults with say. If the roots are causing him constant pain then I am preparing for the option of euthanasia. We just don't want him to suffer. :-(
I will see what we find out tomorrow. Thanks for thinking of us!
Hugs,
Thanks Bets! I sure hope he can recover from this surgery. I hope he can get back to eating harder foods again to see if we can avoid this surgery. I am concerned about the roots causing him pain though. We are going to do what we can, but if he's suffering I will sadly have to consider sending him to Rainbow Bridge. :-(
((((Hugs))))
((((( Hugs & prayers Suzy ))))) We'll be thinking about you two.
Susan :)
Awww.... poor little guy! I hope Mr. Gandalf is back to his happy self soon! I know how stressful it is to have healthy issues with our furbabies. I have to take my little Cleo dog to the vet tomorrow for a whole slew of problems she's having. Poor thing. :(
Hoping you and Gandalf have a stress-free week Suzy!
Leslie
Thank you Leslie. I took this morning off work to take him in around 9:20. We'll see what they say.
I'm praying Cleo will be ok too! Please let us know how the vet visit goes.
Hugs,
BIchons sound wonderful! She sounds like my Thomie who also loves sleeping on pillows. LOL
I made an appt. to take Gandalf in this morning at 9:20. I pray they can help fix the problem of the uneven teeth.
Hugs,
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