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Chinchilla's Severe Dental Malocclusion

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  • 07-08-2013 6:08pm
    #1
    CritterCare
    Registered Users Posts: 1 ✭


    My two year old chinchilla has problems with her molars - she has had to have them filed down three times this year. For her most recent procedure the vet (Bairbre O'Mally) filed them in a certain way to try condition them to grow correctly. She eats a good bit of hay but we're dealing with a bad case of dental malocclusion so it simply does not seem to be working for her. My question is, is there any such 'gritty' food agent I can give her that she would chew to keep the teeth down? I was thinking of making some sort of homemade treat that I could incorporate it into.

    Someone suggested corn cob or walnut stuff that people (mainly hunters) use for polishing empty bullet shells, but im not sure would this even be safe for chinchillas.

    As things are at the moment, if the most recent dental does not work (which we will know in the next few weeks when the teeth start to grow out again), the humane thing to do will be to have her put to sleep. I absolutely cannot have her put under yet another anesthetic & go through another dental/recovery. Its too stressful for her and Im sure very painful.

    Would appreciate advice from experienced owners/experienced chinchilla vets.
    Tagged:


Comments

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    #2
    Billiethepup
    Closed Accounts Posts: 139 ✭✭Billiethepup


    Fairly sure Bairbre O Malley is the most experienced chinchilla vet in the country.. Why don't you phone her before your due to visit again and ask her for advice on a 'gritty' food agent? Maybe even her nursing staff can help you over the phone and surely they'll be happy to talk to you seen as your a client.
    Best of luck with it


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    #3
    Aru
    Registered Users Posts: 235 ✭✭Aru


    Bairbre O'malley is the one of the most experienced exotic vets in the country so Id follow her guidance on this one. Could you ring and ask advise on what foods would be suitable?Randomly changing the diet of a chinchilla to such abrasive foods strikes me as a bad idea as it could cause digestive problems.


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    #4
    ferretone
    Registered Users Posts: 638 ✭✭✭ferretone


    Couldn't agree more with the above 2 posters! I regularly drove a 3 hour round trip with my ferrets to see Bairbre, once they got old and had health issues that needed special care to give them good quality of life for their last few months. If I still had any exotics (which I wouldn't get as long as I live so far from an experienced vet), and was under Bairbre's care, I wouldn't look any further than her practice for advice regarding them.

    I was even in regular correspondence with very knowledgeable ferret people in the US at the time, and she still introduced things that were news to them! I'd be surprised if you'd find people with chinchilla advice on here who would even want to gainsay her, or not any I'd want to listen to anyway.


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