Hello people and piggies, sorry I've not updated for a while but Rory has been having more toothy problems and I've been ill too so not really felt like discussing Rory's health as I have been too upset by it all.
Fortunately Rory is certainly a fighter and every time I think we are coming to the end, he astounds me and bounces back.
Rory has been having his back teeth filed while conscious and it's working so well. He did have one dental with GA what made him very ill and I thought I was going to lose him but after a week of me feeding him day and night, he recovered. The next dental he needed, he had it done with just gas and not the full GA and that worked so much better. I felt sure that Rory wouldn't survive another GA so I was pleased that my vet, Jess, said she would use just gas.
Since then, conscious dentals have kept Rory's teeth in good shape with only the front right molar needing the most work but weekly visits for checking and filing when needed have been working well.
On top of this, Rory's front bottom incisor has broken a couple of times making things more difficult. I think Rory has a weakness on the right side of his jaw because it's always this side that causes problems. The last incisor problem was the worst as the tooth seemed broken below the gum and it seemed as though another tooth was growing so he had three bottom incisors until the loose one eventually fell out. The new tooth has now grown almost to the length of the left one but it's a bit skew.
One day at a time. Rory has pain meds when needed and has also had to have antibiotics a couple of times for respiratory problems so his guts are suffering more than usual.
Jess had sent a picture of Rory's front incisors to Simon for advice as Jess hadn't seen that before.
So the good news is that Jess has had practice at conscious dentals and while she doesn't have the experience that Simon does, she is able to assess the teeth and do dentals while piggies are conscious. I guess this will depend on the severity of the teeth and perhaps GA/gas might need to be used if the teeth are very bad.
Jess is the only vet able to do this at Dart Vale vets at the Brixham (Devon) surgery only. The surgery itself is not the greatest looking vets and quite shabby but Jess and the nurses are the best you could wish for. Jess has been guided and helped by Simon and is very keen to learn and help do what is best for the piggies and the nurses are all very caring and love guineas and bunnies.
I can give address and phone number of the vets if anyone is interested. Jess works Tuesday and Friday only.
Love and hugs to you all xx