Health
& Lifestyle Pages (site
index lists page contents) Chinchilla
Behavior: Relating to People and Other Animals
Chinchilla
Introductions and Group Dynamics/ Chintelligence
and Communication/
Dental Health/ Exercise
and Play Grooming,
Fur and Skin Health/ Healing:
Ailments & Remedies/ Nutrition/
Origins
and Wild Chinchillas Today

*The
Red Print: Please Read First
*Dental
Health (articles and photos, dental formula, facts and problem prevention,
crossley articles)
*Malocclusion
(defining; articles and photos; environmental factor- calcium deficiency,
inadequate tooth wear, implementing changes to address calcium deficiency
and malocclusion; symptom progression of malocclusion)
Continued on next page:
*Supplementing
Vitamin C for Dental Health (articles, vitamin c sources)
*Supplementing
Calcium to Correct Calcium Deficiency (calcium metabolism, moderate
ca:no p calcium supplementing, articles, bladder stones in perspective,
calcium sources)
Continued on next page:
*Positive
Results from Vitamin C and Calcium Supplementing: Correcting Calcium
Deficiency, Reversing Malocclusion (herd of maloccluders; casper in
japan; henry, sugarpuff and dinky in the uk; sasha's miracle) |
POSITIVE RESULTS FROM VITAMIN C AND CALCIUM SUPPLEMENTING:
CORRECTING CALCIUM DEFICIENCY, REVERSING MALOCCLUSION
(herd
of maloccluders, casper
in japan, henry,
sugarpuff and dinky in the UK, sasha's
miracle)
Also see these articles that
have a direct bearing on this section: The
Red Print: Please Read First,
Environmental
Malocclusion: Calcium Deficiency, Calcium
Metabolism and Moderate
Ca:no P Calcium Supplementing
Vitamin
C and calcium
supplementing
can improve some dental problems but they are NOT being suggested
as a cure-all for every type of dental problem. Be advised that age,
overall health and the type and severity of the dental problem will
affect how the chin responds to any treatment.
As stated in
ChinCare's disclaimer, there is no suggestion, advice or recommendation
on this site that is intended to serve as or substitute for the expert
diagnosis and treatment of
an exotics specialist vet.
The articles in this section (with the exception of Sasha's Miracle)
are from some of the other people who have experienced positive results
with vitamin C and calcium supplementing. Quotes and dates derive
from actual email correspondence, and all articles were reviewed and
approved by the persons involved for posting on ChinCare.

Herd of Maloccluders Gets New Lease on Life
On May 7, 2007 we,
the ChinCare webmasters, heard from a breeder, TW in Arkansas, about
a herd of 37 chinchillas that had arrived at her place "at almost
midnight on a Friday night (Friday the 13th [of April] to be exact),
and they came in soaking wet and very stressed." Her first look at
the bedraggled chins led TW to believe that they were wet solely from
the leaking
caused by having their water bottles left in with them during travelling.
But drooling
from advanced malocclusion
can also make chins wet...
TW didn't get an opportunity to examine their health status until
the next day: "Some were severely matted, which I was picking fist-sized
mats out of their fur. I put one of them in a scruff hold to pick
some out of her belly and she screamed... revealing teeth that curved
back from the top and pierced the roof of her mouth! … I have been
working for 2 1/2 weeks feeding cc [Critical Care] and crushed pellets
to the worst of them, trying to keep them alive. I lost one already
that was horribly matted up and the shock of the move and her teeth
problems killed her... I have NEVER seen a case of malocclusion this
bad... expecially not in these numbers…" (photos: 1,
2,
3)
Two of the 37 died before Matilde's
Mission, a chinchilla charity that gives aid to both rescue and
ranch chinchillas, got involved at our request. To help the remaining
35 chins, MM immediately sent calcium powder, Ca:no
P in the form of Fluker's
Repta-Calcium (with vitamin D (.doc)
to aid calcium absorption), and 500mg chewable vitamin
C tablets, which TW later ground into powder for easier consumption.
MM also paid for the chins to be seen by DVM Leslie Block of South
County Animal Hospital, an experienced exotics specialist vet.
Two vet appointments were set up to get all the chins in for examination,
and the results as relayed by TW for the 5/16 and 5/18 appointments
were: 6 chins had to be euthanized due to severe malocclusion, 8 had
moderate malocclusion, 13 had mild malocclusion, and the rest were
in the clear. TW reported that the chins were already beginning to
show some improvement in their dental health as a result of better
diet, which makes perfect sense because their photos, especially
this
one, clearly show malnutrition as the cause of their calcium deficiency
(and dental disease). Incredibly, some of these chins had kits
after arriving at TW's, it's just unconscionable to think that their
previous owner was breeding them when they were in such poor health.
All 21 treatable (moderate and mild) maloccluders were put
on the Fluker's Repta-Calcium and vitamin C: "Upon returning
home, I put the chins on a regimen of Fluker's Calcium powder and
vitamin C tablets, crushed and mixed in with the pellets."
On July 15 we received good news from TW: "They did go to the
vet [for follow-up], and Duncan (you remember how bad he was, he
was moderate/severe) is VERY slight now!! Some of the others are
totally CLEAR! The only one that didn't improve much is my Connor,
and I'm working on him, and the brown velvet female, who WAS slight
and is now moderate." And on August 20: "Yep, they [maloccluders]
had final check and they are doing great but that brown velvet girl.
She actually is looking quite a bit better too."
TW updated us again on November 14: "As the chins were being
adopted out to pet homes, I got the slight/moderate chins rechecked
again. Of those chins, ALL of them came back clear of malocclusion.
I still have possession of one of the chins that was almost put down
due to borderline severe malocclusion. About once a week he gets the
pellets mixed with the calcium/vitamin C combination. As of his last
vet visit he is still completely clear of maloclussion. It is my conclusion
that the treatment of vitamin C and Fluker's Calcium powder cured
the malocclusion and continues to keep it at bay. I have checked in
with the adoptees who have had the chins at the vet since then, and
all of the chins are still testing clear. One of the adoptees gives
the calcium/vit C treatment mixed into the supplement daily, another
adoptee gives it as I do, once a week mixed with the food. I have
since started using this combination with my breeding females as well
to help boost them after a litter."
On March 11, 2008, we got the final update on their condition almost
a year after the herd of maloccluders had first arrived at TW's: "Update
from all the adopters, all but one of the chins [brown velvet female]
is doing great. The brown velvet female did die, the vet told the
adopter that it was because of old age. He estimated her at around
25-30 years old! No wonder she was so grumpy! The one I kept is still
doing great and still clear of malo [Duncan, in photo]. He's one of
the top chins around here because he will lay on his back in my arms
with his little feet in the air!"

Nippon Chinchilla Rescue in Japan: Casper's
Story
In summer of 2007, Karen of Nippon Chinchilla Rescue approached us
about our vitamin
C and calcium
supplementing regimen, for possible use with one of her chins. From
3/20/08 email: "Casper's dental issues started about 3 years ago,
however, it wasn't a big concern then and [his molars and incisors]
only needed filing every 4-6 months to make chewing easier for him.
Then in July last year [2007] while I was checking him for hair-ring,
I noticed his bottom incisors were odd, they were uneven shades from
ivory to light yellow and were growing outwards in a form of 'V' with
a gap in between. Luckily [the head] x-ray didn't show any misalignment
or root overgrowth even though his jawline felt kind of bumpy/ jagged,
but nevertheless I took the warning and trips to the vet became a
routine."
Sensing that Casper's case was
urgent, Karen began administering vitamin C and intensive calcium
supplementing (which we define as supplementing from more than
one calcium source or greater quantities from a single source)
about the same time we began intensive calcium supplementing with
some of our chins, as described in Sasha's
Miracle. For calcium sources,
Karen used Rep-Cal Ultrafine Calcium With Vitamin D3 (Ca:no P,
for dusting
pellets) and Coral Calcium Complex Liquid: "I did notice some
darkening of the incisors on the 3rd week but it was on the 7th week
that my vet noticed a shift; the incisors seemed to be growing back
straight with the gap being smaller. It's been 8 months since I started
him on the supplementation, I'm pleased to say that his teeth now
[3/20/2008] are dark yellow and even, the lower part of the incisors
have closed up, growing straight and neat, leaving just a small 'V'
at the top."
Since the intensive calcium supplementing had improved Casper's condition,
Karen decided to scale back to just moderate
calcium supplementing, from a 3/27/08 email: "When his incisors started
to grow straight with the gap closing up, and dental checks were like
every 6 weeks instead of 4, I thought dusting pellets [alone] would
be good enough and I stopped the liquid calcium. Everything was fine
until 2 weeks ago, we discovered that his bottom left incisor was
like starting to over-lap the right and was shaky. Yamada [DVM Tizuko
Yamada] thought it was bad and asked that I keep an eye on it and
come back 2 weeks later, which is today. I started him back on the
liquid calcium with Vit C that night, so far he seems fine, and he
even put on weight, funny eh?"
Sadly, on 3/29/08, on Casper's follow-up appointment, he had to have
his left mandibular (lower) incisor extracted (photo
of tooth and photo
of mouth one month later). "When Yamada gave it a gentle shake,
it was very loose and then it started to bleed profusely and smelt.
She suspected an infection in the gums and that it was imperative
to remove the incisor now before it gets really bad with complications,
it would be a relief for him and we could eliminate the possibility
of a root elongation from happening which would otherwise be more
painful and threatening. But, there will be some swelling of the gums
and bottom lips after and most likely an infection caused by food,
foreign objects stuck in the deep open wound, not forgetting the stress
and loss of appetite. It was a dilemma but what other choice do I
have? I can see it hurts and probably has been for a while. It wasn't
like that when I checked 2 days ago and he was still playfully climbing
all over my back… Anyhow, he wasn't under full anesthetic, just the
gums and it was fairly quick. 6 days of Baytril [antibiotic] and Metacam
[painkiller] (thank God I've still some Bene-Bac [for
gut upset] left), and x-ray on the 7th day."
It is important to realize that vitamin
C and calcium
supplementing can go a long way with helping various dental conditions
like environmental
malocclusion caused by calcium deficiency and loose
or crooked (misaligned) teeth, but sometimes there are
extenuating circumstances, like additional complications or perhaps
the problem is already too advanced for a complete recovery to take
place.
Casper also received a significant amount of grains during this period
of his calcium supplementing, which is something we now caution
against, and informed Karen of. The high phosphorus content of grains
can raise phosphorus levels and impede calcium absorption, diminishing
the effectiveness of calcium supplementing (ref).
This would explain why Casper's improvements were sustained during
intensive calcium supplementing, but not with moderate supplementing.
At least Casper made some positive advances, and is in the care of
a good rescuer and chinparent who doesn't hesitate to provide excellent
veterinary
care.
Henry, Sugarpuff and Dinky in the UK
After correspondence with Linda of Chinchillas2Home
concerning our positive experiences
with Ca:no
P (calcium: no phosphorus) supplementing, she decided to
give it a go with some chins from her rescue crew:
Henry, 11/11/07
"Henry, this little chin I have, his bottom teeth are white
and there is a gap in the middle of them, his top teeth have overgrown
since I brought him home (not sure why! as he only had a block
of wood for 6 months with the breeder to sit and chew on and I've
loads of chewies in the cage now!). It may be that by coincidence,
he just 'started' to show a teeth problem when I brought him home
at 6 months old, he eats well but now has this front 'eating problem'
with his teeth growing a bit long to bite anything- so he's off to
the vets. I'm giving it two weeks first to see if he can gnaw them
back (like one of my others did once a while ago when her teeth
grew too long through illness) but if not, then that's the time
I'll see the vet and see about calcium views!"
11/23/07
"When he first came home with me about 6 weeks ago, top teeth
were very pale yellow, bottom were white and parted like the red sea,
quite a gap in the middle that I was tempted to teach him how to whistle
;-) So straight away I started on the Ca:P 2:1 – he had this on his
pellets everyday, then on the 3rd of November you emailed about ‘straight
calcium’ [Ca:no P, which Linda used in the form of T-Rex 2:0] so I
switched to straight calcium and he’s been on that for over 2 weeks.
His top teeth were not overgrown when he came to live with me, but
for no reason they started to grow and grow and grow! All the chew
toys in the world wouldn’t stop them as he wasn’t interested but did
like his hay, so, after 6 weeks I decided he needed to go to my vet."
"I did notice that the ‘new’ tooth growth started showing a more
yellow colour– his top teeth went from new yellow to white at the
ends (not orange yet but getting there hopefully!) She checked
his teeth at the back, there was no indication of any problems at
all, the front/back molars had slight spurs on but the vet said this
was more likely because his front teeth had overgrown. There was no
reason why his teeth should of overgrown, and all his teeth were fine–
a little pale but fine, which was a relief as I know this short bodied
gene [type of chin, not dwarf] can have problems." We
explained, as the Moderate
Ca:no P Calcium Supplementing article relates, that tooth overgrowth
at first is normal and that it stops when teeth begin to darken, indicating
improved calcium levels in the body.
2/18/08
"Well, Henry over-grew the teeth once again at the front, so
another file down by the vet but this time he seems to be keeping
them well and truly down ;-())) It's been 4 weeks since his last file
down, and the vet says his teeth are fine at the back- not sure why
he lets the front ones grow, but he is chewing a bit more (and
the teeth look really nice and straight now). If you remember,
he had a gap in the middle top and bottom front teeth, and they had
a 'mind of their own' growing outwards at the top- well to look at
them at the front they look really perfect and yellow now. I wish
I had taken a before and after pic- but just over a few months there
is a world of difference with his teeth- they are nice, neat and happy.
I will keep with the calcium for another month gradually stopping
and then see how he goes ;-)"
3/6/08
"Pity I didn't take photos- as Henry's teeth are no way like
they were before- they are absolutely perfect now."

Sugarpuff, 2/18/08
"Sugarpuff has a gap at the back where a tooth should be,
and the tooth that should be there is 'side by side' with the end
tooth at the back- very odd! Nothing could be done with that oddness,
but did cause a problem with eating obviously, therefore, causing
teeth to grow all over the place! She used to have to go to the vet's
every 5 months- went on the 6th month this time, and the vet said
she doesn't need anything doing! Teeth at back are fine- so i'll leave
it for 9 months and see how she goes for that length of time. Her
front teeth look really yellow and nice and very straight at the front-
which is unusual for her as she always had one shorter than the other
on the 5th month! (she was on Ca:P and then calcium [Ca:no P, T-Rex
2:0, like Henry] a couple or so months ago)."
Note by ChinCare: One benefit of using the T-Rex
2:0 for Ca:no P supplementing is that it contains ascorbic acid,
or vitamin
C, which strengthens the connective tissue around chins' open-rooted
teeth. Together with the calcium
that strengthens the teeth and stops overgrowth, the vitamin C undoubtably
helps the teeth straighten by securing them more firmly in place.
Dinky, 2/18/08
"Dinky- she's fine- never had to go to the vet's to file her
teeth, but she was the one with very overgrown front teeth aged 3
months and broke them down herself a month or two later. So [she]
tends to cope with the front well herself, but they are not strong,
they are white/yellow shades, and the bottom teeth cross over a little
and one of them is thicker than the other. She is doing well, teeth
need more work on the shape and growth of them, but she is very healthy
and eats well- so will keep on with her as she will need this [Ca:no
P, T-Rex 2:0, like Henry] for a long time yet!"

3/14/08
"She keeps them down- they tend to look broken down as they are
never straight. They are never straight but they were all white at
first- now they range from white to a good orange yellow on the teeth
(at the moment she has one broken out at the bottom- probably a fall
as she never usually loses a tooth!). I've enclosed a pic of how
her teeth are at the moment- bottom left is missing, other overgrown
a bit, top teeth ground down but there is an upside down 'V' in middle
if you look- they grow all shapes and sizes! But at least they are
now yellow at the top and getting a little yellow at the bottom ones
(well one at the moment- the bottom ones are the ones that cross
over a bit when grown)."

Sasha's Miracle and More
(follow-ups: sept
2005, july
2007, sept
2007, nov
2007, feb
2008, march
2008, april
2008, may
2008)
We, the ChinCare webmasters, knew that Sasha might not live into old
age after viewing the head x-rays we had taken of her some months
after we took her home from a pet store (x-ray
photo,
two year's difference (2001 & 2003) between the left and the right).
Our first sign that something wasn't right was when we observed her
whitish tooth enamel, indicating a serious calcium deficiency.
Her incisors tended to overgrow, resulting in trips to our exotics
specialist vet
to get her teeth trimmed. The photo in the left
x-ray shows the advancing malocclusion:
misaligned roots overgrown and extending towards the sinus and ocular
cavities. The root overgrowth in that photo is illustrative of mid
(almost advanced) stage malocclusion.

Two years later, in 2003, after having access to a variety of
chew
toys and a good diet that included several high quality hays
and pellets dusted
with supplementary powdered vitamin
C and calcium,
not to mention prayers for our darling girl, we saw a miracle! See
right
x-ray. Not only had Sasha's roots RECEDED from their growth toward
the sinus and ocular cavities, but they had even STRAIGHTENED out
as well! Our vet even measured the difference on the head x-rays for
herself, we were both astounded at this malocclusion reversal. On
that visit Sasha had a couple molar spurs clipped to make it easier
for her to consume more hay, which will keep her molars filed
down. This was the first time we realized the connection
between vitamin
C and calcium
supplementing and how they can positively affect malocclusion.
Follow-Up, September, 2005: We're happy to report that Sasha's
condition has continued to improve, in fact, we haven't had to trim
her incisors AT ALL for several months now. Her teeth have gained
some dark yellow enamel, which indicates that her calcium levels are
improving, progressing in the right direction, toward dark orange.
Sasha's lingering calcium deficiency is clearly the result of an inherited
calcium deficiency, as evidenced by the fact that her teeth hadn't
darkened
during or even well after the weaning period. When a mother chinchilla
has low calcium levels, the offspring are consequently short of calcium
from the start, and both mother and kits become at risk for calcium
deficiency
and malocclusion in the future. This is why we advise both vitamin
C and calcium
supplementing for pregnant/ nursing
chins, their bodies are being depleted by the process of creating
and nourishing new life.

Follow-Up, July, 2007: Between late 2005 and early 2006 we
switched from supplementing the Ca:no P (calcium: no phosphorus)
that we'd used since 2001 to a powder (T-Rex 2:1) containing
2 parts calcium to 1 part phosphorus. The problem with this, which
involves how excess phosphorus causes calcium deficiency, is discussed
in Calcium
Metabolism; its tragic impact on our chins, especially our resident
maloccluders, is elaborated on in Moderate
Ca:no P Calcium Supplementing and the March,
2008 entry of this section. Sasha is one of the maloccluders who
suffered greatly from calcium loss
at this time.
In July of 2007, Sasha's tooth enamel was finally becoming dark orange
when she experienced some weight loss, had dampness around the chin
and was pawing at her mouth, so we made a vet appointment for July
31 to get a head x-ray. The x-ray revealed a case of Osteomyelitis,
a bone infection caused by significant molar root elongation in the
lower jaw; this condition is making it very painful for her to eat.
The roots in her upper jaw have also begun to grow crooked and advance
again toward the sinus and ocular cavities.
At this appointment we also had head x-rays taken of two of our other
maloccluders who had, like Sasha, been in remission prior to using
T-Rex 2:1. Altogether these three x-rays demonstrate the awful consequences
incurred by our maloccluders (other maloccluders that went
through the T-Rex 2:1 tragedy had to be euthanized or died of natural
causes, the three still struggling as of this July appointment are
discussed in the March,
2008 entry) as a result of using T-Rex 2:1 and the subsequent
slow recovery
period; their malocclusion
is back, they have regressed.
As a result of the July 31 appointment, our vet has prescribed Septra
(medication) and Novadent (mouth wash) to treat the Osteomyelitis,
and we have begun intensive calcium supplementing,
which we define as supplementing from more than one source or greater
quantities from a single source.
For Sasha, that will mean administering calcium from these two sources:
Coral Calcium Complex Liquid plus her usual pellets dusted with Ca:no
P in the form of Fluker's
Repta-Calcium (with vitamin D (.doc)
to aid calcium absorption). We also continue to dust our pellets
with vitamin
C, currently in the form of rose
hips powder, because vitamin C has dental benefits for chins in
any condition. We're hoping that intensive calcium supplementing will
bring about another malocclusion reversal such as she experienced
before.
Sasha's intake of herb and grains mix
and unsweetened Wheat 'N Bran mini Shredded
Wheat biscuits has been increased somewhat because she sometimes
finds it difficult to chew her pellets, and the herb and grains mix
is stirred into her bowl of pellets (which she shares with her
neutered mate, mentioned in the March,
2008 entry), coating it with Ca:no P. The additional grains
will increase her phosphorus levels some, but not much because she's
no longer able to eat hay to acquire phosphorus from that, and anyway,
with intensive calcium supplementing a small increase in phosphorus
should be just fine.
Follow-Up, September, 2007: The head x-rays from the September
25 follow-up appointment show little improvement with the Osteomyelitis
condition, and even though her teeth have become much thicker and
stronger with the intensive calcium supplementing (twice as thick
as before, actually), there has been no change in the root overgrowth.
Our vet has prescribed a stronger medication, Vibramycin, to fight
the Osteomyelitis and we've switched from the previous liquid calcium
to vet-prescribed liquid calcium gluconate (one full syringe of
this liquid calcium, Ca:no P, twice daily while continuing with the
pellets and herb/ grains dusted with Fluker's calcium and rose hips
powder for vitamin C). We've also
begun administering the painkiller Metacam.
Follow-Up, November, 2007: There was a period of about ten
days at the beginning of November when Sasha was no longer able to
eat on her own and she required daily handfeeding to keep her weight
and strength up. Often she'd let us know that she wanted to be fed,
her appetite was very good and she'd eat all she wanted about three
times a day on average. Then one day she suddenly refused the handfeeding
formula and was seen eating her pellets again! What a trooper!
The head x-rays for her November 30 vet appointment show that the
Osteomyelitis has entirely cleared up, but root overgrowth is pretty
much the same. We believe that the painkiller had a major impact on
Sasha's ability to eat and recover enough strength to overcome the
Osteomyelitis. Now that the Osteomyelitis is gone and the painkiller
is allowing her to eat pain-free, the fur is growing back over her
paws because she's no longer drooling and wiping her mouth. While
she was, though, we kept her wiped with a warm, damp cloth and then
dried well with a towel or blow drier; it's VERY important to keep
maloccluders clean, it keeps their spirits up, and Sasha's stayed
happy and active despite her troubles. Also, because Sasha's experienced
significant weight loss and it's the cold weather season where we
live, we've been keeping a small heater near her cage. These things
(keeping maloccluders clean and warm) are stressed on Implementing
Changes.
We're continuing with the September 25 regimen, but we've halved the
dosage of Vibramycin and liquid calcium gluconate. The Metacam dosage,
a very tiny drop twice daily, has had to remain the same because otherwise
she experiences too much pain from the molar root elongation in her
lower jaw to make normal eating possible. Our continued hope is that
by persisting with the intensive calcium supplementing (one full
syringe of liquid calcium gluconate once daily while continuing with
the pellets and herb/ grains, which now also includes some Kashi
7 Whole Grain Puffs, all dusted with Fluker's
calcium and
rose hips powder for vitamin C), that Sasha's roots will eventually
recede so that she can live a normal life again, without medication
and painkillers.
Follow-Up, February, 2008: By mid-December we had to put Sasha
back on her full dosage of Vibramycin, but in January she was seen
eating hay and on January 29 she unlocked her cage with her teeth
(like this photo)
TWICE in one night, hurray! She was able to go off the Vibramycin
after the first week of February and on her February 16 vet appointment,
we witnessed yet another miracle! Sasha's head x-rays this time show
that her roots are receding and straightening, not nearly as dramatically
as with the first
miracle that occurred over the course of two years, but she's nonetheless
making some progress, our vet was as happy and amazed as we were,
this is her second malocclusion reversal now. She still has a ways
to go, especially with the molar root elongation in the lower jaw,
but she's moving in the right direction and has continued eating her
hay. We're continuing with the Metacam twice daily and the intensive
calcium supplementing as described in the previous entry.
March, 2008, A synopsis of the others receiving intensive calcium
supplementing: Sasha is one chin in a total of three groups of
two (6 chins altogether) that have received intensive calcium
supplementing since the July
31 vet appointment; the others have received the same type and
dose of calcium that she has as described in the previous entries.
As the July
follow-up and the Moderate
Ca:no P Calcium Supplementing article explain, we arrived at the
conviction that intensive calcium supplementing was needed to address
the lingering calcium deficiency experienced by our maloccluders as
a result of the time we used T-Rex 2:1.
Sasha's (neutered) mate Guinness had a lingering calcium
deficiency
that has been corrected by the intensive Ca:no
P supplementing, his tooth enamel is now dark orange.
A pair of boys, Calvin and Hobbes, arrived at our rescue in spring
of 2007 and they were suffering from low bone density caused by calcium
deficiency and malnutrition.
They had a strange, unhealthy smell about them, were critically underweight,
had a constant feeble head nod, became exhausted with very little
exertion, their teeth were clear/ white and handling them presented
difficulties because their bones were rubbery and insubstantial. They
have made major headway since last July as a result of the intensive
calcium supplementing: the queer smell is gone, their weight is now
in the normal range, their heads don't nod much at all, they keep
active for their entire out-of-cage exercise time (often for hours),
their teeth have gained some light yellow enamel
and their bodies are much more solid and easy to hold because their
bones are stronger. Unlike the other two groups with malocclusion
and hence chewing issues, these boys are able to eat their pellets
and hay and since this fulfills their phosphorus requirement (ref),
they have not received additional grains in their diet.
In the third group, Tamba, a neutered male, had a calcium deficiency
when we adopted him as a kit from a pet store in 2000; his was an
inherited
calcium deficiency, same as Sasha. Tamba was beginning to show some
real improvement, had finally gained yellow tooth enamel, as a result
of the years (since 2001) that we conducted vitamin
C and moderate Ca:no P supplementing.
After our
experience with T-Rex 2:1, Tamba's teeth became white and brittle-looking,
although at no time has he yet manifested any malocclusion symptoms,
no incisor or molar crown overgrowth, and he's always gnawed his chew
toys and consumed hay. His head x-rays from July
31, however, showed molar root elongation in the lower jaw, not
as severe as Sasha's condition that was assessed on the same day,
but it was clear that he too should receive intensive calcium supplementing.
Since the July appointment, the intensive calcium supplementing has
made a HUGE difference in Tamba's tooth condition, the white, brittle
teeth are now thick, strong and have light yellow enamel.
His February
16 follow-up x-rays show the condition in the lower jaw has remained
the same while one tooth root in a back molar of the upper jaw has
begun to misalign, to malocclude. We'll continue with the intensive
calcium supplementing, as with Sasha our focus with Tamba is to hopefully
see a malocclusion reversal.
Tamba's mate, Polgara, came to us at age seven in 2001 with one of
her lower incisors a bit twisted. Not misaligned, just twisting in
place from the root. The tooth continued to twist very slowly over
the years, but there were no other problems at all while she was on
the moderate Ca:no P supplementing;
she gnawed her chew toys, ate hay and her teeth remained a good color,
not even getting much lighter during the time we used T-Rex 2:1. After
T-Rex 2:1 though, her incisors began overgrowing in response to the
calcium deficiency,
and her upper incisors began hooking sharply back. The hooking may
be attributable to genetic malocclusion, we believe that when teeth
twist or hook that this may indicate a genetic
propensity rather than an environmental
shortcoming (calcium deficiency). In any case, if Polgara's
malocclusion is primarily genetic, the calcium deficiency caused by
T-Rex-2:1 definitely made things worse.
The intensive calcium supplementing has darkened Polgara's teeth to
a nice dark orange and the upper incisors aren't hooking back nearly
as much as before, but we still do some incisor trimming occassionally
to keep overgrowth in check because she's not gnawing. At 14 years
old we're guarded about her prognosis because her overall condition
has declined (weight loss, some drooling on and off, not as willing
to try eating pellets and hay again) despite getting the same
medication and painkiller as Sasha. Her head x-rays from July
31 show significant root overgrowth in both the upper and lower
jaw which has stayed the same as of the February
16 x-rays.
Follow-Up, April, 2008: A couple weeks after the February 16
appointment we had to put Sasha back on the Vibramycin, first at a
reduced dosage, then back to full dosage, where she's at now, and
she's still receiving Metacam twice daily. Sasha has been able to
eat some pellets and hay, but not so with Polgara and for awhile,
since both wanted to feed themselves and wouldn't comply with handfeeding,
in order to give them something they could eat on their own we offered
some grains
cereal in addition to their herb and grains mix.
This turned out to be a very bad idea, even though the grains cereal
was porous and it got coated in the way we only dust their herb and
grains mix, with rose
hips powder for vitamin C and Ca:no
P in the form of Fluker's
Repta-Calcium (with vitamin D (.doc)
to aid calcium absorption). Sasha, Polgara and their mates were
also still getting a full syringe of liquid calcium gluconate once
daily. Nonetheless, their mate's teeth began to lighten, demonstrating
calcium deficiency
because the supplemented calcium wasn't sufficient to compensate for
the excess phosphorus in the additional grains (ref).
So, in the first week of April we discontinued the grains
cereal and increased calcium back to a full syringe of liquid calcium
gluconate twice daily. This balancing act that we've been juggling
to try and get our maloccluder's situation under control and headed
solidly in the right direction underscores the importance of giving
chins a simple
diet, so that deficiencies
and malocclusion
might be avoided in the first place.
On the 16th and 18th, thanks to the gracious kindness of a wonderful
friend in England, we received some packages containing Nutrobal
and Science
Selective Chinchilla, products only available in the UK. Science
Selective is a chinchilla feed that's of a different size, shape and
consistency than regular pellets, it will be a bit easier for our
maloccluders to chew and it's also very porous and easy to coat well
with Fluker's calcium and rose hips powder. Nutrobal,
a calcium powder and multivitamin/mineral supplement, which isn't
for dusting, will be added to the pellets in smaller amounts. We plan
to serve these coated pellets to the three groups that have been getting
intensive calcium supplementing and we'll see how well they do on
that, it'll be the only calcium supplementing they get, which is a
bit more than moderate
supplementing, since Science Selective is quite porous.
It was a beautiful spring day, April 18, when our dear Polgara was
euthanized.
She would have been 15 in August. Her condition began to deteriorate
in spite of the medication and painkiller, so we made the sad decision
to put her to sleep, with our vet's concurrence. Perhaps it was too
much to hope for a miracle at her advanced age, even with intensive
calcium supplementing; there is also the very real consideration that
her malocclusion was primarily genetic
and therefore not entirely responsive to the supplementing. Polgara
was a wonderful gal, she will be deeply missed.
Follow-Up, May, 2008: I, the webmistress, could not believe
my eyes today when, just after midnight on May 18, I heard, then watched
Sasha GNAW WOOD!! This in spite of the molar root elongation in her
lower jaw which was still considerable after her last head x-ray in
February.
She's still on Vibramycin and Metacam and the diet as discussed in
the previous entry, but because she remains underweight (of course,
she's always been a small lanigera type)
we've also been offering some Calf Manna vitamin
and mineral pellets and Nutri-Cal,
a high calorie dietary supplement, both given in moderation of course.
But this is just incredible, that she is now showing interest in gnawing
for the first time in about a year, our hopes all along have been
that she'd experience another complete malocclusion reversal that
would make medication and painkillers totally unnecessary, so that
she could again lead a normal life. Gnawing puts a good deal of pressure
on both the jaw and tooth roots, so this should signify that she's
still improving, and indeed her teeth have been gaining darker enamel.
Our primary concern has been her lack of weight gain, but maybe we're
expecting too much too soon, in any case we're remaining a bit reserved
and will save the real rejoicing if we get positive results from her
next vet appointment and head x-ray. |
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