Update on Stella

kesaiserris · 01-11-2018, 11:45 PM

Stella is bright eyed and full of energy. She is maintaining her weight.

I am unable to exam her teeth because I have problems with my vision. My daughter has great vision but is a child. My husband has great vision/super steady hands but is phobic of teeth. My husband has been the one to exam her teeth because of the above reasons although it is unfortunate. I believe he looked at her teeth the day before yesterday and the top ones are coming in, at the time they seemed in good alignment. Her bottom teeth have begun to grow outward though which is worrying. We have been crushing her food to aid her in eating and supplementing with mueslis and oats. Today I decided to give her a doggy treat along with her modified food to see if she can eat it. If she is able to eat the treat we will give her, her food as usual tomorrow and see how it goes.

I don't know if she will be able to keep the crooked teeth worn down properly or if they will cause problems for her. She does not currently seem to be experiencing problems with the teeth (I hold her while she eats sometimes so I can have a listen and a look). I am not sure what we will do exactly if we will try to trim the bottom teeth and see if they grow back strait (they were strait before the injury). If anyone has trimmed their hamster's teeth what tool did you use? Should we just wait see if she keeps them worn down herself? This month we have run into some major unforeseen expenses.

cypher · 01-12-2018, 01:48 AM

She may be able to manage ok at the moment, they grind food with their molars, but once the top teeth grow back the bottom teeth will most likely cause a problem, she may not be able to eat properly then as the teeth will be misaligned & also the teeth may not wear down properly any more.
I would strongly advise against clipping any teeth yourself unless you've been shown how to do it by a vet, it's a procedure that carries risks, you could break the teeth off, the teeth could split & damage the roots which would lead to even more problems.
It really would be best to get her checked by your vet, she may need regular clipping or burring now the bottom teeth are no longer aligned.

kesaiserris · 01-12-2018, 08:34 AM

Is burring the procedure with the drill? I would never trim her teeth myself because of poor vision. I would like my husband to observe the procedure at the vet ideally (just for extra assurance but he does have the skills/knowledge to perform the procedure) because we are not going to be able to afford going to the vet every 3 weeks for the next few years. I don't know the prices, I have contacted a vet to see what I can find out but I have the feeling it will be 100 to 200 dollars for each trim and doing that every month would be impossible.

cypher · 01-12-2018, 09:06 AM

Burring is rather like drilling & requires anaesthetic so can be quite expensive depending on your vet, clipping may or may not need anaesthetic, again depending on the vet & both procedures carry risks so you need to at least discuss it with a vet.

kesaiserris · 01-14-2018, 12:04 PM

Stella's weight is good, she has even put on a bit. Hubbie checked her teeth and the top ones are still doing good, the bottom teeth were even straight but when she moved the teeth moved so it would seem the bottom ones are loose. I can't see any sign of her chewing on her bars and have not observed her doing this before. She is maintaining the length of her teeth by herself and has no signs of injury in her mouth. The vet said if she is maintaining weight/teeth length it is better not to do anything stressful/invasive. Basically we just have to keep an eye on things. I don't know if her bottom ones will fall out again or if this is temporary. Her bottom teeth might end up not being crooked. Stella has been really good about letting hubbie check her teeth in any case and she is very open-minded about food so she eats whatever we give her.