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Upton at the vets today.

AlbionLass

Alpha Buck
Upton is at the vets to be neutered today, the vet finally decided that his boy bits had finally got large enough so that he could be releived of them.:D

I mentioned to the nurse when they admitted him that I'd like them to check his teeth while he is under. I had no reson to suspect any problems as he eats very well, huge amounts of hay and only minimal pellets (20g).

Anyway the vet phoned me at lunch time to say the de-plumming had gone well but that he had slight spurs and hooks starting on his teeth.
I said I was pretty surprised due to his very good diet and asked if the teeth were well aligned etc and the vet said they weren't too bad at all.

The vet asked if I wanted him to whip the spurs off there and then and I said yes please.


I didn't get Upton until he was 5 and a half months old, he is now 13 months.
I know he was given more dry mix/pellets before I had him so is it possible that the spurs had already started to form before he came to me?

Once his teeth are level is there any chance that a great diet will prevent him from needing further treatment. As I've said he loves hay of all sorts and get a variety of hay, grasses, dried herbs and some veg such as kale, spinach and dandelions a couple of times a week. He gets no treats, just this diet.

Should I eliminate pellets from his diet altogether, he is only a small bun, just over 3 pounds so doesn't need a lot to keep him going. Would the hay and veg, be enough?



I've got to call them back at 3 to see when I can collect him.
 
I'd say that if he only has a small amount of pellets and he is eating lots of hay anyway, I probably wouldn't stop feeding him pellets.

Inky had slightly uneven teeth when I got him but by eating tonnes of hay and keeping an eye on things, they have stayed pretty even.
 
Stopping feeding him pellets wouldn't hurt him, in fact would probably be good for his teeth, not sure I could do it as I wimp out as they get excited over pellets. The only think I would watch, just make sure he can eat hay, say in a few weeks time his teeth got bad and you didn't know, he may start not being able to eat hay. My Zippy can't eat hay, but then she's got no teeth at the moment.
 
Upton gets just as excited over hay as he does pellets. His daily pellet ration is gone in about 5 minutes. When I put his fresh hay in every day (he eats about twice his own volume in hay, at least) he barely gives me time to get the tray into the cage before he dives in, he the doesn't surface again for about 2 hours lol and is munching most of the rest of the day.

I'll see what the vet says later about cutting out pellets. If I do I would of course keep an eye on him, his eating, weight etc. He has never had any trouble eating even the thickest, stalkiest hay, it goes down like it's in a wood chipper which is why I am so surprised he has any spurs at all.
 
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I picked Upton up at 4 o'clock.

I spoke to the nurse who had assisted with the castration etc and asked about his teeth. She said that the spurs were only slight and were just causing very slight irritation to his tongue. His teeth aren't misaligned at all and the nurse thinks that he will be fine if he keeps up with his good diet.

Apparently the slight spurs weren't at a stage the vet would normally have worried about them and they only contacted me during the op as I'd specifically asked them to look at his teeth. That's put my mind at rest that he should be ok now. I will cut the pellets down to 10g mainly for the vitamins and just check that he maintains his weight on that amount.

Upton was pretty woozy when I picked him up but is has eaten a few dandelions, been drinking and eating some hay. He's had a poo and wee too.

He's got to go back in 2-3 days and in a week for post-castration check-ups.
 
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