Sushi Eats

Sushi

One of the biggest changes that Sushi has had to make in her eating habits since having half of her teeth removed is that she has to use her paws much more.  It didn't take her long to figure out that fastest way to eat her crushed lab block/baby cereal food was to shovel it in by the pawful.

Sushi Update

Sushi isn't so sure about the examination table...

Sushi went in for a recheck this morning. She is at 250 grams, which means she has actually gained weight since last week's surgery. This doesn't surprise me too much, since she's been really good about eating her mix of baby cereal and crushed lab blocks.

The vet was really happy with how her gums are healing. There is a small bump under her chin on the left that we need to keep an eye on. It's getting smaller and hopefully will disappear soon.

Once her remaining two incisors grow big enough, she'll return to have them pulled as well. I will be happy to have this whole ordeal over with.

Considering a jump...

Sushi - Starting to Look More Normal

Sushi is definitely on the mend. Her swelling is down, she is grooming herself regularly again, and her activity level is back up. She was able to eat peas the other night. She had a tough time splitting the skin open, but was able to slowly (but eagerly) eat the softer flesh inside. She is still mainly eating the mixture of cereal and crushed lab blocks but I've noticed her poking around the dish of regular food in their cage as well.

Sushi has a snack.

I'm hopeful she will be back to normal soon.

Sad Sushi

Even though I knew this surgery was a good thing in the long term for Sushi, it has been hard watching her slowly heal.

Swollen face. 

Snacking on baby cereal and crushed lab blocks.

Swollen face and crusty eyes.

Leave Me Alone!

There is a rat inside this nest:

Usually the girls sleep on their bedding but in this case I think Sushi shoved all the bedding in the front to hide from us. Saké was downstairs renovating when I noticed the nest. Sushi must be a bit tired of all the attention, plus she's still swollen and probably sore from Tuesday's surgery.

In terms of recovery, I think she is doing pretty well. She has another day of pain meds and I will be glad to be done with those (she isn't a fan of them). Her antibiotics do not seem to bother her as much. It is remarkably hard to get the syringe into her mouth when she doesn't want it there - it is amazing how dexterous and strong her tiny paws are.

She is still eating the mixture of crushed lab blocks and baby cereal, as well as soaked monkey chow. I did notice her poking around the water bottle yesterday, which I think means her mouth must be feeling a bit better. Until she's able to drink comfortably, the baby cereal mixture should give her enough water. 

Sushi's Surgery Report

Sushi came home last night.  I was unprepared for how swollen her face would be.



We initially needed to give Sushi some quiet, confined time to rest, since she was still pretty groggy. We put her on the upper floor of the cage, so she could just curl up in the nest. Saké was less than thrilled to be locked downstairs, and occupied herself by burying the contents of her food dish in the litter tray. Sushi ate a bit of softened food (crushed lab blocks mixed with baby cereal) and then slept pretty hard for a while. Her ears and tail are a little pale, which combined with the swelling made her look a bit rough.


The surgery did not go exactly as expected. The right upper and lower incisors came out easily, but while the vet was pulling those the left teeth broke off just below the gum line. Dr. Nolan could have continued trying to get them extracted, but at the point Sushi had been under anesthetic for quite a while. It would not be quick for him to pull the teeth from under the gum line, not to mention that that would be more traumatic to her mouth than a regular extraction. So he decided to take the conservative route and saved those two teeth for a future day. While I had hoped that today would be an end to all of the annoyance and pain of malocclusion, I am glad he stopped for today when he did.

Dr. Nolan saved her teeth for us. I knew they would be long but I didn't expect them to be nearly the length of Sushi's head!

Her upper incisor broke in half and can be seen on the right and left above. The middle tooth is a single, intact lower incisor.

Sushi is on antibiotics (Ciprofloxacin) for the next ten days and pain medication (Meloxicam) for the next four days. I'm hopeful that we can keep the pain in check and that her mouth heals quickly so she can resume her normal diet.



I'm glad she's home.