[Gpdd] Health: Snowball's tooth extraction: So far, so good

[Carla Martinez]

Happy wheeks from Snowball! He wants all his GP friends to know that one
week after a long anesthesia and tooth extraction he is finally eating
on his own!!! Even as I type this he is eating his first real meal of
romaine and cilantro, drinking water, with a side of pellets. I feel so
relieved.

It has been a long week for both of us. I gave him about five - six
syringe feedings a day: at 5:30 am, 7:30 am, 11:00 am, 3:30 pm, 6:00 pm
and 8:00 pm. He went to work with me every day to school where I teach
Pre-K. So I was able to give him three small meals a day before, between
and after classes. I wore an apron because it is messy feeding Critical
Care mixed with Pedialyte. Snowball stayed in his carrier in a quiet
room while I was teaching the noisy kids and has been a pretty
cooperative patient. On Wednesday he took his first bite of regular
food: He nibbled on an orange slice! 

Hopefully you'll never need this but . . . out of this experience I have
learned three things I can pass along. 
1. Large syringe with catheter tip. If you ever have to feed your piggie
with a syringe, the thing that really worked for me is to get the 35 or
60 cc syringes with the catheter tips. The big tips are long enough and
piggie-mouth sized to reach back between their teeth so easily. Until I
had to replace one I did not realize there was a difference between the
catheter tips and regular tips.
2. TLC: tender loving care. Snickers vet told me to give him a lot of
TLC. In retrospect I think I left him on his own too much. This time
with Snowball I kept him with me practically all the time except for
work, short rest breaks and at night. There was one afternoon in
particular when it seemed to really help him get over the hump. It's
kind of like having a baby.
3. "Bene-Bac." Got some at PetSmart. Do you know this stuff? Little
tubes of beneficial bacteria like acidophilus for mammals. Dr. Antinoff
said it is great and you can give it to them every day when they're
sick. it doesn't really hurt them.

Dr. Antinoff gave me Snowball's tooth, then she took it back to clean it
off til the next time we come in. It is really big and abnormal she
said. I will put it in my jewelry box. The tooth fairy came and put a
dollar under Snowball's pillow. Hehe.
Sweet dreams to all our little piglets,

Carla and Snowball, with the spirit of Snickers