[Gpdd] health - Cocoa is not only sick, but...

Suzy Dünser suzy at dunser.com
Mon Mar 17 17:27:16 EDT 2008


Hi again,

Well, I feel like a supremo jerk, but I suppose the bigger picture is  
the same in any case... those of you in the know will probably be  
asking, has Cocoa lost weight? And the answer is: yes, and I sort of  
realised Rocky was bigger than him (which didn't used to be the case),  
but I hadn't realised by how much. Anyway, here's the deal: Cocoa's  
molars are misaligned, and he can't chew properly, which is why he's  
been losing weight, and it's gotten to the point now that he probably  
has an infection, which is why his eyes were tearing. I'm not sure if  
he was drooling before this, but I didn't notice the wet chin before.  
When the vet weighed them, Rocky weighed 1325g (which I miserably  
noted makes him qualify for LAPS, as his brother wastes away), and  
Cocoa weighed... 950g. I feel so terrible. I've read enough on the  
list that I should have known even a little weight loss is bad, never  
mind this, but I'd just let all the other things in my life lately  
distract me so that I didn't deal with it, since he seemed happy.

Moving on from the brow-beating about not catching it earlier... The  
vet is going to try to file (grind?) his molars down this morning (I  
left him with her). But here's what she told me, some of which I  
already knew: Just the anaesthetic is tough for a piggy to take, never  
mind the work in his mouth. Also she's not 100% sure she'll be able to  
grind them down effectively, depending on how badly misaligned they  
are. If she can grind them down well, he will still need to come back  
regularly to get them re-ground (since they grow continuously), which  
means a general anaesthetic every time, and the frequency (depending  
on how fast his particular teeth grow) will be at a minimum every 12  
weeks, and may be as often as every 6 weeks. !!! And that's if it  
works out. She also said that if, when he's under the anaesthetic, it  
looks like she won't be able to do a good enough job, it might be  
kinder to just put him to sleep at that point, as the other option is  
let him starve to death.

So I am not happy. I can't see what options I have besides what she  
told me, but if any of you have any advice, please let me know...

Suzy, with Rocky and Cocoa 




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