[Gpdd] HEALTH Kimba

[Penny Charlesworth]

Dear Julie,

You have been a superhuman slave to keep little Kimba going all this time.
It is particularly poignant because he is this month's Undercover Piggies
calendar star along with Teddy.

Without a specific diagnosis from your vet is is impossible to give advice
but I will say that, whenever any of my herd have dental work done, I treat
them with Daktarin oral gel afterwards as has been discussed here by Sandy
and Joanie.  I squeeze a little gel onto a cotton bud and swab it around
their mouths. With thrush, it would be needed for more days than just to
help after the dental. I can buy Daktarin over the counter here in England.

Your vet was very poor in not trimming Kimba's incisors correctly. If they
are still crooked, you can file them level yourself but it only takes a
very few days for them to grow back anyway. I have had the occasional piggy
who would break his incisors gnawing on the wire of his pen ( it always
seems to be boars ) but they were able to pick up grated food until the
broken tooth grew back. Sharp edges can be trimmed with nail clippers. Even
when the tooth is broken right down to the gum, it is amazing how fast they
regrow.

I don't use Metacam. I prefer to use children's liquid Ibuprofen ( called
Nurofen in England ). Easily available at the pharmacy over the counter -
0.4ml twice daily.

I wish that your vet would explain what she means by the treatment being
toxic. Of course, the contents of any abscess is toxic but is that what she
means? My Rodentologists have successfuly treated tooth root abscesses (
thankfully not with any of my piggies )

All paws crossed here that Kimba will one day eat for himself again. It is
hard going. I syringe fed my Gulliver for six months, taking him to work
with me but he was always willing to eat and took the food quickly. He was
also able to hoover up soft foods for himself and loved a bowl of Readybrek
or mashed banana.

Keep on keeping on Julie. Take care of yourself too. I use syringe feeding
time to catch up on all those tv programmes that I recorded and never had
time to watch.

All the best.

Penny and the Piggyfriends.