Please do not use this vet,
In my opinion, she does not know much about rats and takes unnecessary risks :sad3:
If, a few years ago, I had followed this vet's instructions when I took two boys with respir issues in to see her, my rattie boys would have died.
When I lived in Nova Scotia, I tried quite a few vets in the Halifax and Dartmouth areas.
The only trained exotic vet in NS at that time, said I knew much more about rats then he did.
I was unable to find any vet that was knowlegeable enough about respir problems in rats, much less anything more complicated.
Joanne has spent a great deal of time checking out vets in Nova Scotia over the last several years.
Please pm her for vet recomendations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Whether baby Wilbur needed surgery is a matter of opinion,
especially since he was starting to grow and thrive with the excellent care he was recieving from Bela.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Removal of the front teeth of a rat is extremely dangerous ... both during surgery and for months afterward.
The two extremely experienced rat vets in Ontario may have a good sucess rate with this type of surgery, but they are an exception.
There is no vet in Nova Scotia, that I am aware of who is qualified to do this type of surgery.
I have had many rats who needed their front teeth trimmed every week or two weeks for their entire lives.
They did fine and did not require this risky, life threatening surgery.
An excellent rat vet who I trust, after much research and consideration, relunctantly agreed to remove the front teeth of an otherwise healthy adult rat with serious teeth problems. The rattie was owned by someone who used to be on this forum.
The surgery was painstaking and sucessful as the rattie did fine.
The front teeth, however, eventually regrew.
This rattie was very fortunate because the teeth regrew into her mouth, not up into her brain or in some other direction.
That vet said he would never do this type of surgery again.
Any vet in Nova Scotia or New Brunswick that recommends this surgery and offers to do it, is a vet I would have serious doubts about.
This surgery is rarely, if ever, necessary and it is extremely dangerous,
especially if not done by a trained, certified, exotic vet specializing in rats, who has sucessfully performed this surgery many times.