Would you pts a healthy rat? I know a vet who is willing.

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fallblossom

fallblossom

Senior Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2013
Messages
175
Location
North America
My beautiful blue berkshire buck doesn't have health issues. He only looks stupid. Why? He has malocclusion and his teeth are white (not orange). My boy has been getting regular tooth trimmings at the local vet here in Cambridge, Ontario for $20 per month.

I called to make a tooth trimming appointment today and was told the dental dremel is broken and they won't be fixing it due to the high cost. I asked if they would show me a different way to trim my rat's teeth and offered to pay for this service and was told they only use a dremel. Next I asked how much it would cost to put my rat down since the only other vet in town who does tooth trimming requires an $80 consultation fee plus the tooth trimming fee which at this time I cannot afford because my vet fund was used on one of my cats who needed stitches and meds due to a deep leg laceration.

For this vet to be willing to put my animal down without trying to fine a solution to keep him alive is appalling. I get it though - it's a two minute job that doesn't require asking around to find out it there is another way.

One time I tried to trim my rat's teeth with human nail clippers which was a big fail. The tooth cracked upwards and my rat bled. I put him on antibiotics to avoid him getting an abscess.

What do I do? Put my boy down? He is sweet, healthy, slender and gorgeous.

Somebody please help us.
 
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You asked the vet how much it would be to put him to sleep, they are obviously going to answer the question. Usually the options for animals are to treat or euthanize so I'm not surprised that they would.
There seems to be a lot of vet clinics in Cambridge, have you tried them all? I know there are clinics in guelph that do teeth trimmings as well.
Maybe call around and see if you can find a more affordable clinic.
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Campus Estates in Guelph does tooth trimming but they are extremely expensive. I've called every veterinary clinic in Cambridge to no avail with the exception of the one already mentioned above who deals with exotics.

The vet did give me a quote on euthanasia and knew beforehand as to why I was requesting it. I wish I could successfully trim my rat's teeth myself and not have to have this additional stress.
 
I do not advise this unless the situation is desperate, but cat nail clippers cleaned thoroughly with alcohol can do the job. You have to be extremely careful of course or you could still crack the tooth. I did it for several months on a female rat. You may ask your vet if they are willing to do it this way if you don't feel comfortable.
 
Sheldon said:
I do not advise this unless the situation is desperate, but cat nail clippers cleaned thoroughly with alcohol can do the job. You have to be extremely careful of course or you could still crack the tooth. I did it for several months on a female rat. You may ask your vet if they are willing to do it this way if you don't feel comfortable.
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Are you referring to guillotine clippers or the other scissor type? I had a different vet use guillotine clippers on four of my rats and he ended up cutting one of my rat's lips. Apparently wire cutters, rabbit incisor cutters and bone cutters can also do the job.

I've already cracked my rat's tooth past the gumline which caused lots of bleeding the one time I cut his teeth. It was horrible.
 
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It can definitely be difficult to do on a wiggly, uncooperative rat. Some vet's choose to give a few breaths of anesthetic gases in order to make them struggle less so they don't have their lip cut or teeth cut too short.

These kind of clippers. I would start with a new pair each time so they are guaranteed to be sharp.
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If you can make it in to Waterloo, you may have luck with the Lincoln Village Animal Hospital. Dr. Buhrows is a wonderful vet, and while she's not the cheapest in town, she is happy to work on payment plans with those who need them. She also accepts PetCard (basically a vet-only credit card). If you've never heard of PetCard and want more info or to apply for one, she has the paperwork.

If there's something she doesn't know about a patient's condition, she does research and consults with other vets in order to provide the best possible treatment. Our family has taken all of our fuzzies to her for about 14 years. We wouldn't go anywhere else. She won't do invasive procedures unless absolutely necessary, and euthanasia is always a last resort. She has mentioned refusing to put down healthy animals before, instead offering to rehome them.

They can be reached at (519)746-7557.
 
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SqueakingJellybean said:
If you can make it in to Waterloo, you may have luck with the Lincoln Village Animal Hospital. Dr. Buhrows is a wonderful vet, and while she's not the cheapest in town, she is happy to work on payment plans with those who need them. She also accepts PetCard (basically a vet-only credit card). If you've never heard of PetCard and want more info or to apply for one, she has the paperwork.

They can be reached at (519)746-7557.
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Thank you. I can afford to pay $20 per month on tooth trims, but cannot and am not willing to get gouged for an $80 'consultation' that my rat does not need like other vets are making mandatory - before the trim. I'll call them tomorrow.
 
SqueakingJellybean said:
If you can make it in to Waterloo, you may have luck with the Lincoln Village Animal Hospital. Dr. Buhrows is a wonderful vet, and while she's not the cheapest in town, she is happy to work on payment plans with those who need them.
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I called the office today and found out monthly trims would be between $30 - $70. A consultation is also required.

There is another vet in Kitchener who I am going to take my rat to so the vet techs can restrain my rat and the vet can cut his teeth with little cat clippers which I will provide since they use human nail clippers to cut cat claws even though have guillotine clippers. This will make things so much easier. I just hope my rat's white teeth don't split due to the nature of their increased brittleness.
 
This would not be a reason to have a rat pts.
It is best to have teeth trimmed by a vet with the knowledge and proper tools, when trimming teeth is necessary, however, many rat owners are unable to do this and need to do it themselves.
I have always trimmed the teeth of ratties if they have been misaligned and needed to be trimmed as I can not afford to have it done by a vet.
I have been very fortunate as none have had a tooth split, not even those with white teeth .... and I have been trimming teeth, when necessary, for over 10 years.

Here is some info: http://ratguide.com/health/digestive/malocclusion.php

How to: http://ratguide.com/health/figures/malocclusion_figure_4.php
and additional info http://ratguide.com/health/figures/malocclusion_figure_1.php
http://ratguide.com/health/figures/malocclusion_figure_2.php
http://ratguide.com/health/figures/malocclusion_figure_3.php

It is not unreasonable for a vet to charge you for one appointment slot and for any gas if needed
 
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Per Google reviews on one vet it suggested another vet. I called them and they are willing to trim my rat's teeth using a dental dremel at a reasonable cost. I am wondering if it is possible to keep them trim by using a cat metal nail file (or human glass nail file) on a daily basis after the debulking of my rat's teeth is done. One woman on Youtube kept her hamsters teeth filed down using this method.

Regarding the vet who was doing monthly tooth trims for me, they are no longer offering this service. I found out after continually calling them to find out if they could offer another solution such as another vet or technique. I think they told me their dental dremel was broken to offset the truth. Who knows why the vet is no longer interested in doing this, but my guess is it's all about the mighty dollar and a $20 tooth trim isn't worth his time and energy.
 
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