Hi there,

My girl DeeDee had a case of gingivitis on the gums around her bottom front teeth a few months ago. I took her to the vet, we treated it with an oral medication and a topical swab, and it cleared up after a two weeks. Well, it just came back, and it actually looks worse than last time. She's back on meds for treating it, but I'm wondering if there's anything I can do to help prevent this from happening again in the future?

I have my two on the Critter Love diet and they get a few mealworms in the AM. They used to get an occasional yogurt drop here and there, but I cut those out after the first bout of gingivitis. (And Kirby has been fine with no teeth issues).

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Do you feed any kibble?

Along with Critterlove (CL), I feed Happy Glider kibble from pet pro.

https://www.pet-pro.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=7

I leave a few pieces in their cage daily. They can wake up during the day and have it as a snack or sometimes they will eat some at night when they just want something more than their CL.

Having said that, I'm curious how do you prepare their salads and which one you usually make?

I do have some of the Happy Glider, but I only leave it in the Cage on days when I knew I would be getting home after 6pm so they had a little something to snack on until I could get their dinner to them. I had the thought of leaving it in on the regular - perhaps I'll start to do that.

I also leave eucalyptus branches and leaves in the cage on occasion for a fun thing for them to chew on, as well.

In regards to the salads, I generally do a different salad mixture each time I run out to mix it up for them. The one they're eating currently is #5.
I chop everything up raw, and do not cook anything.

Whew!!! I was hoping you said that. :-)

So to repeat what you just said, you don't use a blender and the salad is cut up the size they can pick it up and eat it, right?

The raw vegs should be hard enough to help with cleaning teeth as they eat. It's not like you can brush their teeth or anything, right?

I would try the kibble and see if it helps. They potty and poo ok?

Are they spitting out the hard parts of their mealie? They should also spit out parts of their salad like hulls and my e chew on the carrots just doe the juices.

Yep! Everything is chopped up into glider-sized bites. No blending.

Pee and poops are OK.

And they both seem to be spitting out the bits they should be spitting out (pea casings, bean husks, etc)

Ok, I'm out of ideas other than offering kibble.

Feather?

Seeing as it is her front teeth, I would get some apple or pear branches (you can get some eucalyptus branches) for them to strip the bark on. With kibble they tend to put that in the side of their mouth.

Ah! Great idea! Ordering some eucalyptus branches now! 😊

Hello,
Would you happen to know the name of oral medication, your DVM applied?


Maybe relay the following info for your DVM .... this tooth varnish "Chlorhexidine Varnish" is promising for our "Little people" with oral issues


A "toothpaste" that saves kangaroo lives


toothpaste https://www.israel21c.org/a-toothpaste-that-saves-kangaroo-lives/


Toothpaste with dvm info

Abstract Journal article