Teeth grinding?

Rinnie has really started grinding her teeth a LOT. I did a quick google search and read that it is normally a symptom of stomach ulcers or some such. So I will most likely be picking up some antibiotics for her. Joy!

But, do you guys think what she is doing sounds like just a stomach ouchy, or should I be concerned about a blockage? She doesn't really chew on anything, but I did catch her attempting to eat the mesh lining of a pair of shorts the other day, so who knows.

I first noticed her teeth grinding after she would get done drinking water out of the dish. She'd dig in the water, snorkel in the water, and generally make a nuisance of herself (which she still does) while drinking. Afterwards, she'd gag, sneeze, and teeth grind temporarily. I put a water bottle in the cage that she now uses to drink out of and that seems to have helped (although she does still use the dish on occasion and makes a nuisance of herself). She much prefers the water bottle over the dish, which I thought was odd as the two boys won't even touch the water bottle.

Here in the past few days she's started teeth grinding when she eats/right after she eats. I didn't think anything of it at first, because Ruben makes a similar noise when he eats due to chewing on one side of his mouth more so than the other (nothing is wrong with him, he just does that), and I thought perhaps the kibble was getting stuck between her teeth and causing her problems chewing (this used to happen to Casey all the time). Yesterday I realized it was actually teeth grinding. I looked in her mouth and besides some tarter buildup and what looks to be a cavity on one of her rear teeth, she mouth is healthy. Gums look good and aren't inflamed. I also found a brand of treats she likes (Whiskas cat treats, of all things - she doesn't like the Bandit treats I give the boys) and she eats those without any complaints.

She is drinking, acting normal (playing/stealing clothes/being cute), and eating. I'm assuming she is still defecating/urinating properly, but I haven't watched her closely enough to know that for sure. Now that I know something is wrong I'm going to monitor her more closely to make sure everything is processing normally.

I don't really have any extra money at the moment, but if it sounds like it could be a blockage I'll suck it up and get her Xrayed, just in case. If she is having bowel movements, she should be in the clear regarding a blockage, right? Especially since this has been going on for awhile and she hasn't keeled over? Or can a blockage start off not serious, and then progressively get worse?

I will be putting her on some antibiotics for stomach ulcers regardless, I just want to make sure I cover all my bases if need be.

Silly ferrets. I find it slightly ironic that Ruben is the one that I was really worried about health wise and he plumped up into a gorgeous, fat, healthy boy whereas Rinnie and Dameon I thought wouldn't have any problems and then they come down sick. *sigh*

It may not be a full blockage, may be a partial blockage and only causes issues at some times. Teeth grinding = pain, you just have to figure out what the pain is being caused by. She is def going to need a blood test at the least, as the exact reason needs to be found out, some meds that treat some things, are dangerous if there is an ulcer, and vice verse.

They will probably want to look in her mouth too, to see if maybe you missed something. Plaque can and will cause pain, as will cavities, so it could just be that even.

ETA: Tell your ferrets to stop taking turns getting sick!

I know! They really need to knock it off. Ruben is the only good one. (Although, really, he was having poo issues for the longest time. Now he's fat and sassy and that has all cleared up.) I'll hopefully be able to take her into the vet tomorrow, or Wednesday. Although now that I know something is wrong I can tell I'm about ready to start panicking and being over anal about everything until I get her looked at. Ugh.

Why do I have ferrets, again?

ETA: Because my vet is wonderful, I'm taking her in first thing tomorrow morning. That makes me feel a little bit better.

EETA: Although, come to think of it, I'd much rather them take turns than all three get sick at once. I'd have vet bills coming out of my ears. :yikes:

Sasha (RIP) was grinding her teeth for a while. I kept bringing her in and the vet I was seeing thought stomach ulcer so we had her on carafate to help coat her tummy and antibiotics. This went on for probably about a month. After he and one other vet felt her for blockages I finally saw the third (out of four vets at the hospital), and he found it right away. She had a huge hairball in her tummy which needed surgery to be removed (my vet did tell me sometimes they can be manipulated or broken up in the stomach so the ferret can pass it, but hers was too large).

Hopefully it's a simple fix and you can avoid that whole mess. Good luck, KUP!

Update (insert question mark here.... *glares at keyboard*)

She's at the vets now. Doctor was doing surgeries until early this afternoon (and then has appointments), but she's going to take a look at her when she gets the time. I'll probably pick her up after my exam tonight, which won't be until about 9:00. Once I hear back from the vet I'll be sure to update.

you must have heard something by now!!! LOL

Hahaha, sorry. The vet wasn't able to see her yesterday due to having two emergency surgeries come in - what was going to be a day of four hours of surgery turned into a day of eight hours of surgery. So she asked if she could come in today, and I said sure, no biggy.

Nothing seemed really abnormal during the exam. She does have tarter build up and some mild gingivitis in her teeth, but nothing extreme (she will be getting a dental done when I have the cash). Vitals were good. The vet couldn't feel any obvious blockages.

So we're starting her on some meds to see if that helps. If it gets worse or she starts showing more symptoms (as of now, literally nothing is wrong besides her teeth grinding - although her poops do seem a bit grainier and smaller than normal, consistency is still good and they aren't an abnormal color) we're going to do an ultrasound to double check there isn't a blockage and/or get her dental done to make sure it isn't something hidden under the tarter on her teeth.

Update: Rinnie is still teeth grinding when she eats and face rubbing/mouth pawing whenever she drinks out of the water dish (aka, after she dunks her entire head into the water). The meds didn't help, unfortunately. Her poops, however, are back to normal so maybe the meds did do something. lol

Also unfortunately, I am broke. As in, when I went by the bank to deposit my measly check a few days ago I had a whole $40 to my name. I'm not going to have any kind of cash until the 25th of the month. I do work at the vet clinic and get a 50% discount, as well as not having to pay everything up front so if I need to get her in right away I can.

What should my next course of action be? Teeth cleaning? How much does that normally cost for a ferret? Will she be okay if I wait until the end of the month, or is it something I need to have done as quickly as I can?

I really don't think it is a (partial) blockage, because she is showing no other symptoms whatsoever. And since this has been going on for almost a month now, I would have thought if it was something serious it would have become apparent by now.
I'm more inclined to think it is her teeth/mouth. She only does the teeth grinding when eating and she only mouth paws after she drinks out of the water dish. I also noticed that she has started "snorkeling" in her food before she picks up a piece of kibble the same way she does in the water dish before she drinks. I looked at her teeth again and they definitely aren't pretty, but I can't see anything obvious that would be causing her pain.

I'm also still worried about Dameon - he hasn't been right since his bout with pneumonia and I want to get another blood panel done on him to make sure his levels are where they should be. It may just be that the illness took a lot out of him (he is five), but he just seems so...old, all of a sudden. It reminds me of how Blackie aged horribly after he had his seizure and I'm paranoid he has something else wrong with him. He's more lethargic, he hasn't put the weight he lost back on yet, and when I hand wrestle with him he puffs his tail up and acts like it is uncomfortable. His playtime with Ruben has also dropped. But I definitely don't have the funds to get him tested and Rinnie's issue worked out at the same time. I had money set aside in my savings for instances such as these, but all of it is now going towards a car payment that I have to have.

Ugh. :wall: FML.

If he has not been right, take him in. Get a blood panel. Demand that something is NOT right, and do not be told it is nothing. Allie's Palom was "just not right" after he got sick with the flu, and we thought he was on the mend. He was euthanised a month later.

Honestly, if it is bugging her that much, the teeth cleaning needs to be done now. I almost wonder though, if the kibble is getting stuck in her upper jaw, hence the pawing? So she is trying to wet her jaw first to make it not stick? Can you try some duck soup, and see if she still grinds?

Also, if the duck soup stops her from grinding/pawing, it may be something in the root of her teeth, meaning she may need a tooth extraction.

Ooh, good idea. I hadn't thought of seeing if soup would stop the issue. If something is wrong with her mouth, I'm assuming it is a tooth problem, not a sore/gingivitis problem. So I'm going in to it expecting that she'll need something pulled. Since she'll be under, I'm also going to have them do an ultrasound/xray/whatever before hand to make sure it isn't a partial blockage.

I'm going to get another blood panel done on Dameon as well, I just have to figure out how to pay for it. I think he might be acting a bit "off" just because his spleen still seems to be larger than normal (it got HUGE when he was sick), but I don't know. He had bloodwork done when I took him to the e-vet, and all of his values were good besides his blood cell count (I'm thinking he was anemic...?). I'm going to get Rinnie taken care of first and then go from there.

If it does stop it, atleast soup is a balanced diet and she can eat that for a bit and buy you more time if you need it

All I can say is FERRETS.

They pick the worst times to need medical care. I'll be just peachy finance wise once summer hits, because I'll be working 35 hours a week instead of 10 hours a week. Even after this month I'll be okay, because I'm working 35 hours over spring break and then 17 hours a week the rest of the month. And I'm starting up as a research assistant again, so that will give me an extra $100 a month or so. They just all have to have problems now when I'm broke as all heck!

Well yahhh, they make life fun that way!

Rinnie will be going in for her teeth cleaning on Monday. Depending on how Dameon is doing and how much her procedure is going to cost will depend on whether or not he goes in over spring break or no. So cross your fingers that he gets feeling better.

fingers crossed!

Update and question...

So, the verdict about Rinnie is that nothing is wrong with her. *face palm*

The meds didn't help when we treated her for stomach ulcers/bacterial infection.

The vet did an xray and palpated her abdomen, and there was nothing unusual about any of it. The xray didn't show anything, she's pooping, and she showed no pain signs when she was being palpated (nor was their anything felt).

So we did the dental. Besides some icky tarter, her teeth are in perfect shape. No exposed roots, no nothing.

And she is still teeth grinding, mouth pawing, and face rubbing!! Ugh! Is she just being stupid, or could something be wrong that I'm not thinking off? Every single thing I have had checked comes up just peachy. She's just acting like an idiot.
_________

And, Dameon has perked up. I think I was just interacting with him during his sleepy times, because when I was home sick Thursday and Friday he was as active as always. Which makes me feel oodles better.

Maybe there's an irritant, like an allergy to something that she's eating or coming into close contact with? That's so weird, it just doesn't sound very "normal" for a ferret to be grinding teeth and pawing at their mouth like that. Maybe sinuses? I don't know... maybe Jess will know

Though, I wouldn't put it past a ferret to learn what behaviors get your attention the fastest