We had a little bit of a traumatic Tuesday this week.
On Monday, one of the kids, who shall remain nameless because he/she feels so guilty and bad, dropped our sweet Herbie onto the tile floor in the kitchen. At first we thought he was fine, he didn’t squeak in pain, he was walking around like he was okay, so we breathed a sigh of relief that he had dodged a bullet.
But the next day he squeaked at me all day! When he squeaks, it usually means he’s hungry and wants a snack, so all day I gave him carrots (which lay untouched in his cage), celery (ditto), lettuce (ditto), then even cataloupe didn’t seem to tempt him. I thought he was just being picky, but after awhile I knew something had to be wrong. He wasn’t eating anything, and he was squeaking relentlessly.
When Maddie came home from school, she flipped him onto his back like she usually does. And that’s when we realized his two front teeth were broken!
Maddie started to cry. In my head I panicked. He hadn’t had anything to eat or drink all day, how could he live without any front teeth to chew up his food? I called our wonderful vet who saw Herbie that night.
He made sure Herbie’s jaw wasn’t broken and he snipped off the teeth (which were still hanging there by a thread) and I got a short list of instructions for taking care of him. For now we need to cut his food into tiny pieces and hand feed it to him (he can’t pick it up without his front teeth anymore). And of course, Maddie and I are so happy to do it. I hate to think about losing our Herbert.
But it’s funny. I have to think ahead to his feedings and it takes about 10 minutes to hand feed him each time…it’s almost like I’m breastfeeding a baby again (in significantly less time, granted). Yesterday I was heading out to do some shopping, when I realized I wouldn’t be back for a few hours. I had to take a few minutes to hold Herbie, give him his lunch, pet him, and tell him how much we love him before starting my trip.
Poor Herbie. Now we just have to wait for his top teeth to grow out again, and keep our fingers crossed that they will be straight and perfect and that his bottom teeth don’t grow too much without the top teeth to stop them. We’re sorry, old pal.
6 comments:
You're such a loving pet owner. You are so caring and nurturing. . . which is why I'm sending you the crayfish Maggie brought home from school. I know you'll take better care of it than I will. It's a win-win situation!
Feel better, Herbie!
Oh, Herbie, you sweet toothless wonder. And to whichever is your guilt/bad-feeling child, big hugs there as well. Awww.
Do you go to the same Best Vet In The World that I do? What a gem, that Dr. Keck. Unless you go to someone else, in which case Bruce is still a gem but I'm sure yours is also too.
Hi Deb!
You guessed right, Dr. Keck is the best!
Beth
Ouch!
Good luck with his "recovery".
Poor Herbie! Hope those teeth come in quickly!
I am sure that little "Herbie-dropper" feels bad, but I hope the little sweetheart who slipped up realizes that this could have happened to anyone. And with all the love Herbie is feelin', I am sure he couldn't be happier!
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