The calm before the storm
Whoever said it was easy being a capybara is wrong. Wait, did no one say that? Are you sure? I thought I heard someone say it was easy. No? Well then, the reason they don’t say it is because it is not true. It is hard being a capybara. You might think that having teeth that constantly grow is a good thing. No need to worry about cavities. But there is a dark side to tooth growth. A dark, painful side.
If you’ve read about my two previous visits to the vet (Vet Visit 1 and Vet Visit 2) then you know what kind of problems constantly growing teeth can cause. In my case, I have a tooth that is growing sideways. That tooth ends up cutting my tongue, which is very painful. But in the big scheme of bad tooth problems, it is not the worst. I could be like Maple WoMER and have a tooth grow into my eye. Or out through my lower jaw. It’s a miracle it isn’t worse. But as Melly says, in order for there to be a miracle, something really bad has to happen first.
Waiting for torture
At least My Rick goes with me. It is a big comfort to have him there. It would be a bigger comfort to have him somewhere else.
Still waiting for torture
Is it like this with human vets? I sometimes have to sit in the waiting room for a long, long time. This just makes the whole experience worse.
The sleep of a dead angel
Finally they shot me in the butt with a hypodermic and I fell asleep in my little bed. Normally Melly says I look like a little angel when I am sleeping. But this is not normal sleep, this is the sleep of a dead angel.
Preparing for dentistry
Here they are getting me on the table for my dental work. My eyes are open but nobody’s home. I am glad I don’t remember any of this. The person in the bird shirt who is hiding in the back is Dr. Hoppes. She is my main vet. The person in blue is Diane, I like her because she likes me. The last person is Dr. Gentry. He is pretty young but he is a great dentist and he is very nice to me when he’s not torturing me. To be fair, he only tortures me when I am unconscious.
Keeping me warm
I have to get all bundled up while they work on me so that I don’t get too cold. I might look cute in this photo but it is really very tragic.
Dental work in progress
Dr. Gentry using a monitor to watch what is going on in my mouth. He doesn’t look straight in because my mouth is very small. Can you see there is a computer on top of the monitor? My Rick brought that. He set it up so that he captured the video of the whole procedure. I haven’t watched it because I don’t want to know, but you can watch if you want to.
A Tour of My Teeth
This video is a quick survey of all of my teeth. You can see which teeth are good and which have problems. My bad tooth is pretty obvious.
The sharp point of my tooth being taken off.
That is a long video showing the whole procedure for taking off the big point on my tooth. It is not a very gory or disturbing video to watch, but it is pretty long.
A very bad thing happened when they were filing off the point on one of my teeth. It turned out that the tooth was loose! Then they decided to pull it. Luckily, it looks like the tooth had cracked for some reason and they only pulled off the top part of the tooth, not the root. That means my tooth should be able to grow back. That is one good thing about having constantly growing teeth.
Tooth extraction
This video is a little gory so you might not want to watch.
Now you can see why my little mouth is all sore both before I went to the vet and afterward.
Home and hurting
After we got home, I spent a lot of time in the bathroom. But this time I only sat next to my poop bowl, not in it. That is an improvement. Last time I spent hours just going from one water bowl to the other, trying to get comfortable.
Winston Bumblebee Barcode the 1st pays me a visit
I spent most of the next day (Saturday) sitting in the hallway. At one point, Melly let Winston Bumblebee Barcode the 1st come play with me. I wasn’t in the mood for playing though so he didn’t stay long.
As horrible as this vet visit was, it was not as bad as the previous two times. And Melly said that this time they got my teeth into really good shape so hopefully they won’t hurt me again for a long time. I never want to go back to the vet but I guess I’ll have to. Until then, I’m just not going to think about it.
Gari, I hope your pain goes away very quickly. We’re proud of you for being so brave at these visits. Hugs!
Gari, you are a strong guy! We are hoping that you feel better really soon and can play with your co-pets soon! Keep being a good boy now and not biting Melly or Rick…Lots of love to you!
You are such a brave boy…sorry you are having so much trouble with your teeth..maybe they will get you fixed for good. Hang in there.
Oh Gari, that was scary and I hope your mouth feels better soon. Mom told be what the dentist was and what they do. She has a missing tooth because it broke while they were redoing a filling and they pulled the rest of it out while she was sitting there awake! I am glad you were knocked out and didn’t know what was going on. Be strong my friend you have many friends and fans pulling for you.
Feel better soon, Gari!
Feel better soon Gari. I have great sympathy for you – I too have had to have many dental procedures (lots of crowns and root canals and such). My latest dental adventure – I broke a front tooth right below the gum line and had to have a dental implant put in. I’m still waiting for the implant to fully consolidate into the bone so I can get my crown. Only a little over a month left to wait. I sure hope you are able to go a long time before you have to go back to the dentist again. Sending hugs your way.
Poor, poor Gari. We really hope your suffering is finally over and you can enjoy a happy carefree life, which is what you so deserve
Brave ‘bara!
I did ask about foot, and I’m glad it’s all healed. One thing is more than enough at a time. I know this vet visit was no fun, but it’s better than the alternatives. Heal quickly, and get back to being your wonderful capybara self 🙂
Oh my goodness, what you’ve been through! I’m glad that your teeth are now stabilized & in good shape. Hopefully, they won’t bother you again, ever. Hope you recover from the ‘dentistry’ very soon. I know it was a worrying situation, but your remarks made it funny, at least to read about. I agree that waiting in a doctor’s office adds to the anxiety of the whole thing.
Glad your paw is all better, that’s good news. Hope things stay calm for a while. Be sure to thank Bumblebee Barcode for visiting your sick room. He’s a good pal.
You have traveled one very long road toward getting healthy…and you are well on your way. Hang in there!
You’re in good hands, and surrounded by tons of love … always a good thing! Feel better Gari xo
Glad Paw is better. It IS the same w/ human doctors — you often have to wait a long time. SO sorry about toof problems. It’s so good Your Rick was with you and nice to have a Guinea Pig friend be with you afterwards! I know being bundled up in blankets was a bad time — but I LUV to see Beasties in blankies! Hope Dr Gentry has tamed that Troublesome Tooth! Feel better. Mocha, Lily, Jasmine, Chocolate Chip (the guinea pigs), and Oreo (the hamster) send wheeks, squeeks, and rodent kisses to you in TX from NJ.
Gari you look so cute in your pics as always, I hope you feel better soon. I’m sure Melly and Rick are great nurses 🙂
Gari, you poor baby! All those trips to the vet are just not fun! Maybe you can have a popsicle later to make your mouth feel better? Glad to hear your paw is better. You are definitely due for some fun and good times soon. I am glad you have such good, loving people!
Janet
I can’t believe I watched those videos right before bed! I’m going to have nightmares! You are the bravest capybara EVER!
[…] has been just under six weeks since Garibaldi last went to the vet to get his teeth trimmed. That trimming was still pretty major, with a big chunk of the bad tooth […]