LAST week I wrote about Spud, my elderly, two legged, rescue chinchilla.

Spud had started to go off his food so I brought him into the surgery, gave him an anaesthetic and examined his teeth. Spud’s front teeth were overgrown and he had some sharp points on his back teeth.

Like all rodents, chinchillas’ teeth grow constantly throughout life, they rub against each other as they chew and that is what keeps them the correct length.

If their teeth become mal-aligned then they can overgrow very rapidly.

Spud has a good diet and access to lots of fibre to chew but despite this his teeth had overgrown – I suspect as a result of old age and possibly other underling issues.

I clipped and rasped his teeth back to normal length and after he had come round he proceeded to eat a lot better.

My worries about Spud are twofold – we will need to repeatedly treat his teeth from now on, this will mean repeat anaesthetics which is a worry at his age and secondly I suspect there is more going on with Spud. Next time he is under anaesthetic I will blood sample him to check basic organ function.

Spud may not be with us for many months more. We have had a lot of tears about this at home (but equally requests for an exciting new pet when he has gone!) 

* Alice Moore is a vet at The Southfield Veterinary Centre, South Walks, Dorchester. Tel: 01305 262913. The surgery is open for consultations between 8am and 6.30pm. Please contact the surgery if you have any questions about this week’s article or other veterinary matters.