In Which Jethro Gets Surgery

Last week I went out to feed Jethro and noticed something was wrong. His bottom lip was hanging down and his lower row of teeth were sticking straight out. He was not pleased about me trying to get a closer look, so I scheduled a vet appointment.

Jethro still had an appetite and carried his Jolly Ball with him everywhere, so I figured it must not have been too extreme. The soonest the vet could see him was one week later.

Fast forward to yesterday. He goes to the vet, gets sedated, the vet tech opens his mouth, and I see the reality:

Not good.

Yikes. Definitely an injury, not new teeth replacing old ones. My best guess is that he grabbed onto something with his mouth and suddenly pulled back really fast. The gumline was sliced through, forcing his front teeth outwards. A lot of scar tissue developed in the week that we had to wait to go to the vet.

The cut is pretty deep, as you can see in the above picture. The front part of his mouth was torn open, pulling his teeth forward. He had to have three teeth extracted.

Jethro actually does not have any of his permanent teeth yet. The three extracted teeth were all baby teeth. I found it surprising how long the roots were.

The poor little man will be spending two nights at the vet's barn. Luckily, the vet thinks that it should heal quickly.