8 mo old female broke her jaw!!

We got gizzy at 2 mos. At 3 mos we noticed a mass on her jaw. Did antibiotics. At 6.5 mos it came back. 2 wks ago at 7.5 mos the vet did X-rays. She had a fresh fracture of her jaw. We were blown away! The pressure of her abscess actually broke her jaw.

We are doing another course of Batril x2 weeks and if needed we switch to something else. We've spent the last 2 weeks flushing her mouth with sterile water 3x a day. My 12 yr old has become a pro at drawing up her meds by needle/syringe, doing everything as sterile as possible, etc. it's been awesome to watch.

We were given 2 choices before the results came back... 1-- mandiblectomy. Basically they remove 1/2 her lower jaw, her mouth won't close, and we syringe feed her and it's a matter of time before we lose her. Or 2-- we make her comfortable until she can't eat/drink on her own and we put her to sleep.
We opted for #2. With the test results we finally have hope. We do have to feed her smaller pieces of veggies and super worms and monitor to make sure her sister (3 days older, 3 inches longer and approx 75 grams heavier) doesn't eat the small stuff so our SPIKEY princess doesn't choke (she can't fully chew on 1 side now).

The vet actually went as far as to say SHE COULD LIVE FOR YEARS but her jaw will more than likely remain malformed.

I would I could get pictures on here, quite interesting really.

Just wanted to share what we've been going through. We have been so worried and scared bc we know if she passed her sister probably would too. Their 12 hrs apart for the surgery and gizzys day at the vet was aweful. Our Zena gets so stressed out that as soon as gizzy is back she lets her do whatever she wants, nudges her to the water/food, gives up her favorite spot to let Gizzy bask and even let's Gizzy hop on her back and gives her a ride all over their habitat.

Wow, that's a pretty unique situation ! It must have been a rollercoaster to see her with the abcess and then ending with a broken jaw and a tough decision to make. I think you made the right choice, and I hope that she's as comfortable as can be. If you want to post pics, there are instructions at the top of the page under website comments/announcements. Or you can upload pics to a site like Photobucket, then copy/paste the img here.

So how long will she have been on antibiotics altogether ? If you aren't already doing so, it's very important to give her probiotics like Benebac, soy yogurt or Acidophiliz + to restore her got flora that the antibiotics are destroying. Without the probiotics her system will be susceptible to diseases, including the dreaded + often deadly yellow fungus.

Well, I hope everything goes as smoothly as possible. Good job taking care of that Gizzy !

I know it's a mad idea - but what about splint and strap, using medical tape, and splint both sides along the jaw? Obviously you'd have to avoid solid foods, but licking purees... that'd work. Blitz the usual foods, and offer with a dropper. Oxbow critical care small herbivore is one of my best weapons with malnutrition...

At that age, the bone's still growing - it could be possible that the bone might heal. Hell, it's worth a shot, no? Ask the vet.

Hello,

Wow poor baby, I am glad you opted not to remove the lower jaw yet. I agree that there are other things that can be done first. Plus, she is still growing so maybe her jaw will heal up some more.
At least she is able to eat some though, that is a great sign!
Does she seem to be in any pain?
What an emotional up & down for you all.
Let us know how she is progressing.

Tracie