Meet Thor and Floki

One of our trustees had an old friend desperately trying to rehome their two pet rats. We decided to offer our assistance, to which Thor and Floki's owner accepted. We collected the rats that same day.

They were two middle-aged entire bucks. From the start, there was a noticeable difference between the two boy's personalities; Floki appeared young and full of life, whereas Thor seemed uncomfortable and reserved.

The issue with Thor was soon detected.

Thor's incisors on his maxillary dental arcade were extremely overgrown (so much so that food had become impacted), whilst the incisors on his mandible dental arcade were misshapen, overworn, and very brittle. He was also underweight, and his urinalysis reading was abnormal. It was likely Thor was unable to eat without a considerable amount of pain, leading selective eating and malnourishment. 

Thor's case warranted an urgent vet visit. 

The vet admitted Thor the same day for an oral examination under gaseous anaesthesia, and some dental work to burr and reshape his incisors. This would also help us pick up any potentially undetected molar issues.

Amazingly, Thor had no damage to his hard palette, and his molars appeared normal too. Thor's lower incisors were extremely brittle and had many sharp edges. He also had a thickening of his rostral mandible suggestive of infection, he was introduced to oral broadspectrum antibiotics and non-steroidals.

Thor's upper incisors had to be 'over-done' due to the extensive curvature of his incisors. It was clear he was going to require ongoing dental work - most likely for life.

As of today, Thor's incisors are now stronger, and there is no inflammation present in his mouth. He requires dental work roughly every 2-4 weeks under anaesthesia. Thor also needs a supportive ground-down soft food maintenance diet with high-calorie porridge every day.

Thor and Floki were bonded to our mischief of bucks. Thor will remain here with us as a sanctuary resident due to his chronic health issues. 

Floki has bonded very well to some of the adoptable bucks and is currently available for adoption with them.

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