raccoon teething

[pat]

Huggy was only about 4 weeks old. I think it was love at first sight. I have enjoyed him so much. My mare (Mitawa Wanka Tanka) her English name was My Great Spirit and I tried everything possible for her. Comes a time when the Rainbow Bridge beckons. I know she is happy and racing with Secratariat!! My grandfather was a Lakota Sioux and he told me when I was young that the wolf was my totem. I have read and researched about them most of my life. Actually hooves grow fastest in hot weather, so says my farrier. The donkey's hooves grow much faster than my horse's do. Don't quite get that, but guess I don't have to. LOL I know how hard it is to lose a loved pet and as you said, non-animal people just don't get it. Too bad for them never having known just how special our pets are to us. Seems I am rambling..sorry.
Love hearing from you.

4 weeks is a nice age to get a raccoon. yep, I am sure you are enjoying him, he sounds like a real sweetheart.
interesting about the "great spirit thing, I don't really follow that stuff. not that I am not interested, I just have my hands full everyday.

yep, always hard when our pets cross the rainbow bridge. most of my animals that have died, I got a foot print of most of them.
I have them all hanging on the wall along with the poem "rainbow bridge" however, every time I look at it, It makes me sad.

I take your word about the hooves growing faster in hot weather. I thought a farrier told me, damp weather makes it worse
they didn't start getting bad and growing so fast until we started having a lot of wet weather, but, on another note, maybe they grow faster as they get older?

the non-animal lovers don't know what they missed. I get replies sometimes, "why do you have all these animals" actually awhile ago,
I had a party with some close friends, when I had Larry Lee (the one that died of liver cancer) he use to always nap in a cupboard outside the bathroom door, one of girls at the party was scared to death of him, he stayed in the closet, she didn't even want to look at him.

[pat]

Actually it makes sense donkey's origins are from more arid and rocky areas so in the wild their hooves needed to be tougher and grow faster to make up for the wear.

makes sense, but, my mini's hooves didn't grow as fast when they were younger.
so maybe after several plus years, they naturally grow faster

[TamanduaGirl]

They are more active when young so more natural wearing happen in between trimmings.

[pat]

They are more active when young so more natural wearing happen in between trimmings.

makes sense, never thought of that. they do have run of all the property. not my choice, gary never put another enclosure for them
but, again, they would be more active when younger. thank you for the info.

[Debek60]

I have to have her hooves done about every 5 weeks. I have an awesome farrier.

[pat]

I have to have her hooves done about every 5 weeks. I have an awesome farrier.

I heard 6 weeks guess, it depends on how fast they grow.
that is what I was supposed to do, but, I left them go too long I had a hard time finding a farrier.
but, finally found one and is really good, and very reasonable. then one before him was about 140.00
the one I just found was 75.00, for two donkeys. and he did a better job than the one I paid 140.00.

[Debek60]

Mine is $35.00 for each one. Horse and donkey and I love him

[pat]

that is a good price. I am happy with the one I have, however, he only does it part time.

[Debek60]

Just an update. Huggy is not responding to the antibiotics. The swelling is pretty bad. He still eats and plays, though. Wondering now if it might be abnormal upper jaw bone growth. I am at a loss. He does not seem to be in pain, which I find odd. Will keep you posted.

[TamanduaGirl]

Well maybe ask your vet if he'd be willing to see him. In most states the vet doesn't have to turn you in but of course they might still. Ask him hypothetically ;) if a client had a racoon would he / could he see it. If yes you might want to slip in the back door with Huggy or at least have the carrier completely covered to avoid any clients in the waiting room turning you in. Or maybe if you're really lucky he would make a house call. You have to be a bit concerned of the staff too. I think it was Pat that had a call on her once and it was like a tech or something turned her in but she was legal so it was just an annoyance. My vet normally doesn't doesn't do house calls but has for me to get the USDA paper work official since I'm a good client.

Like I said I had one dog where she would get gum infections but then the one time we thought that's what it was and it turned out to be cancer. The cancer was also bloody but not painful. Hopefully that's not it though since he's young. She was old. It could just be a really tough infection. It can help if a culture is run to see exactly what it is so they know what to target it with.

[Debek60]

My vet makes house calls, or in my case, farm calls. I am not sure about his feelings on my having an illegal animal. Hard to get him away from prying ears. I will brainstorm. Thanks

[pat]

I am so sorry to hear you are still having problems with Huggy
do you think your vet would ask for paperwork when he makes a house call?

[Debek60]

Not necessarily, but this is a different case.

[Trefoil]

What antibiotic are you giving him? If you've had him on them since the 20th of September and he isn't showing a lot of improvement, its time to try something else. Penicillin is often prescribed by dentists for human gum infections, but I don't know for sure if its because they don't know any better or if its because penicillin is effective for gum infections.

[Debek60]

I kind of think it is something else than infection. Seems to me that it would be in his whole system by now. I asked the vet when I was there about penicillin and they told me that Convenia was WAY better as it is a more broad spectrum antibiotic. Before that he was on Cephalexin which had no effect. I am wondering since it is not spreading, if it is something else entirely. There is no puss, no abscesses, no other signs of an infection. I called a vet school out of state and was told that they have to see him. That is not possible. Just don't know.