Teeth Trimmming Sedative Recommendation

[LilBoPeepers]

As many of you know, squirrel trimming is not for the faint of heart. Even the most well-behaved squirrel can become a nightmare when clippers are involved.
With that said, I need recommendations for a sedative to use to make the process a little easier and less stressful for my little guy.

So far rescue remedy has been a bust. Any ideas?

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

As many of you know, squirrel trimming is not for the faint of heart. Even the most well-behaved squirrel can become a nightmare when clippers are involved.
With that said, I need recommendations for a sedative to use to make the process a little easier and less stressful for my little guy.

So far rescue remedy has been a bust. Any ideas?

Hi LilBoPeepers:
I'm sorry that you have not yet received a response in your new Thread! I would like to make a few other comments beside the use of a "sedative" for possibly making the tooth trimming easier. Also, these are my personal opinions and I am certainly NOT suggesting that they apply the those who are already experienced and successful tooth trimmers! Further, I am not a Veterinarian and I am not a Dentist BUT I am a scientist of sorts and I have done some experience with trimming Squirrel's teeth as have a number of others here on TSB.

Again, my comments and recommendations are my personal opinions and these form the basis for how I perform tooth trimming or have tooth trimming performed. As far as a sedative to make the process of tooth trimming "easier and less stressful;" I believe that I know what you mean but in reality, a sedative is just a medication that provides for sleep or sleepiness and is not in itself effective in preventing or modifying pain (although there should ordinarily be no pain involved in a correctly performed tooth trimming!) or anxiety and fear! What is needed for this is a medication that provides dissociative effects which is a partial or complete loss of awareness of the events that are actually going on (the tooth trimming). That is why I prefer and recommend that tooth trimming be performed by a trained, Squirrel Friendly Veterinarian who can utilize and monitor the status of an inhaled anesthetic agent such as isoflurane in order to have the Squirrel reach an effective level of dissociation. There are many others here who probably disagree with this and as long as they are competent in performing tooth trimming at "home," it should make no difference. Certainly there is an added cost for a Vet to perform this procedure and a Squirrel Friendly Vet is not available everywhere! As far as a medication that may offer some degree of dissociation and help with anxiety and fear; Gabapentin may be of benefit and I have used this in the past for this procedure and as treatment for some other issues.

Next, and again, many may not agree with this either; but I do NOT use clippers! Yes, it is possible with identifying the exact and correct angle and location for the placement of the clippers and by using the optimal type of clipper such as diagonal cutters or nail trimmers for the result to turn out acceptable or even great BUT, to me the risks are too great! It is too easy with clipping to damage the tooth by crushing, twisting (which can result in breakage of the tooth in its long axis and not crosswise as a normal trim would be, loosening of the tooth within the bone or even fracturing the bone. I much prefer using a readily available mini cut-off wheel held in a mini rotary tool such as a high speed (30,000-35,000 RPM) Dremel Tool. Prior to the trimming, I securely but safely restrain the Squirrel by wrapping the entire Squirrel except for the head in a thick flannel (or similar) piece of cloth using the "burrito" technique of wrapping. I also do NOT ordinarily do the trimming myself as it helps facilitate the procedure while helping maintain a safety margin to have someone hold the restrained Squirrel while the other performs the actual trimming. Use of a Rotary Tool requires minimal pressure against the tooth but I still place a resistance of one or two tongue depressors against the "back" of the tooth which also helps protect the mouth during the very short period time to complete the trimming. I usually start the Rotary tool several feet distant from the Squirrel and walk up to the restrained Squirrel with the Rotary Tool running the entire time. This will help keep the initial startle reaction of the Squirrel to the sound of the Tool beginning to run to cause a jerk that may interfere with accurately preforming the procedure!

I know this is a little bit more than you asked for but I wanted to primarily make the recommendation for a Veterinarian to perform this procedure for you if possible and also make some other comments that I feel are relevant and at least worth considering.

Regards,
SamtheSquirrel

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

Hi LilBoPeepers:
I'm sorry that you have not yet received a response in your new Thread! I would like to make a few other comments beside the use of a "sedative" for possibly making the tooth trimming easier. Also, these are my personal opinions and I am certainly NOT suggesting that they apply the those who are already experienced and successful tooth trimmers! Further, I am not a Veterinarian and I am not a Dentist BUT I am a scientist of sorts and I have done some experience with trimming Squirrel's teeth as have a number of others here on TSB.

Again, my comments and recommendations are my personal opinions and these form the basis for how I perform tooth trimming or have tooth trimming performed. As far as a sedative to make the process of tooth trimming "easier and less stressful;" I believe that I know what you mean but in reality, a sedative is just a medication that provides for sleep or sleepiness and is not in itself effective in preventing or modifying pain (although there should ordinarily be no pain involved in a correctly performed tooth trimming!) or anxiety and fear! What is needed for this is a medication that provides dissociative effects which is a partial or complete loss of awareness of the events that are actually going on (the tooth trimming). That is why I prefer and recommend that tooth trimming be performed by a trained, Squirrel Friendly Veterinarian who can utilize and monitor the status of an inhaled anesthetic agent such as isoflurane in order to have the Squirrel reach an effective level of dissociation. There are many others here who probably disagree with this and as long as they are competent in performing tooth trimming at "home," it should make no difference. Certainly there is an added cost for a Vet to perform this procedure and a Squirrel Friendly Vet is not available everywhere! As far as a medication that may offer some degree of dissociation and help with anxiety and fear; Gabapentin may be of benefit and I have used this in the past for this procedure and as treatment for some other issues.

Next, and again, many may not agree with this either; but I do NOT use clippers! Yes, it is possible with identifying the exact and correct angle and location for the placement of the clippers and by using the optimal type of clipper such as diagonal cutters or nail trimmers for the result to turn out acceptable or even great BUT, to me the risks are too great! It is too easy with clipping to damage the tooth by crushing, twisting (which can result in breakage of the tooth in its long axis and not crosswise as a normal trim would be, loosening of the tooth within the bone or even fracturing the bone. I much prefer using a readily available mini cut-off wheel held in a mini rotary tool such as a high speed (30,000-35,000 RPM) Dremel Tool. Prior to the trimming, I securely but safely restrain the Squirrel by wrapping the entire Squirrel except for the head in a thick flannel (or similar) piece of cloth using the "burrito" technique of wrapping. I also do NOT ordinarily do the trimming myself as it helps facilitate the procedure while helping maintain a safety margin to have someone hold the restrained Squirrel while the other performs the actual trimming. Use of a Rotary Tool requires minimal pressure against the tooth but I still place a resistance of one or two tongue depressors against the "back" of the tooth which also helps protect the mouth during the very short period time to complete the trimming. I usually start the Rotary tool several feet distant from the Squirrel and walk up to the restrained Squirrel with the Rotary Tool running the entire time. This will help keep the initial startle reaction of the Squirrel to the sound of the Tool beginning to run to cause a jerk that may interfere with accurately preforming the procedure!

I know this is a little bit more than you asked for but I wanted to primarily make the recommendation for a Veterinarian to perform this procedure for you if possible and also make some other comments that I feel are relevant and at least worth considering.

Regards,
SamtheSquirrel

Hello to those who might read this thread or may have read it:
I realized that I neglected to mention an essential aspect to using a rotary grinding method to trim teeth and that is that it is ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to provide cooling for the teeth while using a rotary tool!!

Below, I have pasted my post from another thread that deals with the essential cooling process during rotary tool Tooth Trimming. For anyone considering tooth trimming, please read these comments! Using clippers is a commonly recommended means for trimming rodent incisors BUT I would IMHO suggest that this means of tooth trimming NEVER be utilized because it is associated with considerable risk!

From a prior post:

"I wanted to offer my commentary on Trimming of overgrown, maloccluded or fractured incisors. Many people have noted all over the the internet and here as well that Squirrel (or other rodent) incisors have no pain sensing capabilities and because of this; it is safe and effective to opt for "clipping" incisors often by wrapping the animal in a towel for restraint and utilizing diagonal cutters or other clipping devices to trim the these teeth. I would like to CAUTION anyone who is considering this to AVOID CLIPPING TEETH! I will explain my reasoning behind this statement but before doing so; my "simple" and strong recommendation is to have every rodent (or rabbit or whatever) with incisors that may need to be trimmed to be treated by an experienced Veterinarian who can APPROPRIATELY SEDATE the animal and monitor the animal's status during sedation and who is experienced in utilizing a rotary tool for trimming the incisors. Cooling is necessary when utilizing a rotary device such as a Dremel Tool and one cannot simply spray water into the mouth of an animal whose airway is not protected as the animal will aspirate (suck it into the lungs) the water. Relatively low RPM of the tool will minimize heating but heating is inevitable and cooling should be accomplished with very frequent applications of saline or plain water by dabbing the tooth with a saturated cotton ball. There are other "tricks" for safe positioning (to minimize likelihood of aspiration) and cooling that an experienced Vet uses especially if the utilize relatively high speed grinding.

Now to mention the very real risks of clipping incisors and once again; I would NOT recommend clipping! I am not alone with this as virtually all Veterinarians who specialize in Rodent (or similar species) do NOT trim incisors, they grind them with the animal safely sedated! Clipping incisors will frequently lead to longitudinal (lengthwise) fractures of the teeth or other splits of once healthy tooth material and much of this can occur without being noticed. There is also some evidence that with repeated clipping of the incisors, the pulp (the portion of the tooth that contains nerves and blood vessels) may become extended beyond the gum margin and would be more likely to become traumatized by further clipping. Also, it is difficult if not truly impossible to keep the forces of the clipper confined to directly across the tooth and there can be force transmitted to the root region and damage to the root and/or the surrounding bone may also result! Any injury of the tooth or transmission of forces into the root and bone may also result in pain to the animal even though the region being clipped does not in itself contain nerves or blood vessels! Clipping may appear very simple and in some ways it is but its use conveys great risk! Another related item is that while the cause or causes of odontomas developing are uncertain; there is some evidence that tooth trauma may in some cases play a part and frequent or regular tooth clipping may conceivably play a part in later development of an odontoma. I know that it is usually an luxury of sorts to have the services of a Veterinarian! I just wanted to point out some potentially significant risks that I see to the common practice of clipping incisors! CM mentioned an option of filing the tooth and this would IMHO be far safer than clipping!

Again, these are strictly MY comments, recommendations and suggestion only! I am NOT a Veterinarian nor am I a dentist!"

Regards,
SamtheSquirrel

[SamtheSquirrel2018]

One other clarification is that cooling with the water saturated cotton ball needs to accomplished with the Dremel grinding disc taken away from the tooth and the water saturated cotton ball applied directly to the tooth and can also be applied to the disc but ensure that the tooth and tool is cooled before continuing. I would recommend using the Dremel tool for on 1-2 seconds at a time and hold the tool firmly but exert only minimal pressure on the tooth. Run the tool for 1-2 seconds at the most and then remove the disc and adequately Cool The Tooth and then repeat as required to trim the tooth. A Veterinarian and sedation are ideal and IF you must trim teeth "yourself," do NOT do it yourself; have someone to hold the burrito'd Squirrel securely while you concentrate on controlling the Dremel tool and cooling the tooth and ensuring that the Squirrel's head, tongue and mouth are fully protected!
Regards,
SamtheSquirrel