Sussex Based Veterinary Dentist Rachel Perry To The Rescue To Fix Zia The Tiger’s Broken Teeth!

Grove Lodge Vets’ dental vet Rachel Perry earns her big cat stripes Sussex based veterinary dentist Rachel Perry was recently asked to help with the dental treatment of a rather unusual patient – a poorly tiger named ‘Zia’ at the Isle of Wight Zoo in Sandown. Rachel, whose normal patients include more familiar smaller pet-sized dogs, cats and rabbits, was contacted by her good friend and fellow veterinary dentist Lisa Milella, and asked to help treat this tigress suffering from a number of broken teeth. The popular Isle of Wight Zoo, who house a total of seven Indian tigers, four of whom come from circus backgrounds, don’t use them for breeding but instead offer them a retirement home; encouraging both conservation and education of their visitors, all focussed responsibly on protecting tigers in the wild. According to the zoo’s website 17 year old tigress Zia is a “cracker of a cat”, hand-reared as a cub and now happily shares her enclosure with sister Zena; and keeper of all these beautiful tigers, Charlotte, was understandably concerned about her anaesthetic. After being successfully tranquilized using a blow-dart, Zia was transferred to the dental treatment room and kept anaesthetised by placing a tube down her wind-pipe, and connecting her up to a machine providing a safe mixture of oxygen and anaesthetic gas - just like we use in dogs and cats - and humans. Both veterinary dentists Lisa and Rachel had examined Zia's mouth and identified a number of broken teeth urgently requiring specialized treatment showing exposed nerves inside the ultra-sensitive pulp cavity. Rachel Perry, resident dental referral vet at Grove Lodge Vets 24hr Veterinary Hospital in Worthing, explains “Not only is this painful, but it allows bacteria in, which can cause chronic infection in the mouth. Because Zia had broken two of her important fang teeth (canines) it was better to preserve these than extract them. “Lisa and I worked on Zia's teeth together and performed root canal therapy on them both removing dead and infected pulp using special files - similar to files used in human dentistry but obviously much longer as the roots of Zia's teeth were nearly 6cm (2.5 inches) long! Like in a human root canal treatment, pulp space is also disinfected and once clean, the tooth is filled with material that forms a solid seal preventing further bacteria entering. Finally, a filling is placed on the top of the tooth.” After completion of successful dental treatment Zia was transported back to her bed to quietly recover. She made a smooth and quick recovery and was ready for dinner in no time. Veterinary dentist Rachel adds “Many people are often concerned about anaesthetising older pets. At 17 years of age, Zia is considered old as tigers live to about the same age as domestic cats in captivity. However, the only way these animals can receive treatment they require is under general anaesthetic. The risks with modern anaesthetic drugs and procedures are thankfully very low. Zia is going to be much more comfortable now and much healthier as a result - a big thank you to all at Isle of Wight Zoo - definitely a place worth checking out next time you visit!”

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