A few months ago we had the pleasure of welcoming Fraya, an approximately 10-year old otter from the Bioparc, to our Veterinary Hospital.
Fraya lives with other otters, and the keepers noticed that her right cheek was swollen. Therefore, she was referred to the veterinary service of the Bioparc in Valencia.
For the last few years, Fraya has had dental problems and various teeth have already been removed, and she has undergone mouth cleanings. She has also had different antibiotic treatments.
During the physical examination, there were no disturbed parameters, other than swelling in the cheek. This was due to infected molars. Therefore, Fraya started medical treatment that consisted in Nicilan and Amoxicillin, to reduce the infection and the swelling.
During the treatment there was a notable improvement and the swelling reduced, but after going off the antibiotics there was a clinical relapse. Therefore, the keepers decided to get into contact with the surgery and anaesthesia service at University CEU Cardenal Herrera to carry out a molar removal.
Here we made x-rays of the jaw to locate the problem, as well as x-rays of the thorax and abdomen in order to rule out possible problems facing imminent anaesthesia. In addition, we took a blood sample for a clinical pathology and haemogram.
For this, they recommended a protocol of sedation of dexmedetomidine (20micrograms/kg), methadone (0.3mg/kg) and ketamine (4mg/kg).
When it was verified that all the assets were normal and that there were no contraindications for anaesthesia, they proceeded to induce her with propofol, intubate her and carry out maintenance with Sevoflurane.
And then they proceeded to clean the mouth and extract the 1st upper right molar and the 2nd upper left.
When Fraya recuperated from the anaesthesia she returned to the Bioparc, where she continued to receive care from vets and keepers.