A porcupine that lives at an Illinois zoo experiences an unusual activity for an animal, going to the dentist.
CNN reported that 11-year-old Pilgrim, a porcupine from the Brookfield Zoo, has a tooth that gets too long, so she visits the dentist regularly to have it trimmed.
Her veterinarian, which acts as a dentist for her, Dr. Michael Adkesson said she has three teeth that no longer grow and one that keeps on growing.
While it seems like an easy fix, it is actually a serious problem.
“If we don’t do this she wouldn’t be able to eat,” said Adkesson. “So, they use teeth for picking up food and chewing on things and without being able to trim this off normally, that tooth would continue to grow and obstruct her mouth to where she wouldn’t be able to eat.”
According to CNN’s report, when this happens to porcupines in the wild it is fatal.
