By Joe Goldeen
Record Staff Writer
Record Staff Writer
Posted Sep. 29, 2015
LODI — Getting a root canal is considered a common dental procedure. No big deal — unless you’re a 200-pound white tiger from rural Oregon.
And of course when a 7-year-old female tiger named Vail has a problem tooth, the owner has a problem as well.
“She was choking on something. After I stuck my arm all the way in (up to my shoulder) and didn’t feel anything, I pulled it out and that’s when I saw the growth on her gum,” said Bonnie Ringo, who along with husband Robert Ringo co-owns the nonprofit Tiger Preservation Center of Cave Junction, Oregon, a rescue and rehabilitation center currently home to 61 endangered and/or exotic species ranging from camels to kangaroos to lemurs to, yes, several big cats including lions and tigers.
The Ringos knew what they had to do. They contacted Dr. Richard Turner of Arbor Pet Clinic in Lodi and exotic animal veterinarian Dr. Lyndsay Phillips of Fair Oaks, both of whom they met 20 years ago when they had a procedure done at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. At that time, Phillips was on the faculty and director of its zoological medical program.
Turner has treated large animals for years, including those at the nearby Micke Grove Zoo, Marine World in Vacaville, the Performing Animal Welfare Society in San Andreas and even a well-known movie orangutan.
Vail was born in captivity to a rescue tiger at the center and even slept in the Ringos’ bed during her first three months.
“She’s very loving, very sweet, very gregarious. I haven’t seen her not like a human yet,” Ronnie Ringo said.
She cautioned, though, that when it comes to big cats, “you develop a respect/trust bond with them. If you don’t show that respect, the trust is out the door. The first time you violate that trust is when you get into trouble.”
Getting Vail ready for her first road trip off the Cave Junction compound took some doing. She had to become comfortable with the steel cage she would be housed in for the nine-hour drive in the back of a van to Lodi.
Turner and Phillips assembled a team of about 15 professionals, including Stockton-based Dr. William Marweg from Delta Endodontics and Dr. Paul George from Brookside Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery; veterinarian Dr. Julie Damron, also of Arbor Pet Clinic; and several veterinary technicians and dental assistants.
As the procedure began, Turner warned those around the operating table: “She’s heavily sedated and lightly anesthetized. If she gets some pain, she may jump.”
During the hourlong procedure, two growths were removed from Vail — one on each side of her mouth.
Bonnie Ringo said she wouldn’t bring her to any other veterinarian despite the effort to get her to Lodi. That included a wrenched back and significantly clawed wrist she suffered while loading Vail into the van.
“Lyndsay Phillips and Richard Turner are probably the best vets we’ve ever seen in the field in the past 20 years. I just love Dr. Turner. He really cares. He’s amazing. He would literally stay up all night with a sick animal,” she said.
For Turner, the feeling is mutual. He credited the Ringos with being absolutely the best operators of a large animal rescue that he has ever come across in his 39 years in practice. “They do an absolutely great job,” he said.
And while he wouldn’t share how much the procedure cost — “slightly more than a human root canal,” he said — Turner did put in a plug for donations for the Ringos’ operation. Visit TigerPreservationCenter.org to learn more.
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