3yo boar weak teeth and not eating

[Guzmoo]

Hi, I’ve got 3 boars. Monty and Gatsby are 3 and we’re always bonded. Buzby is 18 months old and after months of gentle perseverance and following lots of tips on this great forum, my partner and I have bonded all 3.

In the last few days, to our total shock, Monty has gone downhill. It started with him not wanting to eat. I noticed that he wouldn’t even be able to put a bite mark in a basil leaf. We quickly got him to the vets, after an X ray and inspection, they say he has very weak teeth that are not aligned properly and open roots, meaning he’s in pain.

The vet didn’t want to do an anaesthetic as he also has intermittent respiratory wheezing/hooting.

We are now syringe feeding him and bless him he is taking the food. He is on a 2x daily dose of painkillers. The vet has recommended if he is no better on Monday we will have to look at putting him to sleep.

We’re just devastated. He’s always eaten hay, nibbled on wooden toys and eaten veggies of all kinds. We had no idea his teeth were giving him trouble and he’s had no health problems until now.

It now seems that his life is going to be cut short because of his poor little teeth. We’re mashing up nuggets with water, syringe feeding, and putting bits of soft banana in for him but he isn’t keen.

He is still taking the syringe food so that’s what we’ll keep doing. I just wanted to share and see if anyone maybe has seen this with their piggies. Thank you.

 

[Guzmoo]

I should have said, the vet was able to do a little with his teeth, removing some burrs, but said he would need to be on pain relief for life given his teeth issues. We would be happy to syringe feed him for years, but it’s the thought of him being in pain and how he looks quite sad and lethargic that is just so sad.

His body isn’t shutting down, he still has bright eyes and can still move quickly around the cage. But he mostly sits in a ball, quite puffed up and not doing much.

His brother Gatsby is currently snuggling alongside him. I hope that is giving Monty some comfort. And I hope the painkillers are helping

 

[Truffolo]

The Cat and Rabbit Vet Clinic in Northampton is very good and reasonably priced. If you can get there, it could be worth it. They have great expertise. I hope Monty can be helped, he sounds like such a sweet boar with his friends

 

[Guzmoo]

Thank you. I’ve read a lot about this vet here. It could be worth the journey even in his weakened state. I’ll call them first thing.

 

[CTWC]

Morning I was going to suggest the same Cat and Rabbit for teeth issues they are constantly highly praised on here.
I would also say though that if his pain can be managed and you're happy by the sounds of it to syringe feed him as long as he is a happy piggy otherwise wouldn't it be fine to continue with both (pain relief and syringing) rather than PTS

 

[Guzmoo]

Morning I was going to suggest the same Cat and Rabbit for teeth issues they are constantly highly praised on here.
I would also say though that if his pain can be managed and you're happy by the sounds of it to syringe feed him as long as he is a happy piggy otherwise wouldn't it be fine to continue with both (pain relief and syringing) rather than PTS

Hi, that would definitely be fine, I just constantly wonder if he is in pain, is the painkiller working. He doesn’t look happy when he’s in his cage although maybe that’s just because he knows something is wrong.

If he’s still taking the syringe food do you think that means he’s not in pain?

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear this, sending hugs.
It would definitely be a good idea to get advice from cat and rabbit clinic.

What dosage of painkillers is he getting?
What painkiller is he on?
Being puffed up and sitting hunched up are unfortunately signs of pain.

Unfortunately You can’t rely on the fact he is taking the feed as conclusive that he isn’t in pain. Poorly piggies and piggies in pain will still syringe feed eagerly if they are hungry and while they still can.

A piggy could be syringe fed long term but I’d want to still be seeing the zest for life at all other times - still running about, playing with friends etc - before doing it.
Losing the ability to eat is a huge thing for piggies whose purpose is to chew so while a piggy could be syringe fed long term, it would rather depend on them still having the zest for life, pain being managed. If pain gets difficult to control ( maxed out dosages etc), lethargy etc then it would be a different situation.

 

[Guzmoo]

I’m sorry to hear this, sending hugs.
It would definitely be a good idea to get advice from cat and rabbit clinic.

What dosage of painkillers is he getting?
What painkiller is he on?
Being puffed up and sitting hunched up are unfortunately signs of pain.

Unfortunately You can’t rely on the fact he is taking the feed as conclusive that he isn’t in pain. Poorly piggies and piggies in pain will still syringe feed eagerly if they are hungry and while they still can.

A piggy could be syringe fed long term but I’d want to still be seeing the zest for life at all other times - still running about, playing with friends etc - before doing it.
Losing the ability to eat is a huge thing for piggies whose purpose is to chew so while a piggy could be syringe fed long term, it would rather depend on them still having the zest for life, pain being managed. If pain gets difficult to control ( maxed out dosages etc), lethargy etc then it would be a different situation.

Hi, he’s on meloxaid, a 5kg measured dose twice a day. I don’t know how that converts to ml/mg, the vet gave the latest dose and syringe in a kg measure.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Hi, he’s on meloxaid, a 5kg measured dose twice a day. I don’t know how that converts to ml/mg, the vet gave the latest dose and syringe in a kg measure.

Ah right, normally the kg syringe is discarded and a ml syringe provided.

Is it cat (0.5mg/ml) or dog (1.5mg/ml) version?

 

[Guzmoo]

It’s the dog version. Until the recent higher dose which started yesterday, he was having 0.09ml once per day, that was before the vet saw the state of his teeth on the scans

 

[Guzmoo]

This is him when he was happy and healthy or at least when we thought he was. Who knows how long he has been in discomfort for. I can’t remember there being any signs at all until he suddenly couldn’t chew

 

[Piggies&buns]

It’s good it’s dog version. That’s a reassuring sign that your vet is knowledgeable on piggies

Are you weighing him daily?
The weight checks are the only way to gauge adequate food intake (either independent hay intake or syringe feed intake).

 

[Guzmoo]

Thanks, we will start weighing him today. He was 1.215kg on Monday (vets) and lost 30g in 24h (vets) which makes sense as he was initially reluctant to take syringe feed. Yesterday he was hungry after a day at the vets and took over 20mg feed x2 over the evening. And now he is eating the syringe feed quite a lot of it.

He is a little more active so far today, coming out of his house.

 

[Piggies&buns]

It’s likely the higher dose of painkillers kicking in.
Keep us posted on how things go

 

[Guzmoo]

Sadly the Northampton vet is I think just too far a journey in his current state and after the scary day at the vets he had yesterday. We did call and ask if they could talk about possible pain on the phone but they understandably said they would need to see him.

The response above explaining how a piggy in pain could still eat syringe food has confirmed my fear that he could be in a lot of pain despite eating. At the moment he’s lying down with Gatsby, not hunched, so I’m thankful for that.

I think if he doesn’t start showing some positive signs that he isn’t in pain, we will take him to be PTS as early as tomorrow. I can’t bear the thought that his teeth are constantly hurting him.

 

[CTWC]

Keeping you all in our thoughts

 

[Truffolo]

This is him when he was happy and healthy or at least when we thought he was. Who knows how long he has been in discomfort for. I can’t remember there being any signs at all until he suddenly couldn’t chew

Such a beautiful boar

 

[Truffolo]

Sadly the Northampton vet is I think just too far a journey in his current state and after the scary day at the vets he had yesterday. We did call and ask if they could talk about possible pain on the phone but they understandably said they would need to see him.

The response above explaining how a piggy in pain could still eat syringe food has confirmed my fear that he could be in a lot of pain despite eating. At the moment he’s lying down with Gatsby, not hunched, so I’m thankful for that.

I think if he doesn’t start showing some positive signs that he isn’t in pain, we will take him to be PTS as early as tomorrow. I can’t bear the thought that his teeth are constantly hurting him.

Wishing you comfort very sad, but completely understand that he may be suffering and need to be released

 

[Guzmoo]

When my partner opened the fridge, he came out squeaking like he used to do. So now he’s getting some more syringe feed.

 

[Guzmoo]

Beautiful Monty (Moo Moo) was peacefully PTS this morning and is resting at a lovely New Forest Crematorium until we can bring him home for the last time. He looked so peaceful. Sleep tight Moo.

 

[CTWC]

Sweet Monty happily popcorning over The Rainbow Bridge
Be gentle with yourself as you grieve it must be heartbreaking but it was a gift of love