melias
Junior Guinea Pig
Hello, I have a Guinea pig who has been diagnosed with dental disease/Malocclusion. She will be 5 years old this April 1st. This is her first time with dental issues (and experience for me as well as a GP owner). I am located in Arizona USA, and I use a Veterinarian that specializes only in exotics.
2 weeks ago, I realized there was something wrong with my girl when she would try to eat and then drop her food and she also had a runny right eyes. Took her to the vet, Dr. said her back molars are overgrown and will need to trim down the molars to fix the issue, under anesthesia. But before that happens, we needed to fix her URI as she was showing signs such as constant sneezing and watery/crusty eye (right side only).
My girl has had pneumonia in the past and has reoccurring URI’s.
Doctor put her on TMS (The pink stuff) and Meloxicam. She said as soon as her URI clears, she could do X-rays and fix her back molars under anesthesia.
3-4 days later, my girl ended up going from seeing minor signs of URI to super congested, and having thick cloudy white mucus discharge that was pretty stinky coming out of her right nostril.
Took her back, Dr. added Doxycycline for extra coverage. And at home i started nebulizing treatments with saline and gentamicin.
Her mucus seemed to clear after a few days doing the nebulizer.
Throughout out this whole time, my guinea pig has been eating 60-100ml of CC and she would eat soft veggies as long as I cut them very small and hand fed them to her.
She officially stopped eating any veggies I fed her 3 days ago.
Yesterday, February 11th…Seemed like her breathing/congestion was improving…when again…the thick stinky mucus on her right nostril came back. I was feeding her CC when I saw white stinky residue on her upper right cheek…between her eye and nose. Then I realized she had an abscess that burst. It was late at night so I cleaned it myself as best as possible and used antiseptic to clean the area. I’ve had guinea pigs with abscess before and normally they are visible so I know what they look like…but with this GP, I never noticed the abscess. She didn’t appear to have a bump in that area which is why I didn’t notice it, or the doctor.
Today I took her back to the vet so they can clean her abscess…but the Dr. suggested an X-ray to see what’s going on.
After viewing the X-rays she said that her dental disease is more advanced than she had thought. My girl was showing a root infection on her right side (2 molars) that has caused the abscess and erupted into her nasal cavity…and of course outside her cheek. That explained the sticky mucus coming out of her nostril. Dr. Also said that her molars are very overgrown to the point where trimming them may be difficult (but not impossible) and that she will always need to get routine molar trimming post-surgery for the rest of her life (that’s a possibility).
She suggested to change her antibiotics to Azithromycin to clear the infection on her molar and abscess. In addition to trimming down the molars, it’s possible that 2 molars will need to be extracted as last resort…but is not 100% certain until she’s under anesthesia to take a close look.
But based on the stage she is with her dental disease she said I have 2 options.
1. Proceed with trimming her back molars (possible molar extraction as a last resort based on the condition once she’s under or if the molars are loose). But being aware that she may not make it through the surgery and or post-surgery… as surgery is risky and there may be complications. Also that involves daily feeding of CC and most likely future trimmings for the rest of her life (if she survives)…not to mention the cost.
2. Humanely euthanize
My girl is no longer able to eat hay, pellets or veggies on her own and is fully dependent on CC. Yes she did loose weight overall.
Although My girl has dental disease, she is still able to clean herself, she’s mobile, walks around her cage, goes to the pellet bowl and I see her interested in trying to eat pellets…and hay. But she can’t. Her poops are slightly smaller but are improving each day. She LOVES critical care. I syringe feed her and she will eat 60-100ml throughout the day with no issues. Shows interest in eating. She’s also gained weight since our first vet visit 2 weeks ago.
Anywho, I need to make a decision as soon as possible before her condition progresses, but I’m torn.
Has anyone experienced something similar? What was the outcome? Positive or negative? I don’t want to give up on my girl but I also don’t want her to be in pain. Would this be a situation where euthanasia is the kindest thing I can do for her?
I do have other Guinea pigs I care for, I have dogs, and work full-time. But thankfully I work from home which allows me the flexibility to care for my animals. I know ultimately the decision is mine, but I am wondering if I could get some advice or hear from someone whose been in a similar situation.
Thank you!
2 weeks ago, I realized there was something wrong with my girl when she would try to eat and then drop her food and she also had a runny right eyes. Took her to the vet, Dr. said her back molars are overgrown and will need to trim down the molars to fix the issue, under anesthesia. But before that happens, we needed to fix her URI as she was showing signs such as constant sneezing and watery/crusty eye (right side only).
My girl has had pneumonia in the past and has reoccurring URI’s.
Doctor put her on TMS (The pink stuff) and Meloxicam. She said as soon as her URI clears, she could do X-rays and fix her back molars under anesthesia.
3-4 days later, my girl ended up going from seeing minor signs of URI to super congested, and having thick cloudy white mucus discharge that was pretty stinky coming out of her right nostril.
Took her back, Dr. added Doxycycline for extra coverage. And at home i started nebulizing treatments with saline and gentamicin.
Her mucus seemed to clear after a few days doing the nebulizer.
Throughout out this whole time, my guinea pig has been eating 60-100ml of CC and she would eat soft veggies as long as I cut them very small and hand fed them to her.
She officially stopped eating any veggies I fed her 3 days ago.
Yesterday, February 11th…Seemed like her breathing/congestion was improving…when again…the thick stinky mucus on her right nostril came back. I was feeding her CC when I saw white stinky residue on her upper right cheek…between her eye and nose. Then I realized she had an abscess that burst. It was late at night so I cleaned it myself as best as possible and used antiseptic to clean the area. I’ve had guinea pigs with abscess before and normally they are visible so I know what they look like…but with this GP, I never noticed the abscess. She didn’t appear to have a bump in that area which is why I didn’t notice it, or the doctor.
Today I took her back to the vet so they can clean her abscess…but the Dr. suggested an X-ray to see what’s going on.
After viewing the X-rays she said that her dental disease is more advanced than she had thought. My girl was showing a root infection on her right side (2 molars) that has caused the abscess and erupted into her nasal cavity…and of course outside her cheek. That explained the sticky mucus coming out of her nostril. Dr. Also said that her molars are very overgrown to the point where trimming them may be difficult (but not impossible) and that she will always need to get routine molar trimming post-surgery for the rest of her life (that’s a possibility).
She suggested to change her antibiotics to Azithromycin to clear the infection on her molar and abscess. In addition to trimming down the molars, it’s possible that 2 molars will need to be extracted as last resort…but is not 100% certain until she’s under anesthesia to take a close look.
But based on the stage she is with her dental disease she said I have 2 options.
1. Proceed with trimming her back molars (possible molar extraction as a last resort based on the condition once she’s under or if the molars are loose). But being aware that she may not make it through the surgery and or post-surgery… as surgery is risky and there may be complications. Also that involves daily feeding of CC and most likely future trimmings for the rest of her life (if she survives)…not to mention the cost.
2. Humanely euthanize
My girl is no longer able to eat hay, pellets or veggies on her own and is fully dependent on CC. Yes she did loose weight overall.
Although My girl has dental disease, she is still able to clean herself, she’s mobile, walks around her cage, goes to the pellet bowl and I see her interested in trying to eat pellets…and hay. But she can’t. Her poops are slightly smaller but are improving each day. She LOVES critical care. I syringe feed her and she will eat 60-100ml throughout the day with no issues. Shows interest in eating. She’s also gained weight since our first vet visit 2 weeks ago.
Anywho, I need to make a decision as soon as possible before her condition progresses, but I’m torn.
Has anyone experienced something similar? What was the outcome? Positive or negative? I don’t want to give up on my girl but I also don’t want her to be in pain. Would this be a situation where euthanasia is the kindest thing I can do for her?
I do have other Guinea pigs I care for, I have dogs, and work full-time. But thankfully I work from home which allows me the flexibility to care for my animals. I know ultimately the decision is mine, but I am wondering if I could get some advice or hear from someone whose been in a similar situation.
Thank you!
❤
