Dental Advise - Guinea pig recovery after dental work. Severally loosing weight.

[vikrant pathak]

Hi friends,
I am new to this forum and have read many helpful tips in few years. This is the first time i am looking for the advise and help

My boy (4.5 year old) had history of dental issues and last time we got his molar trimmed in nov 2018. I kept monitoring him and in feb 2020 i realized he is not eating much so fixed a trip to the vet. Doc told his molars are grown and should be trimmed. He was weighing 800 grams then. Down from 850 gram.
We got the molar trimmed (3rd March 2020)but after the procedure he did not eat on his own for next 15 days. I kept visiting the vet. Doc told me that it should be trimmed again s they are growing. He was weighing 700-710 grams by then. i kept syringe feeding him though every three hours. He also started excessive drooling and started to get dehydrated.
we had second trim at around 20th march 2020 and condition did not improved. He was not able to chew any thing and syringe feeding. He drastically dropped the weight to 650 gram. I kept feeding him with syringe but he was not able to swallow much. weight down to 620 grams.Mean while i though the doc is not treating him well and tried other opinion (that was the biggest mistake ) every one told a different story and gave medicine but that did not help. One of the doc trimmed lower incisor but it did not help either and i later realized he made it too short. He got down to 500 grams drastically. i tried my best to keep him fed.

Again i got back to the first vet. She again told me that his tongue is trapped so only solution is to file again so we got the third trim on 4th april 2020. This time he showed sign of improvement and started swallowing. But due to lower incisor was too short upper incisor grown and misaligned. ( upper is inside and lower is outside) so vet (their first one)i got upper incisor trimmed and told me that it will take some time to grow and so he will not pick up on its own.

Now its been over 40 days and i am syringe feeding him 7-8 times per day (every sitting takes 1 hour).
He has gained weight and now he is 530-550 range. He some time stats grinding his teeth and drools but when i give him some painkiller it stops so i suppose this is due to some pain.

I need help to understand if any one has faced such situation and .
please advise me on
1. am i on the right track to help him
2. how do i deal with drooling
3. How long it takes to get to the normal weight.
4. any other recommendation.

 

[PigglePuggle]

I'm sorry to hear this, ongoing dental issues are a big worry- especially as many vets are not very skilled at dental work and a bad dental surgery can sometimes make the problem worse! I am tagging in @furryfriends (TEAS) who has lots of experience with dental piggies, hopefully she can advise you best x

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

Unfortunately, it sounds like the dental work hasn't been done correctly, or maybe a brewing abscess has been missed. All of our guinea pigs start to eat either immediately, or within a few hours, of receiving dental treatment. Can your guinea pig eat anything for himself?

 

[Wiebke]

Hi friends,
I am new to this forum and have read many helpful tips in few years. This is the first time i am looking for the advise and help

My boy (4.5 year old) had history of dental issues and last time we got his molar trimmed in nov 2018. I kept monitoring him and in feb 2020 i realized he is not eating much so fixed a trip to the vet. Doc told his molars are grown and should be trimmed. He was weighing 800 grams then. Down from 850 gram.
We got the molar trimmed (3rd March 2020)but after the procedure he did not eat on his own for next 15 days. I kept visiting the vet. Doc told me that it should be trimmed again s they are growing. He was weighing 700-710 grams by then. i kept syringe feeding him though every three hours. He also started excessive drooling and started to get dehydrated.
we had second trim at around 20th march 2020 and condition did not improved. He was not able to chew any thing and syringe feeding. He drastically dropped the weight to 650 gram. I kept feeding him with syringe but he was not able to swallow much. weight down to 620 grams.Mean while i though the doc is not treating him well and tried other opinion (that was the biggest mistake ) every one told a different story and gave medicine but that did not help. One of the doc trimmed lower incisor but it did not help either and i later realized he made it too short. He got down to 500 grams drastically. i tried my best to keep him fed.

Again i got back to the first vet. She again told me that his tongue is trapped so only solution is to file again so we got the third trim on 4th april 2020. This time he showed sign of improvement and started swallowing. But due to lower incisor was too short upper incisor grown and misaligned. ( upper is inside and lower is outside) so vet (their first one)i got upper incisor trimmed and told me that it will take some time to grow and so he will not pick up on its own.

Now its been over 40 days and i am syringe feeding him 7-8 times per day (every sitting takes 1 hour).
He has gained weight and now he is 530-550 range. He some time stats grinding his teeth and drools but when i give him some painkiller it stops so i suppose this is due to some pain.

I need help to understand if any one has faced such situation and .
please advise me on
1. am i on the right track to help him
2. how do i deal with drooling
3. How long it takes to get to the normal weight.
4. any other recommendation.

Hi and welcome

I am very sorry; it sounds like the teeth have overgrown again, as the grinding and drooling is showing.
Guinea pig dentals unfortunately don't feature on a vet's curriculum; even rarely on an exotics vet's. Doing it right and permanently usually involved a few rounds of filing at gradually lengthening intervals, as soon as the teeth are overgrowing again to get them fully rebalanced and working again.

Could you please tell us which country you are in?

 

[vikrant pathak]

Unfortunately, it sounds like the dental work hasn't been done correctly, or maybe a brewing abscess has been missed. All of our guinea pigs start to eat either immediately, or within a few hours, of receiving dental treatment. Can your guinea pig eat anything for himself?

no he is not eating on his own. He though can eat banana with a struggle. His jaw is moving much better than before (as compared to last two trims) while i feed him now.

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

no he is not eating on his own. He though can eat banana with a struggle. His jaw is moving much better than before (as compared to last two trims) while i feed him now.

They need to start eating, very quickly after dental work is done, or the teeth will start to grow out of control again. This is why they need to be done accurately, so the guinea pig can start to eat for themselves, which will hopefully allow the teeth to start to wear correctly. How skilled is your vet in guinea pig dental work? It may be worth trying to find a vet with more experience.

 

[vikrant pathak]

Hi and welcome

I am very sorry; it sounds like the teeth have overgrown again, as the grinding and drooling is showing.
Guinea pig dentals unfortunately don't feature on a vet's curriculum; even rarely on an exotics vet's. Doing it right and permanently usually involved a few rounds of filing at gradually lengthening intervals, as soon as the teeth are overgrowing again to get them fully rebalanced and working again.

Could you please tell us which country you are in?

so i should not mind going to the vet again and again. Will get to vet every 3-4 days interval and will keep feeding him CC.

 

[vikrant pathak]

They need to start eating, very quickly after dental work is done, or the teeth will start to grow out of control again. This is why they need to be done accurately, so the guinea pig can start to eat for themselves, which will hopefully allow the teeth to start to wear correctly. How skilled is your vet in guinea pig dental work? It may be worth trying to find a vet with more experience.

I live in Delhi (India) and she is the best Vet i have got nearby. No one here touches the molars.

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

so i should not mind going to the vet again and again. Will get to vet every 3-4 days interval and will keep feeding him CC.

You need to find a vet who can do the teeth correctly, so your guinea pig starts to eat for himself. It can take a number of appointments to get the teeth correct, but you should be seeing an improvement immediately after the treatment, that continues to improve. This doesn't seem to be the case with your guinea pig. Which country are you in?

 

[Merab]

Just adding support

 

[vikrant pathak]

You need to find a vet who can do the teeth correctly, so your guinea pig starts to eat for himself. It can take a number of appointments to get the teeth correct, but you should be seeing an improvement immediately after the treatment, that continues to improve. This doesn't seem to be the case with your guinea pig. Which country are you in?

i am in India

 

[vikrant pathak]

@furryfriends (TEAS)
i visited the vet again. His molars were grown again. It was filed 2 days back. I am syringe feeding him and he is chewing well but he is not eating on his own. He is only eating some fruits he likes on his own. His jaw movement is normal and there is no drooling at all.
I am syringe feeding him enough fiber to chew and he is chewing very well. he is able to drink on his own when thirsty.
His weight is stable and droppings are normal and very frequent.
Its been 45 days he is on syringe feed. So i think he might be afraid to eat on his own. Could it be the case ?

any suggestion.

Note: The vet is the best in neighborhood. She is the only one who can work with guinea pig here.

 

[Bill & Ted]

Sending you hugs at this difficult time. If his incisors are too short then he will find it very difficult to pick up small bits of food. I do think they loose confidence over time with dental issues. Try encourage him to take little bit of grass, you could try guiding them into his mouth, once a small bit is in he should start to chew. Good luck x

 

[vikrant pathak]

Thanks for the wishes.
yes i am trying to encourage him. i have increase fiber in his syringe feed and he is chewing it very well. Normal movement. I am feeding him every 2-2.5 hour.
He is eating banana and few other fruits on his own but nothing else he is liking