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Any Advice would be appreciated - Piggy cant eat

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Topcat

Topcat

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Hi Everyone

I will try an make this as short as I can and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I noticed about three weeks ago that one of my piggies (Gizmo she is now three and two months but is the one pictured in my avatar as a baby) wasnt eating, when I checked her mouth her front teeth were quite big so I took her straight to the vet and had them clipped, they also said that her back molars were very large and had spurs growing off of them which had cut her tongue so the next day they sedated her and filed down the teeth, it wasnt great news as they said the molars were actually growing inwards not upwards and that this was likely to be an ongoing problem of needing the teeth filed back. Unfortunately she still was seemed to be having problems. I separated her from the other three so I could see exactly what she was eating, but she seemed depressed and had completely stopped going to the toilet so we went back to the vet. The vet said that her tongue still looked quite sore (despite the fact she was on antibiotics and pain killer) and that it may be her digestive system had stopped as piggies need to be eating all the time. The vet gave her 3 injections, a strong pain killer, one to get her digestive system stimulated and one to improve her appetite. The vet said that if there was no improvement within 24 hrs then there was probably little more they could do. I had already tried syringe feeding her, with mashed pellets, strawberries, baby food but she kept pushing it back out her mouth. I even took her into work so I could do it every hour.

There was no improvement after 24hrs but we decided to keep on with the syringe feed, the vet gave me some sachets called "recovery" which she seemed to swallow and that way was also getting a lot of water, she did one tiny poo 24 hrs!

I took her back to the vet and saw a different vet, he said that he felt he could trim some more of all her teeth under sedation as she was now having problems closing her jaw. Once again she was sedated and had her front teeth clipped smaller and her molars filed right back as far as they could take them without making the gums sore, but he still couldnt get her jaw to close completely but can find nothing wrong with the jaw itself. He suggested we hand feed her as much hard food as we can and hay to encourage the back teeth to be ground down naturally.

Well that was last Thursday, we have hand fed her everyday, the only thing she can pick up an eat herself is coriander, everything else has to be pushed into her mouth and she either spits it out or chews for ages, she eats very little but is now going to the toilet whilst eating. Each feeding session takes about two hours which is so difficult with work and the children at school etc.

She wants to eat as when she hears me preparing the food and when I bring the food in for the other piggies she runs around and gets excited but when she reaches it she just cant pick it up, yesterday she picked up a piece of coriander but in the time it took her to eat one piece the other three had emptied the two bowls :( i like to let her try an eat with the others as she enjoys their company and looks so sad when separated.

I dont know where to go from here, she has cost £180 so far and is like a little skeleton, its breaks my heart seeing her want to eat but not be able to it seems so cruel and I think i should have her put to sleep, but then when we sit with her and she manages to chew for a couple of hours and then runs back to the cage looking in at the others I think we should keep trying. I havent heard her make any chirping noises at all although she does pur when we are feeding her bits of strawberries :)

I'm sorry i said it would be short ! What do I do now? All the time she isnt chewing hay etc her teeth are going to grow bigger again, right now she is looking very sad with her head pushed against one of the other piggies :(

Thank you for reading this.
Tracy


Forgot to say we are still syringe feeding her recovery as well as the small pieces of fresh food.
 
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Sorry to hear about your piggy, dental problems can be so tricky. Wherebouts are you? There may be a rodentologist nearby who can do dental without anaesthetic, if appropriate, or at least take a good look and see what's going on in there.

Are you close enough to Huntingdon to get to Cambridge Cavy Trust?

Sophie
x
 
Hi Tracy, before I wrote up some info/advice for you, can I just ask whereabouts you are?
 
Having just read some other threads about poorly piggies I am now really worried about her weight too, I know she feels so thin but she actually only weighs 710grams :(
 
Are you able to travel to get treatment for Gizmo? Would you consider leaving her with someone to get her weight back up and hopefully back to/closer to eating by herself again? I would be willing to do this if you can get to me, I have a pig here who is reliant on syringe feeds and have syringe fed pigs as low in weight as 575g.

Her inability to eat could now be that the teeth are too short, as opposed to too long. It would certainly explain why she is unable to pick anything up. Discomfort in the back of the mouth eg from an oral fungal infection, ulcer or general soreness as a result of the overgrown teeth, could explain why she is very slow to chew.
 
Laura-CCC4 said:
Are you able to travel to get treatment for Gizmo? Would you consider leaving her with someone to get her weight back up and hopefully back to/closer to eating by herself again? I would be willing to do this if you can get to me, I have a pig here who is reliant on syringe feeds and have syringe fed pigs as low in weight as 575g.

Her inability to eat could now be that the teeth are too short, as opposed to too long. It would certainly explain why she is unable to pick anything up. Discomfort in the back of the mouth eg from an oral fungal infection, ulcer or general soreness as a result of the overgrown teeth, could explain why she is very slow to chew.
Click to expand...


Thats a really nice offer thank you very much.

I dont think she can pick things up because she cant close her jaw (imagine a pair of open scissors and then trying to close them with a needle pushed up against them they will close so far but then stop before they can reach the tip) that is exactly what her jaw is like when it is pushed down.

The vet can not see any infection and her tongue has now healed but I am thinking her teeth in general could be sore, ours are after a trip to the dentist.

Just seen where you live, it is too far for me to get to you unfortunately :(
 
Ok, I will do my best to help you get her back on track although one of the biggest things is going to be finding someone you can get to who can do dentistry without anaesthetic, at her weight and after having anaesthetics recently already it's far from ideal for her to go through another one. I understand the dilemma of dental work under anaesthetic vs. no dental work as not fit for anaesthetic, risks associated with both, but it's a very frustrating dilemma. Anyway I will see if I can find anything out for you. What's the limit for how far you can travel? Just in case I find a vet/rodentologist in your general area.

If she really is struggling to close her jaw, it does suggest that her molars could have overgrown again - how long is it since her last lot of dental work? It is normal for the molars to grow inwards when they get too long - mandibular (lower) molars grow inwards and bridge over the tongue, maxillary (upper) molars grow outwards into the cheeks. Not normal for them to be overgrown of course, but the way the vet said they have grown is the way the teeth overgrow.

Re the syringe-feeding, how much are you able to get into her each day, and how often? I can email you a factsheet with some tips for syringe feeding if you feel it will help, I do believe you would find it useful; PM me your email address if you'd like me to send it across.

I would also be giving pain relief and Daktarin Oral Gel, even though the vet said there is no signs of infection, oral fungal problems can present the same/similar symptoms to dental issues despite no visible infection in the mouth. Daktarin Oral Gel would be given for three weeks at least, for a pig of that weight I would reduce the dose from what is normally advised; I would give 0.3ml 3x daily, reduced to 2x daily on week two, and reduced to once daily on week three. Pain relief, similar concept, if the mouth is sore in any way the pig will struggle to eat, so 0.2ml children's Nurofen 2x daily is also worth trying.

I know it is difficult and stressful having a pig who won't eat, I do feel for you. The pig I mentioned earlier who is reliant on syringe feeds, her initial problem was not dental, something led to a loss of appetite and after a while of not eating independently she developed dental problems also. She has been syringe fed for a few months now, she plays with her food (picks it up and carries it around, sits with it etc.) so obviously has a bit of an appetite, but won't make the effort to bite and chew any food. Behaviourally, at a first glance she can come across as being miserable/depressed/sad as she spends much of her time in the cage squashed up close to her cagemate - but crucially she responds to people, responds to other pigs, she is very active when out on the floor and does move around within the cage regularly; she will even (very very occasionally) bite the bars because all the other pigs are too. She's not 100% herself, but I still see her personality and her likes/dislikes in there, she's not overwhelmed by her dental difficulties and being syringe reliant. As such, I'm continuing with the syringe feeds.
 
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Just to add onto the previous post (again, my time limit ran out for editing) - reason I can help the syringe reliant pigs, is because I can have the dental work done regularly without anaesthetic.
 
Sorry to hear that you and Gizmo are having such a hard time. The fact that she's still showing an interest in her food, and the other piggies, makes me think that there's definitely still hope, but obviously you know her best and know what's best for you both x

I'm not sure if it helps, but I just wanted to recommend a very cavy-savvy Vet who can do dental work without anaesthetic. I know it's a bit of a trek but if you're able to travel down to Ewell then I can highly recommend Anne Taylor at the Goddard Vet Group.

Jenny Towers at Tilehurst Vet Centre, Reading, is also very experienced with guineas and apparently comes highly recommended by the Reading Guinea Pig Rescue:
http://www.activevetcare.co.uk/Practices/tilehurst.asp

I appreciate that travel can make things very difficult but if there is any way you could get to Laura then I'd jump at the chance, if at all possible.

In case you're not familiar with Laura (a very highly respected member here) she runs a guinea pig helpline and is in close contact with the CCT, currently training with the British Institute of Rodentologists. I just wanted to add that, although she isn't a qualified expert, as such, (i.e. Rodentologist or Veterinarian), I'd still trust her to take care of my own pigs and she's one of only a small handful of people I could say that about, in all honesty.
 
When Flo was having similar problems to your piggy I found that in addition to syringe feeding her she would happily help herself to softened cavy cuisine (my guys usual dry food) and also baby food. I used to pop her in a carrier after her syringe feeding and offer her a plate of "mush" which she happily tucked into.

Flo's jaw was malaligned (sp) and despite regular tooth trimming/filing her teeth just didn't meet properly and she also used to get "bits"of food stuck between her molars. Daktarin gel was brilliant, and after feeding her I always made sure she finished off with a syringe of water to clean her mouth.

Good luck, and keep us posted.
 
Thank you so much for your replies.

Where do I get Daktarin Oral Gel from? Do I get it from the vet?

Gizmo's teeth were last filed down last Thursday so I'm sure they havent grown too big again yet and when she does chew on something she seems to chew ok but it takes ages and if its anything too hard like a green bean she pushes it back out with just little teeth marks on it.
 
Topcat said:
Thank you so much for your replies.

Where do I get Daktarin Oral Gel from? Do I get it from the vet?

Gizmo's teeth were last filed down last Thursday so I'm sure they havent grown too big again yet and when she does chew on something she seems to chew ok but it takes ages and if its anything too hard like a green bean she pushes it back out with just little teeth marks on it.
Click to expand...

Daktarin oral gel is a human medication and is available over the counter from a chemist (don't say it's for a guinea pig though!).

Metatone, also a human thing, is a good tonic and can stimulate their appetite. You can get a bottle from Tesco or a chemist, it sometimes can help.
 
Just to add another suggestion is to go to Northampton to see Simon at the Cat and Rabbit Clinic. He comes highly recommended to do with piggie teeth, he has bought 2 piggies back from what I would call their last chance.

My vet at Seers Croft near Horsham specialises in Guinea pigs
http://www.seerscroft.co.uk/welcome.php
You would need to see Rob or Alberto.
 
Very often the vets cut the front teeth too short they need to be meeting otherwise they can't cut the food and pass it to the back teeth.

I would take up the offer of help, unless you have someone who can do the teeth without a GA you are onto a losing battle:(.
 
I just called my vet to discuss the possibility of a fungal infection but the vet i spoke to said that last week there was no sign at all of any infections but that it is possible her tongue was still sore from when the spurs were on her teeth (as her tongue was actually bleeding from them when the vet discovered them :()

But while I was on the phone to the vet Gizmo walked over to the bowl of pellets in their cage and has been eating by herself she must have had at least 10 pellets and is now munching away on a piece of timothy hay quite happily :{

This is very weird (although very exciting) because this morning she seemed so poorly and fed up!

I am going to get her out to hand feed her some fresh veggies soon and see how she is with those.

Shall i still give her recovery? and if so how much?
 
Personally I would say if she is eating lots then leave her be, as you don't want to upset her. But if she only eats a bit you will need to give extra food you can mush some pellets up in warm water.
 
Well this evening we put Gizmo on a towel as usual with a plate of different chopped up veggies and fruit to tempt her, she promptly ate over half the plate and then legged it across the room back to their run lol

I cant believe that this happening after I spent ages posting this thread :red

Will get her back out in two hours and feed her again but it looks like she is starting to feel better :))
 
That's fantastic news. Hope she keeps improving. She must have known how worried you were about her and decided it was time to get better. x
 
oh wow, I started reading this thread with a bad feeling it would never end well but now, oh boy! I'm so glad your piggy has recovered so well!
 
I am wondering if all the hand feeding kick started her digestive system again, she still seems to have a problem picking the food up but seems to have the strength to keep trying until its in her mouth :(|)
 
We have a similar thing in the cage now, it is a large silver ball that I fill with veggies and it hangs down they all love it :)
 
Very glad to hear that she's so much brighter and is managing to eat more. Fingers crossed the encouraging improvement continues until she's back to normal x
 
Morning People :)

I separated Gizmo this morning and gave her a plate of her favourite foods, she probably ate about a third of it by herself and then I gave her some recovery that was mixed to quite a thick consistency and put her back in with the others.

The only worry I have is that none of us have seen her take a drink, I tried to get her drink from the bottle but she either has forgotten how to drink from the water bottle, or maybe the bottle hurts her front teeth so I syringed water into her mouth.

I'm going to place a solid small bowl of water in with her an see if she finds it easier to drink from that for now but she is definitely picking up :))
 
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