Broken tooth and grumpy!

[Olivitree]

Hey all again... my piggy is just getting to this point in his life where stuff is going wrong it seems. He's 6 years of age(roughly) and getting grumpy.

He's had a broken tooth, we took him to the vet and they couldn't work it out, just thought it would sort itself out.
HOWEVER it hasn't, it keeps breaking again and again, it's a slightly darker colour, VERY slightly, somewhat thicker(I assume thats because it's a new tooth) and seems to have darker lines down its length occasionally. Is this something to do with stress?

We have tried to get more calcium into him, I've even been giving him some almonds as I've heard they contain it, we've put some dry on his food and he has a vit and mins for piggies drops in his water. But it still keeps breaking off! HELP! It's been going on for, about a month as it hasn't been hurting him, we don't even know when it happens he keeps it so quiet and we've been trying to sort it out with vits and mins, but it doesn't seem to be working so far.
Is there anything more I can do, if not, I assume it's something to do with the root of it and it's just not growing right or something. It's affecting his eating this time too, I've got some liquid food I can give him if it gets desperate but I'd rather not have to end up doing that just yet as he's still eating grass, just not as eagerly as he use to and he's nibbling at carrot, cucumber and lettuce when I chop it up(I think he's changed his mind about what lettuce he likes though so that needs to switch... for the 6th time ¬.¬)

Not only that but in the last few days he's been really grumpy, all I need to do is move too close to his cheeks and he'll go for me!(and has succeeded to get me!) could this be to do with that I check his tooth regularly to see if it's growing properly and he's just getting fed up or could it be something more sinister?

He's on his own these days too and no matter what I can't persuade my parents to get another to keep him company, however he's aggressive to other piggies anyway, so I'm not sure he'd appreciate it really. Could this also be why he's getting aggressive toward me, just wants an outlet for his angriness?

All insight and tips are really, REALLY welcome!

 

[Laura-CCC4]

He's a good age, unfortunately once piggies hit their senior years (4 plus) they can tend to come down with a few more health issues.

Is it just the one tooth that keeps breaking? Is it firm at the root, not at all loose? Any redness at the gum?
It sounds like it is a bit of a brittle tooth, however my feeling is that if it was metabolic/diet related, all the teeth would be weak also. A trauma to the tooth - perhaps which broke it initially - may have caused some long-term damage, maybe affected the root. An infection in the root could be to blame, but there would likely be other symptoms (reddening of the gum) along with the discolouration and weakness.

What is his diet like? I'm not sure about giving almonds, it's not the best way to get more calcium into him and I'm not sure of the safety of giving piggies nuts. Parsley is a great way to give extra calcium, plus most guinea pigs love the taste. In any case, if the other teeth are unaffected, I would be less inclined to believe that a calcium deficiency is the cause. An overall review of the diet may be useful to ensure a good balance of key vitamins and minerals.

The drops in the water are next to useless, really. If a pig is to be supplemented or medicated, it needs to be done direct into the animal - it's the only way to know that what you are giving is actually being taken in by the piggie. Water should be pure and fresh, nothing should be put into the water.

What liquid food have you got for him? Is he eating hay? Have his back teeth been thoroughly examined?

 

[Olivitree]

There does seem to be a little swelling about the base of the tooth, but it's the same colour as the rest of the gum... well it was a bit difficult, but I think it's alright, excluding moving his jaw there wasn't any wobbling.
I agree I would have thought they would all go funny, but the vet didn't seem to think it was an infection at the root or anything... I don't really know if he knows how to handle cavies but I just can't find anywhere who really do!

I've read up on guinea pigs and it's been said they would eat seeds and the like on the floor so I pondered that they might eat nuts, the only thing I'd never feed him is peanuts as they've been known to build up alfa toxins(or something) and I don't really feed him many of other nuts either, it's more like an occasional treat but I'll stop for now see if he tucks into his other food more. Parsley is a bit expensive but I think I will start buying it for him as he loves it almost as much as he loves nuts.

The liquid food I have for him was some stuff that my sister was using when her piggy was REALLY going down hill,(saddly, he didn't make it) is Science recovery liquid feed for small herbivores.

He's eating hay quite happily along with grass, and he's still eating his hard food but he just isn't wanting to use his front teeth for anything. When we took him to the vet the first time he had a really good look and said they were fine, so I think it's just his front one thats thats the real issue.

ALSO I forgot to mention he's been having misshapen poos for a while, I put it down to not eating properly but now he has the runs! I'm pushing to get him to the vet today if possible as I know it's a big issue for such a small mammal, could he be eating something outside he shouldn't? We've got a lot of buttercups in the garden but he didn't seem to be trying to eat them, he eats daisies when he can as well and dandelions, I'm giving him a lot of wet grass at the moment to try and replace any fluids he's losing and to hopefully wash his system through so we can monitor what he's eating and see if it gets any better or worse. Hopefully though we can get him to the vet today!

 

[alcesterpigs]

As regards his tooth leave well alone. Hopefully the vet will do nothing to him.

 

[Olivitree]

Yup, we're leaving it a lone, it's doing fine not causing him problems and the vet has NO idea whats going on with it, so, just so long as he doesn't start swallowing the bits of tooth that come off I'm ok with it as it's not causing him any pain. More worried about his diarrhea now we've got some sachets of recovery food we're going to feed him until it sorts him out, just so he keeps his liquids up, I think his vet bill is just going to keep rising from here on though if this doesn't sort itself out >.<

 

[Stinklepig]

More worried about his diarrhea now we've got some sachets of recovery food we're going to feed him until it sorts him out, just so he keeps his liquids up, I think his vet bill is just going to keep rising from here on though if this doesn't sort itself out >.<

There was a thread on here recently that might help - Titled "Yellow Tooth" I think.

As for the runny bum, plenty of fluids, probably worth adding a dash of Dioralyte as well. And get plenty of fibre in him - Cut down/ out on veggies, and persuade him to eat more hay (decent quality stuff, or at least as good as can be had after the repeated poor harvests in this country). If he's on any form of oral antibiotic that could explain some of it, as would his not eating properly due to the tooth issue. If you're not already giving him probiotic then you really should start, Avipro is good stuff, Fibreplex can be very useful (works out more expensive, but works wonders) and there's always Bio Lapis although personally I find it a little pricey for a powdered probiotic compared to buying a tub of Avipro.