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can't eat post dental - new - help!

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It can be genetic, particularly if it develops in young guineas and those with the most chronic problems.

It can also be caused, as it was with the second sow I mentioned (Nooshi), through the loss of appetite related to another illness (an illness that usually involves pain. Pain anywhere, on some level, is typically the biggest cause of a loss of appetite). If the refusal to eat continues for more than a week (whether syringe feeding is started or not - which it should, I hasten to add) there is a real risk of dental problems developing. The teeth need hay especially to maintain the right dental wear and keep the teeth a healthy length. Without such foods to wear the teeth down, they overgrow. It can take just a few days of not eating for the teeth to start to get too long, a full week of eating nothing and the teeth can be overgrown enough to affect the ability to eat.

It's also important to differentiate why a piggie won't eat as suggested there. If they refuse to eat because they have no real interest in food (in which case they will refuse or be very reluctant to eat favourites as well), or if they have an inability to eat, which would suggest dental problems. Unfortunately one can lead to the other!
 
I must admit, my first pig had malocclusion (?) not sure of spelling, and he was the best ever, my mate bought me him as a surprise for my birthday, and i absolutely loved him to death, but it scared me off big style when he started with dentals and ultimately i lost him, i didnt think i would get another as i thought i would be unlucky all the time, however, with some of the problems people have, like the poor piggy with half its neck missing due to burrowing mites 8... i think i have done ok.

:)
 
blimey, i'm really worried now. i simply can't afford to go to the vet every week for treatment :( it's making me worry all the time to be honest.
i am going to take them for a check up on friday and see how their teeth are doing. depending on what they say, i'll have to decide whether to take them to a rescue or not. it's going to shatter me though because i'm already hopelessly attached.

russell is doing better than glen with eating and can get through whole leaves of dandilion (minus the middle bit). however he does struggle with romaine lettuce a bit. either way, he is a million times better than he was.
glen tries so, so, so so hard but when he gets a piece of veg in his mouth, he moves it around his mouth, does his stevie wonder impression and then drops it out :( he is munching through mashed up pellets though and i have been finely chopping up oxbow hay to mix in.

glen has this thing where he climbs up your chest and snuggles into your neck and hair. how could i give that up?

if i have to end up giving the pigs to a rescue, will they carry on dental treatment? how could i be sure? i'd be so worried that they wouldn't get enough attention. aaarrrggghhhh! i'm driving myself nuts.

also, i got an email back from the rodentologist in rochdale and she does not carry out dental work, although she did say a lady in sheffield does. does anybody know of anywhere nearer to manchester?

thanks guys xx
 
blimey, i'm really worried now. i simply can't afford to go to the vet every week for treatment :( it's making me worry all the time to be honest.
i am going to take them for a check up on friday and see how their teeth are doing. depending on what they say, i'll have to decide whether to take them to a rescue or not. it's going to shatter me though because i'm already hopelessly attached.

russell is doing better than glen with eating and can get through whole leaves of dandilion (minus the middle bit). however he does struggle with romaine lettuce a bit. either way, he is a million times better than he was.
glen tries so, so, so so hard but when he gets a piece of veg in his mouth, he moves it around his mouth, does his stevie wonder impression and then drops it out :( he is munching through mashed up pellets though and i have been finely chopping up oxbow hay to mix in.

glen has this thing where he climbs up your chest and snuggles into your neck and hair. how could i give that up?

if i have to end up giving the pigs to a rescue, will they carry on dental treatment? how could i be sure? i'd be so worried that they wouldn't get enough attention. aaarrrggghhhh! i'm driving myself nuts.

also, i got an email back from the rodentologist in rochdale and she does not carry out dental work, although she did say a lady in sheffield does. does anybody know of anywhere nearer to manchester?

thanks guys xx
 
Oh that's a shame she doesn't do dental work, it looked like she might from what's said on her website. :(

Whether the pigs do well at rescue will depend on what treatment the rescue can offer i.e. if they can manage/find someone to do dental work without anaesthetic, and the rescue would also need to be able to continue the syringe feeding, something most rescues will do regularly - but ideally (for sake of rescue and pigs) they would have someone willing to adopt/foster the boys in order to provide the extra care they need.

I appreciate what you are saying about cost and there is the risk of repeated anaesthetics as well, it's very frustrating, I do feel for you and wish I knew what to say to help.
 
just thought i'd give a quick update.......

russell, the one year old is still with me and has put on over 100g in 2 weeks! good lad! he still has about 300g to put until he reaches his optimum weight for his age, but we're getting there.

glen, the little 5 month old was starting to have tooth problems again. as we have two dental buns already, there is no way i could afford to carry out any major further treatment. i got in touch with avalon guinea pig rescue (what an amazing woman) in nottingham. to cut a long storey short, we drove down their on sunday and he is now in her care. she took him to a rodentologist yesterday who says he is in a bad way :( his teeth are very soft due to a lack of vitamins and nutrients and he is generally serverly malnurished. glen will be staying with the rodentologist for a couple of weeks to recieve treatment and he will then go back to the sharon at the avalon guinea pig rescue where she will need to continue further treatment. He did put on 70g since he has been rescued but that is the only really good news.

It makes me so cross. SO CROSS! if these animals were returned to the pet shop for 'no apparent reason', surely the obvious thing to do would be to get them checked over - surely ther is a 'duty of car' somewhere?!. but no, they were put back out in the pet shop for resale. they were in the shop for weeks before we rescued them. all they wanted was to get rid of the pigs. simple as that. where was their duty of care? aaaarrrrgggghhh!!

needless to say, i have reported the pet shop to the rspca and they are sending an inspector down.

i cried all the way to nottingham with glen and i miss him so much. sharon at avalon must have thought i was a right nut job because i couldn't speak without the tears rolling!

she is going to keep me posted on his progress, so i'll do the same. thanks to everybody for all of your help, kind words and advice xx
 
Thank you for updating. Great news about Russell, 100g is a fantastic weight gain, I hope he continues to do so well!

I am sorry you had to part with Glen, but it is wonderful to hear that he is improving, I think you did the right thing. Your care, dedication and awareness of his needs shines through your last post, although it is not you now trying to get him 'better', it is thanks to you that he is.

Well done for everything you did for Glen, and everything you are doing for Russell. :)
 
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