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Dangerously Low Weight, Teeth Issues, Refusing To Eat Hay

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Hello everyone! Just found out about this forum and looking forward to being apart of the cavy community! ^^

I'm really hoping for some help on one of my 5 guinea pigs, Blueberry, my precious 3 and half year old boar. We've been fighting weight loss and dental issues since last March and after over a half a dozen vet visits and 3 teeth floats, things are still going downhill.

He currently weighs 477 grams, an all time low, and he just lost 60 grams between our last two vet visits. Blueberry is on Critical Care that he absolutely loves, vet recommended 0.3cc every 6 hours, but this doesn't seem right as he wants more. How much Critical Care should I give him? He's also on 2 types of medications, 1 for moving along the stomach (he shows signs of pain there), and the other to keep the pain in his mouth at bay. He will eat pellets on his own, and used to love veggies and hay but has stopped all together. I offered him red pepper the other day so he's been getting slices every day along with pellets. Blueberry will not eat hay.
I've tried feeding hay by hand and he won't take it, I've also tried fresh grass and got a couple blades in him.
We're very concerned because if he doesn't start eating hay, he will need his teeth floated again very soon and I don't think he's strong enough to make it through anesthesia. His vet is very worried, we have an appointment for next week to check in.

In there anything I can do for him in the meantime?

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Thank-you in advance (:
 
Hi and welcome!

Which country are you in? You can add your country, state or (for the UK) your county/city by clicking on your username on the top bar, then go to personal details and scroll down to location. That way, we can always give you the best advice and recommendations for your location straight away.

Could you please contact The Excellent Adventure Sanctuary in Northampton, which is a pioneering sanctuary that mainly looks after dental piggies on a temporary or permanent basis in conjunction with a vet who is specialising in dental treatment. I am tagging Debbie for you. @furryfriends Excellent Adventure Sanctuary
But here are her contact details: http://www.teasnorthampton.co.uk/ or https://www.facebook.com/teasnorthampton

It is necessary to hand feed dental guinea pigs, often on a long term basis. We have got advice for them and the amounts needed to retain the weigh/get it up again in our hand feeding guide:
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/complete-hand-feeding-guide.115359/

You are also looking at pain management and the risk of dental abscesses in long term dental piggies, which can also lead to sudden loss of appetite. As dental piggies often do not chew properly, spurs can regrow quite quickly and need regular filing.
 
Alright I added!

Thank-you very much for the links, I'm studying the hand feeding guide now. Would you still recommend I contact The Excellent Adventure Sanctuary even though I'm out of the country? Or is there something around here that could provide advice?

I'm thankful that my piggie loves being syringe fed, so if he needs that for the rest of his life, I have no problem helping him with that.
 
Light said:
Alright I added!

Thank-you very much for the links, I'm studying the hand feeding guide now. Would you still recommend I contact The Excellent Adventure Sanctuary even though I'm out of the country? Or is there something around here that could provide advice?

I'm thankful that my piggie loves being syringe fed, so if he needs that for the rest of his life, I have no problem helping him with that.
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Thanks for adding your location!

I have tagged the lady who runs the sanctuary for you, but you may still want to speak to her re. permanent long term support care for chronic dental piggies. You could also ask whether your treating vet would consider speaking to the sanctuary vet for advice as dental treatment is an area very few vets are familiar or confident with. Debbie and Simon have both had some amazing success stories with piggies that would have otherwise died very soon, but in some cases have been able to return to their families to lead a perfectly normal life after a few weks or months of several rounds of regular filing.
 
If he were my piggy I'd feed him as much CC as he wants. As he's losing weight it shows that the amount recommended by the vet isn't enough.

Hopefully you can get some weight back onto him, then he'll be a better candidate for surgery, if he needs it.
 
Jaycey said:
If he were my piggy I'd feed him as much CC as he wants. As he's losing weight it shows that the amount recommended by the vet isn't enough.

Hopefully you can get some weight back onto him, then he'll be a better candidate for surgery, if he needs it.
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Thanks! Yes I've started giving him a lot more CC, even dished some out in a slice of red pepper which he loved!
 
I agree, as much CC as you can get down him. Is your vet Cavy Savvy? It would be worth checking out the American Veterinary Dental Society page, they might have information on a dental office that can help your pig out, since it would be quite a commute to see Simon from New Hampshire! ;) Here's that link, hth xx. http://www.avds-online.org/newweb/index.php
 
I agree with the others, that if he likes the Critical Care and wants to eat it, I would let him have as much as he wants. The weight loss indicates that he isn't getting enough with what your vet has suggested you feed him. Once you build up some weight he may be a safer candidate for anesthesia/surgery, as he may be stronger. Hopefully you can find some good resources near where you live. I'm in Canada and am honestly jealous of some of the resources they seem to have for pigs generally and particular dental pigs in the UK!
 
I'm glad to read that he's having a go at red pepper. Obviously the best outcome would be for him to start eating veg and hay to wear his teeth down, but as he can't then as much CC as he wants is definitely the route I'd go. You obviously know what you're doing, offering him veg and hay still just in case.

I'll keep my fingers crossed, and hope he starts to gain weight soon. It's such good news reading that he's eating lots of CC :)
 
piglet_and_rogers_mama said:
I agree, as much CC as you can get down him. Is your vet Cavy Savvy? It would be worth checking out the American Veterinary Dental Society page, they might have information on a dental office that can help your pig out, since it would be quite a commute to see Simon from New Hampshire! ;) Here's that link, hth xx. http://www.avds-online.org/newweb/index.php
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Thank-you! I'll check them out right now. I've actually never heard of Cavy Savvy!
 
Freela said:
I agree with the others, that if he likes the Critical Care and wants to eat it, I would let him have as much as he wants. The weight loss indicates that he isn't getting enough with what your vet has suggested you feed him. Once you build up some weight he may be a safer candidate for anesthesia/surgery, as he may be stronger. Hopefully you can find some good resources near where you live. I'm in Canada and am honestly jealous of some of the resources they seem to have for pigs generally and particular dental pigs in the UK!
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Yes I've been giving him a lot more of it and he gained about 35g in 24 hours. I know, me too! We've had bad experiences with vets in our area, haha I wish I could take Blueberry to TEAS!
 
Jaycey said:
I'm glad to read that he's having a go at red pepper. Obviously the best outcome would be for him to start eating veg and hay to wear his teeth down, but as he can't then as much CC as he wants is definitely the route I'd go. You obviously know what you're doing, offering him veg and hay still just in case.

I'll keep my fingers crossed, and hope he starts to gain weight soon. It's such good news reading that he's eating lots of CC :)
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He's so quirky with the pepper, he loves it but leaves the skin! He's still not interested in the hay so I'm sure he'll need routine dental care for the rest of his life, but that's okay. Thank-you!
 
I have had to feed critical care with my guinea pigs and they recommend 10-15ml at one go, using a 1ml syringe and try to get at least 60 ml in a day into him at least.

My guine pig licks critical care off a plastic spoon, when he is not well, which I am going through at the moment. He seems to love it. Also I know they do 2 flavours, one is like aniseed and one is banana, so it might be worth feeding him a bit of both so he will not get bored if you are having to hand feed. He also might like one more than the other, which will help.
 
Update:
I'm getting really concerned, Blueberry seems to be worse today despite my best efforts to keep him warm and full of CC. He's not taking as much CC as before which is unlike him, he looks like he has diarrhea and around his eyes are crusty. His one eye is foggy, and he's also shivering and sneezing here and there. I can take him to the vets possibly tomorrow afternoon but I know that they'll just put him on more meds and more testing and I don't know if I should put him through all that again.

Is he giving up? I don't want him to suffer, I also don't want to be selfish and prolong his life if he's in pain.

Advice would be greatly appreciated please, I don't want to make the wrong decision...
 
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He is obviously very unwell, so needs vet care. You will need to get him to the vet straight away before he goes downhill.
 
You either have to have him seen as an emergency, or he will die. It sounds like he could have URI/pneumonia, which sometimes can hit without warning, especially in guinea pigs with underlying health problems.
 
Blueberry is going to the vet today, sadly the emergency vet is not very good with exotics, we've lost one of our pets there before.

He was pretty active and ate well over the weekend, but he's thinner than he ever has been so the weight just won't stay on. I'm very nervous, he doesn't seem to be in a good place so I'll see what the vet says.
Keeping my fingers crossed...
 
I had to make the very difficult decision to put my beautiful Blueberry to sleep today.

It seemed there were underlying issues going on with his belly that may or may not have been able to be treated. He was beginning to develop symptoms of URI and ringworm due to stress because of how sick he was. He weighed 451 grams, and even though he was eating, the weight didn't come back. His teeth were about to overgrow again but my vet informed me that the teeth were a secondary to whatever was happening in his belly. She told me he was suffering, and I could not let him suffer. I wasn't allowed to be apart of the procedure and I wish I could've been, but I trust that he was well taken care of.

Thank-you everyone for your help on this forum, I'm glad I joined. I hope I was able to give him a good life, but he will be missed dearly.
R.I.P Blueberry ♥ 5/3/11 - 10/6/14
 
I'm so sorry. It sounds like it was the right decision for him. Night night Blueberry.
 
I am really sorry for your loss. I know it is a horrible decision to have to make, but you did your absolute best for him.
Best wishes at this very sad time. Blueberry will live forever in your memories.
 
Oh no we are so sorry, having just lost one of ours we know exactly how you are feeling. It is very hard but be reassured that you did all you could and looked after Blueberry very well.
 
HUGS!
It is always a gutting decision, even if you know in your heart that it is the best one to free Blueberry from his suffering. it may take some time until your heart has caught up with your mind and you can let him go in peace.

You are welcome to post a tribute to him in our Rainbow Bridge section whenever it feels right for you.
 
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