Hi there
I am new to the forum and I am sorry to make my first post a request for help! I am hoping for any advice or suggestions for my guinea pig called Turtle.
Turtle is a rescue pig who we got in February 2015. I don't know how old he is but I'd guess he is at least 3 years old.
We noticed on 1 June that Turtle was struggling to eat so we took him to the vet who initially diagnosed him with a respiratory infection and gave him antibiotics. The next day he was not eating at all so we took him back to the vet and they x-rayed him and filed his back molars because they were too long. We were given Loxicom (0.4ml per day) and Ranitidine (0.4mls twice a day).
Turtle started to show improvement and to eat again but we were also giving him critical care to keep his weight up. He was still not completely right though so the vet upped his painkiller to 0.53mls. On 4 July he got another set of x-rays because he had stopped eating completely, other than critical care. He had his back molars filed down completely but the vet says that he has a root problem and showed me a line of bumps along his jawline where it would normally be smooth. The vet also suspects that there may be abscesses.
Since the last visit we have been feeding him critical care but he has not eaten anything himself, bar a tiny piece of banana and a few tiny bites of apple. He is due back at the vet on Tuesday and I was wondering if anyone has any advice before we go. The vet advised that if the last molar filing didn't work they could do surgery along the bottom of his jaw but she was very reluctant to do this and said that it would be cruel. The unspoken suggestion was that if he was not eating by Tuesday it would be kindest to euthanise.
Has anyone any experience with this or suggestions on what we could try? I am desperate not to euthanise him but I also don't want him in pain (all he currently does is sleep and wake up for his critical care). We will try anything though if it will improve his standard of life and to keep him with us.
Apologies again for making my first post a request for help and thank you in advance for any advice you can give.
I am new to the forum and I am sorry to make my first post a request for help! I am hoping for any advice or suggestions for my guinea pig called Turtle.
Turtle is a rescue pig who we got in February 2015. I don't know how old he is but I'd guess he is at least 3 years old.
We noticed on 1 June that Turtle was struggling to eat so we took him to the vet who initially diagnosed him with a respiratory infection and gave him antibiotics. The next day he was not eating at all so we took him back to the vet and they x-rayed him and filed his back molars because they were too long. We were given Loxicom (0.4ml per day) and Ranitidine (0.4mls twice a day).
Turtle started to show improvement and to eat again but we were also giving him critical care to keep his weight up. He was still not completely right though so the vet upped his painkiller to 0.53mls. On 4 July he got another set of x-rays because he had stopped eating completely, other than critical care. He had his back molars filed down completely but the vet says that he has a root problem and showed me a line of bumps along his jawline where it would normally be smooth. The vet also suspects that there may be abscesses.
Since the last visit we have been feeding him critical care but he has not eaten anything himself, bar a tiny piece of banana and a few tiny bites of apple. He is due back at the vet on Tuesday and I was wondering if anyone has any advice before we go. The vet advised that if the last molar filing didn't work they could do surgery along the bottom of his jaw but she was very reluctant to do this and said that it would be cruel. The unspoken suggestion was that if he was not eating by Tuesday it would be kindest to euthanise.
Has anyone any experience with this or suggestions on what we could try? I am desperate not to euthanise him but I also don't want him in pain (all he currently does is sleep and wake up for his critical care). We will try anything though if it will improve his standard of life and to keep him with us.
Apologies again for making my first post a request for help and thank you in advance for any advice you can give.
