• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Dental Dental Issue?

Status
Not open for further replies.
ellyinexile

ellyinexile

Junior Guinea Pig
Joined
Aug 24, 2014
Messages
67
Reaction score
48
Points
215
Location
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Hi

I need some advice, I'm taking my pigster to the vet tomorrow but I need to get some info to settle my mind, Yogi is behaving a little off. He's very subdued from his normal hyper demanding self. He's holding his mouth a little weird and eating much slower than usual, though am glad that he is still eating thankfully.

His bottom front teeth don't look as straight as they did, they end on an angle I'm not sure if that means it slightly broken them or what? Does this sound like malocclusion? He has been getting a bit of crust in the corners or his eyes for a couple of days too, not sur wif this is connected.

I've been through a few illnesses with my Yogi Bear but this is another new one for me

Any advice would be great

Thanks
Elly
 
It is good that you are having him checked. Please make sure that you vet not just looks at the front teeth, but also especially at the premolars, which can grow spurs that either trap the tongue or grow into the wall of mouth. He can clear the pouches gently with cotton buds for a better look.In the vast majority of cases, problems with overgrown front teeth are caused at the back.

What you can do:
- weigh Yogi Bear daily at the same time in the feeding cycle.
- top him up with hand feed if he is losing weight; this pertains after dental treatment, too!
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/complete-hand-feeding-guide.115359/
- ask your vet for metacam; dental problems are painful.

I am tagging @furryfriends Excellent Adventure Sanctuary for you. She is our dental expert.
 
Thanks for replying, I just got back from the vets, one of his teeth at the back is growing over his tongue and wil need to be sorted out. I am super anxious and emotional at the thought of having to put my piggy under anaesthetic but if I don't he could die as well.....

I feel so helpless right now and terrified
 
Try not to worry. Anaesthetics carry a risk but I one of my piggies has had dental work under GA 5 times now and bounces back well each time.... It is also possible for a trained vet to do dental work without anaesthetic but not many places do this.

It's best to get it sorted out and when he's feeling more comfy then he will start to eat better again. Make sure he has plenty of hay as this helps the teeth wear evenly and keeps problems to a minimum. Make sure he gets some pain relief home with you after the dental work as he might be a bit sore which also puts them off eating. You really need him to eat again as soon as possible.

Good luck!
 
ellyinexile said:
Thanks for replying, I just got back from the vets, one of his teeth at the back is growing over his tongue and wil need to be sorted out. I am super anxious and emotional at the thought of having to put my piggy under anaesthetic but if I don't he could die as well.....

I feel so helpless right now and terrified
Click to expand...

HUGS!
Unfortunately, you are very much between a rock and a hard place right now, as your piggy IS going to certainly die if the teeth are not addressed. It is a painful slow death, as your piggy is basically going to die from starvation with the teeth not stopping to grow every worse. :( Fingers crossed that the operation goes well! The op will at least give you a fighting chance! Thankfully, with better anaesthetics and knowledge, operation risks have actually been steadily improving over the last few years compared to the times when it was not considered worth operating on small animals, and there was therefore hardly any experience available. ;)

PLEASE make sure that you come home with painkiller after the operation and that you ask how soon after the op you can give some. This will go a long way.
You will also have to brace yourself for prolonged period of hand feeding. The mouth will be very painful and your piggy will only slowly be able to learn how to chew again. it may also need follow up treatments. See your vets or the out of hours vets asap if your piggy is suddenly or continues to be lethargic and refusing to take on water and hand feed.

Here is our hand feeding guide: https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/complete-hand-feeding-guide.115359/

You may also want to contact @furryfriends Excellent Adventure Sanctuary re. tips for caring for a dental guinea pig, especially a freshly operated one as well as medium to long term.
 
Thanks for the advice, I don't mind hand feeding and doing whatever it takes. His op will be on two weeks time, it won't get a lot worse in that space of time will it? It's the earliest we could get....
 
Two weeks is quite a long time to wait if he is struggling to eat already. A piggy could lose quite a lot of weight in that time. Imagine not being able to eat for a fortnight.... It's not fun.

Themore weight he loses the harder he will find the anaesthetic. They need to be as fit as they can before that. If he is struggling to feed now, try grating veg in to narrow strips to make it easier to eat and you may need to hand fed/syringe feed before the op too if they can't do it sooner. Wiebke has given you a good guide and I can highly recommend chatting with @furryfriends Excellent Adventure Sanctuary as she has hoards of experience with caring for dental piggies and would be my first port of call if I have problems....

Keep him eating, get his teeth done as soon as you can and then get him eating again as soon as you can with pain relief as well.
 
Thanks guys, his eating is still relatively good at the moment. He is just a little slower than usual but we are separating him at feeding time to make sure he is getting his proper share and so far the weight loss has only been a tiny amount. I usually catch any illnesses with my piggies quite quickly because I'm a paranoid mummy lol so I will be monitoring him closely...and will message the lady you've mentioned for any further tips to tide him over.
Thanks for all the help, this forum is a godsend for when I hit the panic stations
X
 
There's only really one guinea pig savvy vet in area and that's the earliest date he has. I mean the vet didn't say there was a super urgency with it I was me wanted the earliest date. It's only just started to affect him the last couple of days and it's not hindering him too badly at the minute. The vet wants to bulk up his vitamin c intake for the next two weeks in prep for the op as well. His diet is pretty rich in vit c already but the vet wants the intake doubled
 
I did call them this morning after your reply and they are going to squeeze me in on the 11th that's just over a week...I called in a panic and my vet said he'll fit me in that day no matter what but that was the best he could do..
 
Can I ask what i think might be a stupid question; when handfeeding a guinea pig, is it only nuggets you can use or the special powdered food? Is it possible to make a formula from fresh veggies (like leaves - processed into a mush) or is this not good?

Thanks
 
ellyinexile said:
I got Yogis op moved to tomorrow! Thank goodness, although am still anxious is he allowed to eat before general anaesthetic?
Click to expand...
Yes in fact it is important that they do eat as normally as possible before the op & afterwards. Please make sure you only use a 1ml syringe to feed him the Recovery food, cut the end off remove the black rubber bung & file the end smooth before use. You can use a normal 1ml syringe with the end intact for water, but only give 0.2ml at a time & make sure you always syringe by placing the tip gently in the mouth & direct into the side of the cheek, not towards the back of the throat in case of aspiration.
 
Good luck for the dental today, please let us know how he gets on and please remember to ask for pain relief for the next few days to give at home e.g. metacam
 
ellyinexile said:
Can I ask what i think might be a stupid question; when handfeeding a guinea pig, is it only nuggets you can use or the special powdered food? Is it possible to make a formula from fresh veggies (like leaves - processed into a mush) or is this not good?

Thanks
Click to expand...

You can of course use recovery foods; the brands are listed in our hand feeding guide! We often recommend mushing up pellets because that is what many people have at hand in an emergency. Sometimes, guinea pigs are put off by a strange taste, but if that is the case, you can just mix a few mushed up pellets into the recovery food.
https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/complete-hand-feeding-guide.115359/
 
sport_billy said:
Good luck for the dental today, please let us know how he gets on and please remember to ask for pain relief for the next few days to give at home e.g. metacam
Click to expand...

Thanks so much! I am literally crawling the walls at the minute but should hopefully hear how it went soon, I just want him to be okay :(
I'll post up when I hear something and I will make sure and get him some pain relief.....

Thanks everyone for all the advice about hand feeding; good to know, I hope he bounces back quickly though as hes not a fan of syringe feeding.
 
:clap:He woke up! :clap:He came through the anaesthetic and is eating a little....he's a bit sore but the vet will give me pain relief for him! Can't wait to go pick him up :dri:
There are no words for how relieved and happy I feel...:luv:

Thanks everyone for the advice; you helped me through this!

X
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top