Dental problem

[Sintheya]

I have a male guinea pig he is 2.5 years old. Almost 4 weeks ago he suddenly stopped eating one morning. Then I took him to a vet and the vet said that his back molar is overgrown And he didn’t want to do the operation but I insisted. It has been 2 weeks since the operation was done I did critical feeding all this days . But there was no improvement. Then I took him to vet again and the vet said that his front molar is overgrown and he trimmed it .and also checked the back molar everything is ok but still he is not eating anything. Also he stopped having water and the critical feeding. I tried to feed him small leafs and all he pushes them out or it feels like he’s choking , he runs to me when he hears the sound of bag crinkling or I bring food for other guineapigs , he sniffs and tries to eat then throws them away and sits all puffed up , also in the process he has lost almost 300 gm
We have no other vet option , he told me to take him for follow up but idk how many days are he gonna survive on syringe feed or saline

 

[Truffolo]

I'm sorry that you are dealing with these issues with your poor piggy. I'm not a health expert, but am sending comforting wishes and bumping ❤

 

[Freela]

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this, guinea pig teeth are so finicky and if you don't have access to an experienced vet it can be really difficult to address. Continue the syringe feeding, as he needs to have something going into his body to keep his gut moving. It might also be worth asking the vet to check the back teeth again because they can overgrow again pretty quickly if he's not wearing them down by chewing, and also about pain relief, as there may be something in his mouth that hurts and guinea pigs can be really hesitant to eat if eating is painful for them.

I would also keep watch to see if an abscess or anything similar develops- you can run your fingers along his jawline on both sides and feel for any lumps and bumps that may puff up. Sometimes a brewing abscess can cause dental overgrowth, but may take some time to puff up on the outside. If this occurs, your vet can try to lance and drain the abscess which may improve his ability to eat.

Good luck and I'm so sorry your piggie is dealing with this! You're clearly a caring owner who is trying their very best to help!

 

[Sintheya]

I'm so sorry you're dealing with this, guinea pig teeth are so finicky and if you don't have access to an experienced vet it can be really difficult to address. Continue the syringe feeding, as he needs to have something going into his body to keep his gut moving. It might also be worth asking the vet to check the back teeth again because they can overgrow again pretty quickly if he's not wearing them down by chewing, and also about pain relief, as there may be something in his mouth that hurts and guinea pigs can be really hesitant to eat if eating is painful for them.

I would also keep watch to see if an abscess or anything similar develops- you can run your fingers along his jawline on both sides and feel for any lumps and bumps that may puff up. Sometimes a brewing abscess can cause dental overgrowth, but may take some time to puff up on the outside. If this occurs, your vet can try to lance and drain the abscess which may improve his ability to eat.

Good luck and I'm so sorry your piggie is dealing with this! You're clearly a caring owner who is trying their very best to help!

Hey so the vet checked his back molar that day , he said those were fine and during the surgery he found only one overgrown teeth so he trimmed all of them and yeah I’m syringe feeding him but he is very weak today and about the abscess I checked his jaw there’s no visible lump till now
And another info is that few months ago his front teeth got bigger so had to trim them , that time he stopped eating for a week and had to string feed after a week he started eating on his own

So if his molars are fine and no abscess what could be the reason of his not eating ? I’m clueless honestly , and I’m asking help from here as the vets here aren’t experienced in exotic animals treatment

Tia for reading

 

[Freela]

Hey so the vet checked his back molar that day , he said those were fine and during the surgery he found only one overgrown teeth so he trimmed all of them and yeah I’m syringe feeding him but he is very weak today and about the abscess I checked his jaw there’s no visible lump till now
And another info is that few months ago his front teeth got bigger so had to trim them , that time he stopped eating for a week and had to string feed after a week he started eating on his own

So if his molars are fine and no abscess what could be the reason of his not eating ? I’m clueless honestly , and I’m asking help from here as the vets here aren’t experienced in exotic animals treatment

Tia for reading

Unfortunately I'm not a vet and we cannot give veterinary advice. Nothing on the internet can replace a proper exam. The sad problem is that most vets know a little bit about guinea pig teeth, enough to spot a major problem, but not necessarily enough to see a developing or more subtle problem. The other problem is that because teeth are finicky, sometimes the act of trimming them by an inexeperienced vet can make them ironically too short and that can also hamper eating. And, of course, because the teeth are always growing, things can change really fast in the back of the mouth.

If your vet hasn't tried giving pain relief, I would ask for that. It won't hurt and if he's reluctant to eat because of pain that might help. Also keep checking the sides of the jaw daily, abscesses can take a LONG time to puff up sometimes. One of my past pigs had at least two dental surgeries, with about 6 to 8 weeks between them, before her abscess finally puffed up enough for us to feel it from the outside. Luckily for us she never stopped eating completely, but would only chew on one side which led to her molars overgrowing on the bad side repeatedly. So keep checking that just in case and try some pain relief. All the best!

 

[Sintheya]

Unfortunately I'm not a vet and we cannot give veterinary advice. Nothing on the internet can replace a proper exam. The sad problem is that most vets know a little bit about guinea pig teeth, enough to spot a major problem, but not necessarily enough to see a developing or more subtle problem. The other problem is that because teeth are finicky, sometimes the act of trimming them by an inexeperienced vet can make them ironically too short and that can also hamper eating. And, of course, because the teeth are always growing, things can change really fast in the back of the mouth.

If your vet hasn't tried giving pain relief, I would ask for that. It won't hurt and if he's reluctant to eat because of pain that might help. Also keep checking the sides of the jaw daily, abscesses can take a LONG time to puff up sometimes. One of my past pigs had at least two dental surgeries, with about 6 to 8 weeks between them, before her abscess finally puffed up enough for us to feel it from the outside. Luckily for us she never stopped eating completely, but would only chew on one side which led to her molars overgrowing on the bad side repeatedly. So keep checking that just in case and try some pain relief. All the best!

Hey hello so here’s an update
He started eating for a week and then stopped again
Weight dropped to 570gm
Idk why isn’t he eating honestly
The vets are also in dilemma cause his molars are fine
And unfortunately here we don’t have equipments to thoroughly check them
He runs to me for food but he sniffs and goes away but when I try to feed him very tiny pieces or the critical care he chews them and eats
He’s staying hydrated but I can see he is getting weak very rapidly
And there’s no abscess or any growth visible till now
Vet gave him some vitamins and gut meds and saline also told me to feed him deworming tablet once he starts eating