Dental Dental problems in 6 year old pig

[Rigby]

Hello,

I wonder if more experienced guinea pig owners could tell me what they would do, please?

My pig, Alma, is six years and 3 months old. For the last week she has not been eating well, so took her to the vet who found her incisors are overgrown, but he couldn't get a good look at the back teeth as her mouth was full of food. He felt she was generally in good condition.
He suggested we try pain relief for 24 hours to see if she improved, and if so he would suggest a dental surgery. She had an injection of metacam. She has continued to attempt to eat hay and fresh food, and her favourites (herbs) as well as grass. I would say she seems a bit brighter on the metacam.
The vet is phoning me later today to review and potentially book dental for tomorrow. I am worried that this is a lot to put her through at her age, and questioning if it's I her best interests.
Has anyone had a successful dental done at this age? I am very worried about the anaesthetic. One of my childhood guinea pigs died after a dental surgery (though that was a long time ago and I'm sure things have improved).

Thanks in advance for any answers.

 

[Merab]

I have no direct experience however I know a lot of people rather Simon Maddock at the Cat & Rabbit Vets in Northampton as the best dental vet in the country.
He can do conscious dentals which might be better for an older piggy.

 

[Piggies&buns]

@furryfriends (TEAS) has lots of experience with dental piggies. I’ve tagged her in so when she has a moment will hopefully give you some advice.

I would say to keep an eye on her weight in the meantime though to ensure that she is eating enough. If she drops weight (outside of the normal daily fluctuations), then support feeding her to ensure she is eating enough would be a good idea.

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

I run a sanctuary for guinea pigs with ongoing dental issues and we have a lot of older piggies, who cope very well with dental work. However, our vet, Simon Maddock at Cat and Rabbit Clinic in Northampton, is able to carry out the work without the need for GA, so it is much safer (and cheaper). Simon has perfected his dental work over more than 13 years and the results he gets are amazing! Unfortunately, very few vets are experienced in dental disease in guinea pigs and the treatment needed. Simon does around 25 guinea pig dentals a week, which is more than most vets will do in their whole career. If you could possibly get to Northampton, I would suggest a trip to see Simon.

 

[anyar.dris]

I can recommend going to Cat & Rabbit Care Clinic in Northampton to see Simon Maddock. He is by far the best vet when it comes to dental issues. We travel from North Wales just to go see him, especially when the issue is dental. We don't trust any other vets at all to look at our piggies dental issues. I had a piggy in the past who suffered bad dental treatments from other vets and Simon has managed to sort it out. It was bad and we had to go back for treatments every 2 weeks at one point, but this has extended my piggies life for 2 years. If we haven't been to Simon, my piggy would have been put to sleep by other vets because of the ongoing dental issue.

 

[Wiebke]

Hello,

I wonder if more experienced guinea pig owners could tell me what they would do, please?

My pig, Alma, is six years and 3 months old. For the last week she has not been eating well, so took her to the vet who found her incisors are overgrown, but he couldn't get a good look at the back teeth as her mouth was full of food. He felt she was generally in good condition.
He suggested we try pain relief for 24 hours to see if she improved, and if so he would suggest a dental surgery. She had an injection of metacam. She has continued to attempt to eat hay and fresh food, and her favourites (herbs) as well as grass. I would say she seems a bit brighter on the metacam.
The vet is phoning me later today to review and potentially book dental for tomorrow. I am worried that this is a lot to put her through at her age, and questioning if it's I her best interests.
Has anyone had a successful dental done at this age? I am very worried about the anaesthetic. One of my childhood guinea pigs died after a dental surgery (though that was a long time ago and I'm sure things have improved).

Thanks in advance for any answers.

Hi!

My Hywel needed to two operations for his jaw abscess which started on one of his incisors, aged 6 years. Thanks to having him seen (and operated) by Simon Maddock at the Cat&Rabbit in Northampton, he lived for another year until just days before his 7th birthday. otheriwse I would have had to have him put to sleep because my local general vets definitely couldn't cope when the abscess came up again while Simon was on holiday and on the eve of my hub having a major operation.
PS: He has also successfully operated on other 6 years old of mine (one just a month of her 7th birthday).

Simon is a general vet specialising in just cats, rabbits and guinea pigs, and sees piggies from all over the country and of all ages for dental problems. He does on average over 20 guinea pig dentals every week - that is about as much as exotics vets do in their career and more than most general vets. He uses only as little sedation as absolutely necessary (in most but the very worst cases he can get away without any); so compared to piggies done by other less experienced vets, his patients are usually able to eat straight away again after a dental and their teeth are exactly as they should be.
We see the difference all the time on here because we are regularly contacted about piggies unable to eat after dental treatment by other vets.

If you can get to Northampton and/or if you have doubts about your own vet's ability or experience in this area, please consider taking your piggy there!
The Cat and Rabbit Care Clinic

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

Hi!

My Hywel needed to two operations for his jaw abscess which started on one of his incisors, aged 6 years. Thanks to having him seen (and operated) by Simon Maddock at the Cat&Rabbit in Northampton, he lived for another year until just days before his 7th birthday. otheriwse I would have had to have him put to sleep because my local general vets definitely couldn't cope when the abscess came up again while Simon was on holiday and on the eve of my hub having a major operation.

Simon is a general vet specialising in cats, rabbits and guinea pigs, and sees piggies from all over the country and of all ages for dental problems. He does on average about 15 guinea pig dentals every week - that is about as much as exotics vets do in their career and more than most general vets. He uses only as little sedation as absolutely necessary, but other than piggies done by other less experienced vets, his patients are usually able to eat straight away again after a dental.
The Cat and Rabbit Care Clinic

If you can and if you have doubts about your own vet's ability or experience, please consider taking your piggy there!

Simon only uses sedation in about 5% (or even less) of cases. It’s only used for the very severe cases, where the teeth are so overgrown, that he cannot get a file into the mouth. For these few, he would use anaesthetic, as he would need to use the dental bur. However, any follow up dentals would be done with the guinea pig conscious.

 

[Bill & Ted]

Hello,

I wonder if more experienced guinea pig owners could tell me what they would do, please?

My pig, Alma, is six years and 3 months old. For the last week she has not been eating well, so took her to the vet who found her incisors are overgrown, but he couldn't get a good look at the back teeth as her mouth was full of food. He felt she was generally in good condition.
He suggested we try pain relief for 24 hours to see if she improved, and if so he would suggest a dental surgery. She had an injection of metacam. She has continued to attempt to eat hay and fresh food, and her favourites (herbs) as well as grass. I would say she seems a bit brighter on the metacam.
The vet is phoning me later today to review and potentially book dental for tomorrow. I am worried that this is a lot to put her through at her age, and questioning if it's I her best interests.
Has anyone had a successful dental done at this age? I am very worried about the anaesthetic. One of my childhood guinea pigs died after a dental surgery (though that was a long time ago and I'm sure things have improved).

Thanks in advance for any answers.

I can definitely recommend the Cat and Rabbit Clinic in Northampton. We see Simon Maddock and he is a fantastic piggie vet. Both my boys have dental problems and have conscious dentals and are fine and eat straight after the procedure. Hope you can take Alma to see him, it is really worth taking Alma there, Simon is probably the most experienced GP dental vet in the U.K. We drive up from Cornwall. Good luck with Alma x

 

[Rigby]

Thank you, all, that's so much help. When I asked my vet - who I have to say have always been great with my pigs - they said it's their policy to always use sedation. So I will see if I can get Alma to Northampton. We have an appointment with the regular vet in the morning and if he thinks she can hold on until Weds, then I think that's the best option.
Thanks so much for your help xx

 

[Bill & Ted]

Thank you, all, that's so much help. When I asked my vet - who I have to say have always been great with my pigs - they said it's their policy to always use sedation. So I will see if I can get Alma to Northampton. We have an appointment with the regular vet in the morning and if he thinks she can hold on until Weds, then I think that's the best option.
Thanks so much for your help xx

I would ring up the Cat and Rabbit Clinic and get an Appointment asap as they are always very busy. Why is it always there policy to sedate piggies? Unless you are really confident in this vet doing dentals then I would err on the side of caution as a poor dental is worse than no dental sometimes. Do hope you can get her sorted soon x