Dental Q: How do youknow a piggy's teeth are sore..

[MerryPip]

Hamish has been pulling faces on and off throughout the afternoon and he's clicking and grinding his teeth as well.

Is this a sign he isn't comfy?

The vet last week said his molars were a little sharp but didn't think they were a problem yet. I have to have them reviewed in a few months but i don't want him to struggle.

He seems to be eating ok but might try giving him some soft food to keep him going. His weight is stable I think.

 

[Hanwombat]

Weigh him daily - Gaining 30g or loosing 30g can be due to an empty or full stomach.
Look out for a wet chin due to drooling.

Does your vet do it without GA?

 

[Abi_nurse]

A wet chin as said before, slow eating (you should know with a healthy pig the speed they gobble food down), having trouble picking food up, not eating dry so much. And of course the obvious weight loss.

x.

 

[MerryPip]

Ok will keep weighing him and watch for dribble. I might need to feed him on his own to watch him..

Not sure what my vet does for dentals but I have had advice about a good local vet who is piggy savy and does concious dentals so i have that covered.

 

[sport_billy]

Definatley keep an eye on weight daily - that was our first indication. Rosie did several concious dentals on Pitch, she was very good.

 

[Freela]

Is he pulling his lips back like something is stuck in his mouth? Does he do it while he is chewing and chewing really gingerly, like he is chewing glass? If so I would get him in for a check... this was what my pig Frenzy was doing that first alerted us to the fact that she had a dental abscess. I would keep monitoring her weight, but for her the pain signs showed up before the weight loss did- but maybe that's because the problem wasn't as much molar overgrowth as it was dental root infection that could have come up suddenly.

 

[Glynis]

SNAP Freela.......... good description!

it does look like they're eating glass :{

Just my opinion but i'd not leave it a few months, if his toofies were already 'sharp' they grow VERY quickly i'd be asking for a check sooner rather than later....... i went thru a few years of dentals with a piggie so it's just what i observed then. Their molars can trap their tongues and make it hard to eat, it can also cause ulcers too.

 

[MerryPip]

Thansk folks.

He wasn't eating at the time but he was rolling his head about and opening his mouth wide like he wanted to scratch but didn't use his feet at all. He was ok later on and I've weighed him again his weight seems ok but I need to weigh Angus to check for comparison.

He had a go at his celery this morning but I'm never sure how much he gets in ther although he's always an enthusiastic eater..

They are going to board at Teejay's at the end of the week but I am going to leave her some squishy food and critical care just in case. Do you think he needs a check before I go or do I get him thoroughly checked when we get back?

Teejay your opinions too please!

 

[Freela]

I would take him in before you leave. Their teeth grow so quickly that something minor like eating less or favouring one side of the mouth can lead to overgrowth pretty fast. You also don't want a tooth or mouth abscess- they can be very serious. One of my girls died of an abscessed tooth root- the infection got so deep that it infected her jawbone and crossed to her blood stream and she went into septic shock and died... it took less than two weeks from the time that we first saw her pulling her lips back funny to when she passed, so teeth are definitely something you want to keep on top of if at all possible! Soft food will help sustain a pig that isn't eating, but it's not a fix, since when they are not using their teeth to grind food because they can only chew soft things, that gives the teeth ample time to grow even longer and to get more sore and it's a vicious circle.