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Dental Surgery Today :( Advice Needed For Poppy

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sazmatazz

sazmatazz

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Hi everyone,

2 years since her last dental issues, Poppy is having her teeth filed under anesthetic today. :( I am so worried for her.
Seems we have spotted it early this time (she is still eating but struggling a little with certain foods) and the vet thinks it will be very straightforward.
Just wondered if anyone has any tips for looking after her when she gets home.
The vet said he couldn't see any associated cuts or sores in her mouth so she probably won't need antibiotics this time but will get painkillers.
Is it advisable for them to have a gut stimulant after sedation anyway? She did have something last time as she wasn't pooping.
Will she need to be syringe fed? (We have done this before) Is critical care advisable?

Thanks

Saz
 
I always keep critical care at hand, some piggies bounce back quicker than others. It's a good idea to weigh your piggy daily, cut veggies into small strips and offer hay you want your piggy to start eating asap. I always top them up to ensure they do not get bloat, your piggy might be a bit slower at eating initially.

Good Luck, let us know how the dental goes :).
 
When one of my pigs had dental work done I found that soft and leafy veg was very appealing. Grass, dandelions, lettuce, tomato and cucumber were about the only things she would eat. While she began eating hay and veggies quite quickly after having the surgery she barely touched pellets for weeks afterwards so I continued syringe feeding until she was eating enough to keep her weight stable.
Wishing Poppy a speedy recovery.
 
Thanks everyone. She's back now and eating spinach with little bits of hay. She seems quite perky. She's picking up nuggets but dropping them again. We have some critical care but I'm not sure how much we need to give her? The vets only gave us 1 sachet. Ive found the directions for mixing it up but I'm not sure how much she should be fed & how often.
Thanks
 
You have probably got too little, but you can always switch to mushed up pellets. Offer her Critical Care several times a day; dental piggies usually take about 10-20 ml in one go. It gives her the much needed fibre.

Weigh her daily at about the same time in the feeding circle. If she is still losing weight, then you need to up the hand feed.
 
Thanks. She is trying to eat the pellets but the vet said she had a graze on her cheek and that her mouth may be sore from being poked & prodded. She keeps dropping them at the moment.
She's also had 15-20ml of the cc & is still eating her leaves.
We have separated her from Mabel so we can see what she is eating etc. She has only done a couple of small poops but the vet gave us some emeprid gut stimulant to be given twice a day as well as painkiller.
 
Thanks. Just a bit worried as we aren't here during the day & can't do anything to change that :(

Should we be getting up at night to feed her?
She doesn't like being syringe fed & doesnt take food willingly from the syringe.
 
Poppy has been fine overnight and today but still not eating a great deal. Although she is currently eating her paper bag so her mouth cant be that painful! Still syringing her CC. She has done lots of small poops & looks to have had a drink, I just saw her do a wee. She doesnt seem to have eaten much hay, if any. Should I cut it into smaller pieces perhaps? Any other suggestions for what to feed her? She's had a few spinach leaves and a tiny bit of coriander but still doesn't seem to be touching pellets. Should I smash them up or soften them? Keen to get her eating as much as poss on her own.

*edit - also meant to ask - is tummy rumbling/gut noises normal when they are on the emeprid gut stimulant? Her tummy is making a lot of noise. Not constantly but occasionally.
 
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I would top her up with CC, as you don't want her guts to slow down. After a syringe feed I always find the piggy goes in and picks at hay straight away. x
 
I find this time so stressful I just always feel like I'm not doing enough or what I am doing isn't good enough. Stupidly didn't weigh her yesterday but she has lost weight since she was weighed last week, a considerable amount :(
 
Please continue to top her up with Critical Care, even if you don't enjoy it - as much as she will take in one go. Eating rough fibre like cardboard, brown or newspaper is a normal reaction after an anaesthetic. It seems to help to stabilise the guts. The more fibre you can get into her, the better; that IS the critical bit!
Also continue with the metacam if you have got any.
 
We are continuing to give her CC but I am now a bit worried that her tummy is making lots of noises and she seems a bit bloaty even though emeprid is what vets usually prescribe for bloat.
We have a weeks worth of metacam.
 
Take her off any fresh food in this case, but continue with the dry food and to syringe her 1ml of water for every 3-5ml of CC. Hopefully the tummy will settle down again as the chemicals work out of her body.
 
Go back to your vets and get some more CC from them as you need to get a sachet in her every 24 hours. You can buy it online from PetMeds but obviously that is no use to you at the mo as it will take a couple of days to get here. If she eats pellets then put some in a bowl and pour hot water over them and mash them right down to a paste that will go through a syringe - keep adding water to them until you get the right consistency and it will soon cool down so you can feed her. Try and get a few syringes down her per day and you will stop any weight loss as the small amount if any veg that she eats isn't enough to sustain her. Good luck it is hard going but rewarding when they return to full health.
 
They must be large sachets as we checked the oxbow site for daily amounts, calculated in teaspoons according to the weight of the pig.
Daily feeding guidelines - 1kg = 2.9tbsp of dry product. Made up with the correct amount of water.

Are you saying we should go against the vets instructions of 5 days worth of emeprid? She has been prescribed it twice per day because the last time she had her teeth done she totally stopped pooping and we were back at the vets a day later for some.

Is it a good idea not to offer her veg even if she won't eat anything else herself? Surely something is better than nothing?
 
Not sure if you were replying to my message or the one form the mod.I have always given plenty of CC food and as I mentioned if you run out then mush the pellets down until you can get your hands on some more. The important thing is to keep her fed so that the weight doesn't drop too much. Another possibility is to put the pellets in her food bowl and put some water on them (not too much) and let them soak for a couple of minutes before putting in her cage. One of our boys loves his pellets like this when he's had his teeth done. Just keep trying anything you can think of and I'm sure you'll get results.
 
Sorry Diane, I should've quoted but it seems awkward on my phone. I initally replied to your comment about 1 sachet per day as the sachet we have will make 3 daya worth according to the oxbow guidelines.

I was then replying to the comment about removing fresh food and not giving her the meds she has been prescribed - I don't think I'd feel comfortable doing this, particularly not as she was given them when I reminded the vet about her gut slowing down last time she had this procedure.
 
That's fine. I was going on a 20g sachet that we use. Another thing we've done is mashed up a small amount of banana and given a syringe full of that as a change just to give them something different to taste especially if you find you are syringe feeding for a period of time and the piggy may be getting fed up with CC food
 
Bought some in December and the use by date is February 2015. Yes have used recovery many times and that will be fine.
 
Just a little update on Poppy, she is doing ok. We are still feeding her the CC but she is managing some food on her own and seems to be slowly gaining weight. Last time she had dental work we tried her on museli food rather than her usual nuggets and she seemed to find this easier to eat, we then mixed the nuggets in gradually and got her back on the pellet food. It seems to be working this time too, I figured her eating some harder food is better than not managing any of the nuggets at all. She's also been eating carrot and hay this evening so she is slowly improving. She seems fairly perky in herself although a bit spaced out when she's had painkiller. She seems to be drinking with no problems and she is also pooping, not as much as normal and a bit smaller than normal but everything is still moving. My anxiety level has dropped slightly also! Phew!
 
HELP NEEDED!

Poppy has been doing well following her dental last monday. She has slowly started to eat more on her own on top of being fed critical care. We were pretty sure by yesterday that she seemed to be eating plenty so decided not to syringe feed her last night.
BUT - yesterday she weighed in at 971g, today she weighs 915g. How is it possible for her to lose nearly 60g overnight?!
She now weighs even less than she did before a week of syringe feeding, even though her daily weight has increased day on day. We are at a loss and have no idea what to do or how this could have happened :( :( :(
 
I think there are different size sachets so weight or tablespoons would best be used when comparing doseage. I found it difficult to get more than 60g grams down Minky when she was suffering in December but she was also eating a little veg & hay. As long as their weight is stable then try not to stress them out by force feeding when they are fighting against it. Fighting is a good sign though as it shows that they have strength. I have also been giving Minky unsweetened tomato juice which I drink myself & save her a little in the bottom of the glass. She usually has 3 or 4ml of this at breakfast. It's really a case of seeing what they will eat & give them what they like. Don't worry about too much calcium etc as it's a short time thing to get them back to being healthy again.

Regarding the weight loss. Is it possible she was weighed with full tummy before pooing yesterday & with empty tummy today. That could account for a fair percentage of the loss. I always weigh within 30 minutes of morning meal or evening meal.
 
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