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Dental Work - Your Thoughts Please!

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Cavy.girl

Cavy.girl

New Born Pup
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Scooby, my 5 year old boy, seems to have something going on with his mouth. Since Friday he's not been able to eat normally; he is eating some veggies and tiny nuggets, but he shows discomfort and is clearly not eating enough. We're syringe feeding him regularly to keep him fed properly, and despite his problems he still seems cheery enough.

I'm wondering if he has an infection which has caused molar spurring, as I did notice recently some white stuff around his mouth which now I think could indicate something fungal like thrush.

Instead of taking him to our usual vet we're going a little further tomorrow morning to Jacqui Patersons in Stockton on Tees, having heard a lot of good about them. We'll be seeing Dominique who is apparently the good guinea pig vet. What I'm slightly confused about is the receptionist said if she can't do a dental tomorrow, a veterinary nurse may do it. Is this even normal? I've been taking pigs for dentals for years and it's always been a vet job, not for the nurse. And if someone else does the dental then Dominique, who is the reason we're recommended to use them, well, isn't the one doing it. What are people's thoughts on this?

Becky x
 
I understand that 'Jacqui Paterson's Veterinary Surgery' is a recommended practice!

Therefore, I would encourage you to attend your appointment, and to discuss your concerns with Dominika.

However, I imagine that the receptionist is not very knowledgable where guinea pigs are concerned etc - I would be very surprised to learn that the practice does allow their veterinary nurses to perform dentals, unless suitably qualified (Perhaps, one, or two of the veterinary nurses have undergone training by the CCT etc?!). . .

Nevertheless, if you find that you are not comfortable, you have every right to refuse treatment etc. . .
 
hopefully she has just got her wires crossed. it would be very unusual to allow a nurse to do a dental procedure. just make it clear that it has to be the vet who does it.
 
We're still going tomorrow with Scooby so I think they you say, hopefully there's just cross wires, and Dominique will hopefully be doing the job herself. That's if he needs it of course. It would be fab if his teeth are okay and he has just a sore mouth.
 
Well, been and come back from Scooby's appointment. His teeth are okay! We're a bit baffled as to what's been going on with him.

His poops are okay (did plenty of them there and peed on me... lol), no soreness or anything abnormal in his mouth. No weight loss. The only thing about him is there's some slight hair loss in areas like under his tummy which at first Dominika thought could be like carpet burn as he's on the floor a lot. She did a few skin scrapes but found no mites or anything. We've come back with some Loxicom anyway in case he has some pain somewhere, and some diluted Imerverol for the patches in case it's fungal.

He ate a lot of celery in his box, and when I put him back in his cage he went for some nuggets out of his bowl! Very odd. Glad it doesn't look like his teeth but hate not having a certain diagnosis.
 
Dominique is the best piggy savvy in the area & she has done Minky's teeth when they'd gone out of line due to her head tilt. Touch wood, I've not had any other problems with dental issues probably because mine have unlimited hay & lots of it at any given time.

Mine have had fungals in the past but have always cleared easily when treated with the Imerverol. Just 4 treatments 3 days apart.
 
hopefully it's something just slight and he will be fine. it's a good sign that he hasn't lost any weight anyway which would indicate him not feeling well. x
 
Stewybus said:
Dominique is the best piggy savvy in the area & she has done Minky's teeth when they'd gone out of line due to her head tilt. Touch wood, I've not had any other problems with dental issues probably because mine have unlimited hay & lots of it at any given time.

Mine have had fungals in the past but have always cleared easily when treated with the Imerverol. Just 4 treatments 3 days apart.
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Just want to make the point that dental issues aren't always a result of guinea pigs not eating enough hay. We have found that most of the piggies who come here to TEAS with dental issues, have got other problems and that the dental issue is secondary. In most cases there has been an abscess either in the jaw, tooth root or behind the eye, and this has made eating painful and obviously the guinea pig has eaten in a different way which has caused the teeth to grow wrongly.
 
Yes, I would agree with that. I've always given my pigs unlimited hay too, they're always eating it, yet the amount of dentals I've had to deal with. Granted, in the past I would attribute it to my feeding crappy muesli food before I knew any better.
 
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