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Difficulty eating and drinking

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Jerrybelly

Jerrybelly

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I'm a bit concerned about my one-year old boar, Marley. He seems to be having some problems eating and drinking. He is eating lots of hay, as normal, but when he tries to eat nuggets they just fall out of his mouth. He seems to be getting annoyed and isn't going to his bowl as often, as a result. I've tried to give him individual nuggets and although he happily takes them out of my hand, when he tried to chew he just ends up dropping them. I tried him with some veggies, and although he is able to eat most of them a lot dribbles out of the side of his mouth.

Also, he is able to drink some water from his bottle, but a lot ends up all down his chin when he tries.

Am I right in assuming this is a problem with his teeth? His front ones look normal and don't seem overgrown but he won't let me put my fingers in his mouth to check without taking a nibble! I'm not sure if he's not getting as much water as he should, or because of the lack of nuggets, but his poos also seem a lot lighter in colour (although they are a normal shape/size)

I've had to leave him to go to work but he's booked in to the vet tomorrow. He's eating plenty of hay and I'll give him lots of watery veg tonight so I hope he'll be OK.

I don't have any experience with teeth problems, so any advice/thoughts would be very welcome
 
It does sound as though he could have a problem with his teeth. You've definitely done the right thing in booking him in with the vet.
In the meantime you could try mashing some nuggets in water. Hopefully he will be able to eat them. If not, you could try syringe feeding him
 
It sounds typical for a piggy with tooth problems!

Please make sure that your vet has a good look for any overgrown molars (he can carefully clean the mouth of gunk with a cotton bud); do not let him just clip the front teeth - that is always the sign of a vet that doesn't know what he is doing!

Weigh your boy daily. You will need to hand feed him to some extent; many piggies struggle with eating before and until the problem has been completely solved, after dental treatment.

Please have a look at the dental threads at the top of this section. Here is the link to the Excellent Adventure Sanctuary/hospital if you want to get more tips and advice about how to care for a dental piggy from somebody with lots of experience: http://www.teasnorthampton.co.uk/
 
Thanks so much for the advice. My usual cavy-savvy vet is away at the moment, so I've had to make an appointment with another one. I hate taking them to someone else but with something as important as this I figured that any vet would be better than no vet. I have a feeling its his back teeth, rather than the front, because of the way that he looks a bit awkward when he tried to chew with them and the food dribbles out of the side of his mouth.

I added some water to his nuggets to mush them up a bit as I thought it might make it a bit easier for him to pick up and chew, but he wouldn't got near it. Syringe feeding will be the next step, but will lots of hay and veggies be enough to keep him going in the meantime?
 
You could also try oats in his mush food, it helped when i was syringe feeding percy and I'd leave him CC with oates mixed in the cage between feeds :)
 
I'm so annoyed! I'm away from home at the moment with work and my husband had to take Marley to the vet. I gave him a list of questions and armed him with all the info that you guys provided. As I said, the piggies usual vet is away at the moment - it turns out that she is actually leaving! So now I need to find another vet, but that's a different story! I've spoken to my husband and he said that he explained all about the eating problems and the vet tried to look in his mouth but said that she couldn't get a proper look so he would need to go back in for a full day and he would be given a GA. She has also prescribed Metacam and Baytril and told my husband to ring on Tues if there's no improvement. Is she doesn't know what's wrong then what is the medication for! I'm so confused/annoyed/frustrated and I feel so helpless not being at home to help my Marley :(
 
I was just gonna say seems pointless giving meds with no diagnosis however the metacam might help if es in any pain.

I'd get him to another vet and not wait until Tuesday.
 
I dont live in bristol, but perhaps another member might suggest a good vet in or around bristol? ?:)
 
Have pointed Amanda in the direction of your Thread as she lives Bristol way. The Metacam may help with any pain as Zarapiggie6 has said, but those teeth need a good check out. Hoping someone will be along soon.
 
Jerrybelly said:
I'm so annoyed! I'm away from home at the moment with work and my husband had to take Marley to the vet. I gave him a list of questions and armed him with all the info that you guys provided. As I said, the piggies usual vet is away at the moment - it turns out that she is actually leaving! So now I need to find another vet, but that's a different story! I've spoken to my husband and he said that he explained all about the eating problems and the vet tried to look in his mouth but said that she couldn't get a proper look so he would need to go back in for a full day and he would be given a GA. She has also prescribed Metacam and Baytril and told my husband to ring on Tues if there's no improvement. Is she doesn't know what's wrong then what is the medication for! I'm so confused/annoyed/frustrated and I feel so helpless not being at home to help my Marley :(
Click to expand...

I live in Bristol. I also work at a vets in Bristol ;)

Which vets do you currently use, and approximately where in Bristol are you living? I should be able to recommend a good all-rounder vet for pigs, and a dental vet too :)
 
Thanks everyone. I've heard that there's an exotic vet at Wotton that used to work at Bristol Zoo but now deals with more 'normal' animals, including guinea pigs and small furries. I think his name is Chris. Have you heard of him Amanda? I live in Bradley Stoke...

I've just had another hurried phonecall with my husband and apparently he was given 0.6ml of Baytril to give to Marley once a day, as well as the Metacam. The impression that I get is that the vet thinks it could be an absess, but she doesn't know because she couldn't see anything. If the bayril doesn't work then he will have a GA to check for other teeth problems and they will be dealt with then if need be. The Metacam is just a precaution in case he's in pain (I honestly don't think he is though because it's not that he doesn't want to eat, he is trying to but is struggling.)

Does that sound about right?
 
Rowe are in Bradley Stoke http://www.rowevetgroup.com/ - they have exotics vets, but I've never used them, although they're one of the big 3 in Bristol


Zetland have a surgery in Patchway, another of the Big 3 - good all round general health care but I'd probably go elsewhere for dental http://www.patchwayveterinarycentre.co.uk/



Highcroft have surgeries across Bristol, and are the other of the big 3 - If I had to go for dental treatment in Bristol, I'd probably go here. I've never used them, but I have a vet student friend who has worked there this summer and highly recommends the exotics vets (she plans on specialising in exotics herself). http://www.highcroftvet.co.uk/


One thing I will say, which ever vet you decide to go to, ask them about their emergency service - we have recently taken on the emergency care for 7 other surgeries, some as far as 25 miles away. Something you should know about incase you need it!
 
This Chris is based at Rowe in Wotton so I assume he's the one you've heard of. That's promising at least. As you say, their animal hospital is in Bradley Stoke so all their emergency cases go there (which is useful to know). Thanks Amanda, I'll try him and then if we're still not happy I'll try Highcroft.

I hope they can sort it soon. With Jerry on his daily cocktail of Metacam/cystaid/dibenyline I really don't want another one of my boys to be suffering.
 
Hi all. Just thought I'd provide a quick update. Marley has been having Metacam and Baytril over the weekend, but, as expected there has been no improvement. His weight has thankfully remained stable despite being unable to eat any nuggets.

This morning we travelled to see Chris, the exotics specialist based at Rowe in Wotton Under Edge. He had a look inside his mouth but couldn't see a lot because of the build up of food and 'gunk' which apparently occurs when the piggies are struggling to eat. His front teeth are fine though, and Chris suspected (as we did) that it was his back teeth. Marley stayed in for a closer examination. I've just had a phone call and been told that some of his teeth were very sharp and pointy which he believes has been causing the problem. They've all be filed down now - without having a GA (hooray!) I'll be picking him up this evening. Really hope that has solved the problem!
 
Marley seems to have lost all interest in his nuggets:( He's got a check-up tomorrow, but I can't say whether the problem with his teeth has been solved because he won't go anywhere near his bowl! He is still eating hay and veg, but he was doing that before.
 
Hi
Has the vet ruled out oral thrush? Sometimes piggies can get it, especially if he had a build up of old food in his mouth. Fungal mouth infections are painful & may make it difficult to chew. What nuggets does he have? You could try smaller ones like Harringtons/Wagg pellets they are very small & may be easier for him to eat. Other than that he may need an x-ray to see if there is something internal going on or if he has a tooth root/abscess problem.
 
Hi Poppy's Mum. He is on Cavy Cuisine which, if you don't use them, are very small pellets. Before he had his teeth filed he seemed to manage better with larger chunks of veg, but the small pellets just dropped out of his mouth when he tried to chew them. Before Monday he would still happily run to his bowl and try to eat. Now he seems to have lost interest in his nuggets altogether so I can't tell whether he is now able to eat them or not.

He has been on Metacam since Monday (which I assume will be stopped after the check-up tomorrow) so I would hope that pain isn't an issue. All of his mouth was cleaned and checked while under a general anaesthetic (the gas kind, not the injection) and spurs were believed to be the cause of the difficulty eating. But these have all now been filed.

I'm weighing him everyday and thankfully his weight is remaining stable with just the veg and hay. I'm just concerned why he doesn't seem remotely interested in nuggets any more. Is this behaviour normal after dentals?
 
I have tried mine on Cavy Cuisine they didn't like them, whereas the Harringtons they love :) It might be worth trying him on them. They are even smaller than the Oxbow ones & they aren't as hard. They are also fairly cheap (Asda have them) so it wouldn't be too bad if he still didn't eat them. Or maybe someone who uses them could let you have a few for him to try?

I would definitely mention oral thrush/fungal to the vet as the spurs would probably have been rubbing his tongue/mouth. The next step would be an X ray I would have thought. Is he pooing/weeing normally?
 
Marley has been for his check-up. The vet had a good look in his mouth and ruled out any other problems. He did say that his mouth might still be a bit sore which might explain the reduced appetite. He's staying on the Metacam until the weekend just in case.

After a lot of persuasion he ate half a dozen nuggets this morning before wandering off again. I don't think he's been back to the bowl since, but I'm hoping it's a start.
 
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