Dramaking Guinea Pig, increasing amount of complications after dental treatment

[JesseThePug]

Good morning lads,

The problems with my guinea pig started about 3,5 weeks ago. He basically stopped eating rough food, and after checking I found his front teeth to be misshaped. He received dental treatment (front teeth and molars). The bad teeth were likely caused by vitamin C deficiency. He had a bad/dry skin for months now, and now I know, that is also a symptom of scurvy. From now on, I'd try to feed him VitC supplements daily. His skin has improved significantly!

After the treatment, he did well for a few days; eating and drinking on his own! However, about a week after things went downhill. An abcess had formed in his jaw, possibly being caused by the treatment, or the original cause of his miscomfort. So, back to the vet and in for another surgery. This was tuesday last week, and the wound is slowly healing and closing in and was professionally cleaned by the vet this tuesday.

HOWEVER.
Yesterday I saw him limping a bit when I took the boys out of their cage. Especially his left back leg is dragging a bit. He can still walk and run, albeit probably with discomfort. It's like his left knee is sticking out to the side, more than the right leg. Researching, this can be another symptom of scurvy...

Lads, I'm out of guesses. He was improving slightly but this is a big blow for his recovery, as he's now doing worse than he was doing on monday (he could run/explore normally this weekend). It seems everytime we're going to the vet to fix a problem, a new one arises. All the while the vet seems to know what she's doing...
So either it is arthritis/paralysis caused by scurvy: how to fix this? I'm now overdosing him on vitamin C since yesterday; but does this really help? He can't really be injured as he's been sitting still mostly since all this has started... maybe he's just weakened? Or I injured him during medication. It's the -not knowing- what's going on while trying everything I can do within my knowledge that frustrates me. Especially because helping him only seems to increase the problems for some reason.

____________________

Next appointment was already set at coming wednesday. The vet told me that the pig isn't taking it too well and if he would be still losing weight next week, it'd be the end.

 

[Swissgreys]

Welcome to the Forum, although sorry it is under sych difficult circumstances.

Can I ask a few questions.
Firstly where are you based?
How old is your guinea pig and how long have you had him?
What was his basic diet before he became ill and what makes you think he might have scurvy?

If he was being fed guinea pig pellets then these usually contain enough vitamin C for most guinea pigs.
Overdosing on Vitamin C can actually casue problems as well, so if his base diet is good then he shouldn't need long term supplements.

 

[JesseThePug]

Welcome to the Forum, although sorry it is under sych difficult circumstances.

Can I ask a few questions.
Firstly where are you based?
How old is your guinea pig and how long have you had him?
What was his basic diet before he became ill and what makes you think he might have scurvy?

If he was being fed guinea pig pellets then these usually contain enough vitamin C for most guinea pigs.
Overdosing on Vitamin C can actually casue problems as well, so if his base diet is good then he shouldn't need long term supplements.

Thanks for your reply!
The northern part of the Netherlands, so likely nowhere near the vets you know :p
He's 3, and had him for about that long. Since january they're eating Science Selective pellets (as suggested by the vet).

The vet told me that overgrown molars can be caused by Vitamin C deficiency (so scurvy in my own words).
He's basically ticking all the scurvy boxes, 1 by 1:

- Had bad/dry skin with loose skinflakes (FIXED)
- Dental issues (FIXED)
- Lack of appetite (obviously also being caused by the above problem)
- Being slow and not looking that happy
- Back leg limping (NEW)

______________________
So my guess is still scurvy... Although it is weird he could live for 3 years without problems and now have them all at once. And his friend-pig has no troubles at all. Or maybe the collection of problems exponentially increases the effects.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m just wondering how one pig can have problems but the other one not if they are both fed on the same diet?

Other than science selective pellets, what are you piggies fed?

Vit c deficiency isn’t the only reason for problematic teeth. Not eating enough hay can also be a cause. Although hay also contains vit c, so with a good hay based diet (hay should make up 85% of the diet), a few pellets (one tablespoon per pig per day) (which as mentioned above, will also contain Vit c) and a good mix of veg (around a cup each day) each containing vit c, then I am not sure where a vit c deficiency could come from.

 

[Merab]

I can’t add advice but wanted to welcome you to the forum and offer my support.
You are getting good help from those with more expertise than me.

 

[JesseThePug]

I’m just wondering how one pig can have problems but the other one not if they are both fed on the same diet?

Other than science selective pellets, what are you piggies fed?

Vit c deficiency isn’t the only reason for problematic teeth. Not eating enough hay can also be a cause. Although hay also contains vit c, so with a good hay based diet (hay should make up 85% of the diet), a few pellets (one tablespoon per pig per day) (which as mentioned above, will also contain Vit c) and a good mix of veg (around a cup each day) each containing vit c, then I am not sure where a vit c deficiency could come from.

Good question indeed. They get plenty of pellets and probably even too many, but they're not overweight anyway. Random mix of veggies or fruit daily and whenever there's a surplus from meals and such. Always hay available.

And even that might not be enough for certain guinea pigs. But why it is expressing only now remains a question to me. Maybe because he doesn't eat as he usually does for a few weeks now, resulting in even less Vitamin C? And the malformed teeth is could be a symptom of years with barely enough (or not enough) vitamin C? One could cause the other and vice versa.

Or something totally different is going on with the same symptoms of scurvy.

 

[JesseThePug]

Any suggestions on how to approach the vet? She kinda gave up on the pig if he wasn't going to improve on his own (she said so last week). He's eating more rougher foods on his own but that's about it.

Don't need him suffering but it's such a weird case where everything we're trying just feels like it's making things worse... Or at least not any better. What am I missing...

 

[Piggies&buns]

Is there another vet you can see at a different practice, ideally an exotics specialist?

 

[Swissgreys]

If you are able to let us know where you are based we can offer advice on a decent piggy savy vet.
This can most certainly be the difference between letting a pig go and being able to save them