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Dribbling guinea

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Guinea Slave

Guinea Slave

Adult Guinea Pig
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I don't believe my bad luck. After poor Lacey's eye removal i thought that was it. I just found one of my girls drooling and refusing to eat. She has lost 20g in 2 days. The annoying thing is I took her to the vet for a check up (inc teeth) on Friday as I just felt she wasn't right. She said she was fine :-( I am guessing its tooth related. No bad smell but she is not at all happy. I have syringe fed her and boy is she bad to syringe... Massive battle. Emergency vet tomorrow, hope its straight forward :-(
 
Aww I am sorry your little one is poorly. I hope the vet can get to the bottom of this.
 
Thank you both. Just scaring myself silly reading about malocclusion :-( I lost my little hammy a few weeks ago too. Hopefully things just happen in threes.
 
:( Oh no, you are having a really bad time. Hopefully it can be sorted out with a quick dental. You have caught it early. Syringe battles are no fun.... Have you tried mushed up pellets? If you have some metacam in it may be worth a small dose just to take any pain away and encourage a nibble on food over night.

Any masticating at all?

Let us know how you get on and healing vibes to your girl x
 
Ooh good idea re metacam! Just given her some! Umm what's masticating (sorry painfully stupid!)

Vet said her teeth were ok Friday so I am hoping its just a reaction to sharp teeth... Oh I hope so, she is such a sweetheart!
Thank you for your wonderful advice !x
 
Thank you everyone!

So this is a complete mystery and I would appreciate any ideas?

She has been to the vet and we have done everything possible, so she was anaesthetised (as the vet could not see anything untoward consciously), she has been xrayed and felt all over! We can find nothing. Teeth are fine, roots are fine, there is a possible small swelling (she hoped she was'nt clutching at straws and seeing things) on the inside of her cheek but nothing else. She thinks maybe there was a tiny white patch but again was concerned she was seeing things as she was desperately trying to find the problem This is the second guinea savvy vet to say the same. Yet she is not eating (can't eat , she REALLY wants to) and dribbling so all points to teeth,nothing symptomatic, she is feisty and well but she has lost weight (30g in 3 days). Pooping etc all OK but I am having to syringe feed her.

We have put her on Metacam (dog) and Baytril and putting Daktarin in her mouth but other than that we are just mystified. The next avenue is scoping her mouth if she does not improves. Does anyone have any ideas as we are all flumoxed? Hoping its just an injury or small ulcer and the medication will work and we will never know. Really worried :o
 
All I can think of is her teeth are over grown, or there's some sort of a problem with her teeth. Perhaps if your vet said they were fine, maybe you could get a second opinion? Is Lacey on her own? She may be depressed if so. Anyway, get well soon Lacey.
 
Hi Chief GP!

Unfortunately this was a second opinion and both are very good, guinea savvy vets so I have to trust them. Its Biscuit actually :-) Lacey is the one who had her eye removed last week (dont ask..week from hell). Biscuit has been with her all this time so neither have been lonely and she has gone with another piggy to the vets.

They have just rung and said she is not eating (not even swallowing the syringe food) so to pick her up later so they have time to get her eating. Now very worried, she's supposed to be the healthy one :-( I just want her home and them all to be well again. 2 weeks ago I had a wonderful herd of lovely, healthy, very happy guineas and now two are ill, its so depressing.
 
She's not swallowing the food either? Poor little thing. All sounds very strange, you have covered all bases with the x-rays etc... Will point Debbie to this thread in case she may have any idea. Big hugs x
 
No, apparently just sits in her mouth. Its so strange. I just dont know what else to do. She's not an emotional piggy (if you know what I mean) so I cannot imagine its behavioural. Totally at a lost. I just hope she's not feeling great after the anaesthetic but its been a few hours now.

Thank you re Debbie. Picking her up at 6pm, may be she will perk up once home.
 
Guinea Slave said:
Hi Chief GP!

Unfortunately this was a second opinion and both are very good, guinea savvy vets so I have to trust them. Its Biscuit actually :-) Lacey is the one who had her eye removed last week (dont ask..week from hell). Biscuit has been with her all this time so neither have been lonely and she has gone with another piggy to the vets.

They have just rung and said she is not eating (not even swallowing the syringe food) so to pick her up later so they have time to get her eating. Now very worried, she's supposed to be the healthy one :-( I just want her home and them all to be well again. 2 weeks ago I had a wonderful herd of lovely, healthy, very happy guineas and now two are ill, its so depressing.
Click to expand...

That's ok if there's company, let's hope these vets get to the bottom of it!
 
Thank you :-) Yes they are never left alone, even on a trip to the vets they travel with another, I have 6 so its not too hard although I am running out of options as Lacey (eye removal piggy) seems to want to beat up all but one of them and the one she likes is the one thats the sick one rolleyes
 
Oh I am sorry to hear this :(

When the x ray was taken, was it just of her teeth or a full body x ray? I don't wish you scare you but could she have a blockage or a swelling in her throat that is preventing her from being able to swallow? xx
 
Good point. I will check with vet tomorrow. She was swallowing this morning. She back home but looking very dazed. Had a nibble of dill, chewed it for ages then have up :-( syringing later when she is a little more settled.
 
Hiya oh thank you! I think it just stayed in her mouth. The nurses said she wasn't swallowing but when I picked her up they said she was chewing....
 
Just watching her, she is desperate to eat its heart breaking. It's almost as if she can't open her mouth wide enough to physically chew. She just put a tiny piece of cabbage in her mouth, tried to eat it and just dropped it out. She has had her jaw x rayed though and nothing showed.
 
Guinea Slave said:
We have put her on Metacam (dog) and Baytril and putting Daktarin in her mouth but other than that we are just mystified. The next avenue is scoping her mouth if she does not improves. Does anyone have any ideas as we are all flumoxed? Hoping its just an injury or small ulcer and the medication will work and we will never know. Really worried :o
Click to expand...

When you sa you are putting the Daktarin in her mouth do you mean just smearing it round? Ideally it needs to be syringed in so that she swallows it and it goes down her throat just in case there is candida tracking up from the gut.

Hope you get some answers soon.
 
Oh ok, good point.

She is definitely swallowing, just taking syringe now. Must be starving as she is not complaining ..
 
This still sounds dental to me, although it could be an oral thrush that is causing the problem. Having dealt with so many dental piggies, I have found that when their teeth are very overgrown, particularly at the back, then the piggy struggles to swallow as they can't manipulate the food around their mouth properly. Although you have had the jaw x-rayed, it is what is happening about the gum line that is more likely to be causing the problem. I have had piggies arrive here where I have been told that their jaw is dislocated, but in fact it is the teeth that are causing the issue, not the jaw. The jaw can look fine, but the teeth can still be an issue.
 
Thank you. She is now on baytril and metacam, will this help if its gum related? If not, is there anything else I can do?
 
Oh thank you. Can I get itranfungal in a chemist or through the vet? Apparently her teeth look ok. Her incisors are certainly very white and healthy. I will mention this to my vet tomorrow. I'll do anything to get her right :-(
 
Update on poor girl. She is still no better. My vet is going to try to speak to Simon Maddock as she is just at a loss now. She is at the vets at the moment to see if we can see anything, her incisors are a tiny tiny bit long so we are going to lightly trim them just to see if that helps but its really clutching at straws. Still desperately wants to eat but can't. If she does get something in her mouth she puts her nose in the air and tosses it around. Still dribbling all down her front as well. Gums checked as well. Her coat is lovely and shiney and eyes bright. Pooping and peeing well. We are keeping her going on syringe feeding every 3 hours but she is losing about 15-20 g a day. Very very worried as she cannot go on like this.

Sad thing is she is still so perky and up beat, she runs up for grass etc and then gives up as soon as its near her, its heart breaking to watch. I have a really bad feeling about this :-(
 
My thoughts and best wishes are with you Guinea Slave - you've been through a lot recently. I really hope Simon can shed some light and get her eating again.

I know first hand how draining it is to keep up the syringe feeds over any length of time so I hope you are able to find time to sleep and eat properly - she needs you to be strong for her.

It's still a fair distance, but Great Western Exotics in Swindon were fantastic with our Benny earlier this year. I have no doubt that they saved his life. They may be worth a try if Northampton is that bit to far.

Sending you all the postive vibes I can.
 
Is she having probiotics as well to counteract the effect of the baytil on her stimach.I think you can give them porridge oats as well made with water and this is quite high in calories. Is she on critical care or recovery food.Good luck. Had to feed my texel by syringe last week and it is hard work.Love that you are so committed to her
 
Thank you both :-) Yes she is on probiotics but porridge oats is an excellent idea, I have some ready brek so will try that thank you. She is on Critical Care and she HATES bring syringe fed! The most difficult piggy I have had so far but hey ho, she is learning whose boss!

Simon has had a chat and even he cannot shed any light and is happy with what we have done so far. She is having a full body xray as we speak to check absolutely everything. The only hope is that its tissue damage and maybe she has just hurt herself. But it has come on slowly not suddenly so I am doubtful.

Thanks re Great Western Exotics, I think my vet came from there actually? its not bad idea, I think my fall back plan is to take her to someone like Simon or your recommendation eventually but its not one I take lightly as ultimately this will cause her more stress. The good thing is my vet is keen to do whatever she can, she is as emotionally involved as me now I think, she is already going over and above duty which is reassuring. I know we are doing everything we can do.

Syringing is such hard work you are right ! I have drawn the line at night feeds but she gets a last feed at 11.30pm and then next at 6.30am. I have a full time fairly intense job so she has work alongside me on that one. Fortunately I have the most amazing mum who is helping me when I am in meetings or out all day, without her I have no idea what I would do, I am not sure how people cope with a full time job, I just don't (I am in between meetings now sitting in a reception typing this now...hee hee ). I have lost 4lbs in weight since they were both ill (I know its not much but the silver lining is its giving me a great excuse to eat chocolate LOL!). You are right, you do forget to eat!


GuineaGuy - how long did you syringe for? My vet is saying we should give her a month and just see how she goes...OMG!

Really appreciate your help everyone.....keep the ideas coming you just never know if one may just make that difference! xx
 
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