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Emergency! Lost 150grams in week/not eating on own. Choking-like behaviour

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daveandtiff

daveandtiff

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We're frantically trying to figure out why our Baby isn't eating on his own and is actively seeking out food, but not actually taking it in when he attempts to, including our handfed tiny pieces, that he otherwise would have taken.

We've used foods of all types, as this has always been his experience.

He had his teeth trimmed last Tues, which may or may not be the cause. She trimmed them lower (or better, as was claimed), and he wasn't able to pick up foods (this has been the case in the past, but he usually finds a way to pick up within a couple of days and we handfeed/syringe feed in between).

He was showing some pickiness the Thurs/Fri before tooth trimming and through the weekend, but was still having a decent number of poopies and was still eating on his own. After the tooth trimming, he was able to take in pieces of carrot, celery, carrot top, etc, with a few attempts, as we have been able to do in the past.

Tues through Fri we had been syringe feeding 24/7 round the clock to try to keep the weight on as it was coming off fast, then all of a sudden he had an experience that appeared almost to be choking on one of the small pieces of kibble (and it has been happening occasionally with his syringe food or juice/water), but it may not be choking as he is usually sitting fairly flat and we're very slow and careful with introducing it to him.

He stretches his mouth forward and open, looking as though he is experiencing a struggle (we dont know if choking, tmj, jaw fracture, soreness of tendons/muscles after procedure (though this didnt start happening for days after procedure, even though he was not eating on his own), tmj, nerve damage, tooth problem (though two exams so far have not shown anything alarming with his teeth from what the two doctors could see), neoplasm...we don't know what the cause with, only that it came on fairly suddenly and are wondering if it may be associated with recent visit, but realize it may also not be since he was being picky the weekend before and was still accepting some handfed foods after appt for a few days.

Can someone help with ideas on what could be going on as we are still syringe feeding every moment we can, but are barely getting 20grams of critical care into him, which takes approx 8hrs/day total with all of the feedings, and he's losing weight at a constant pace. He is otherwise healthy and very interested in foods, perky and chirping when running around visiting his brothers, he doesn't appear to be in pain, or at least not while running around. not sure if he is from eating, just that he has lately become more tentative and am thinking due to the fear of this choking-like phenomenon that has happened nearly each time at least once during feedings and sends him into a quick panic to correct it.
 
Hello welcome to the forum.
I don't have any experience in this area but I know Debbie aka Furry Friends does. She runs the Excellent Adventure Guinea Pig Sanctury for dental pigs. I'll PM her and ask her to look at your thread to see if she can offer any advice.

Kate
 
We had a dental piggie and this does sound familar. Where abouts are you? somebody maybe able to recommend a guinea pig vet specialist.
 
Firstly, where do you live? I've got a lot of experience working with guinea pigs with dental issues and have a fantastic vet who does all the dental work needed.

Rather than post loads of questions etc, would it be possible to speak with you on the phone?

I think the problems you are describing do stem from the dental issues your piggie seems to be having, and for now just try and syringe as much food in as possible. Ideally for a piggie being 100% syringe fed, you need to be getting in about 120 mls per 24 hours.

I am going to pm you my phone nos and I will be available to talk with you late afternoon or evening.
 
Still no answers and losing weight and time

We just got home from our 3rd vst to doctor (3 separate doctors, this one was the one who trimmed his teeth 9 days ago who was at last available for consult).

The visit was very brief, with intent to get xrays of mouth/teeth, and this effort failed. The oral exam was brief as she could not see anything. Was not given time to go over half of my concerns and the result did not feel like the solution.

The xray of body (only one film successful) she said showed some bloat (which made me gasp, then she said not the 'bad bloat')...she prescribed Metaclopramide oral suspension 1mg/ml (0.2cc every 12hrs for 3-5days). I do not believe this to be the cause of the problem (two other doctors stated the same, they believed likely due to teeth trimming or something gone awry orally) and when I tried to explain and intended to show her his choking-like behaviour that occurs usually a couple of times during feedings, was not given the opportunity, but when I mentioned this experience she claimed that it may be a result of gas. When I mentioned his interest in food, to the point of leaning quickly toward it and scavenging rapidly with interest, putting his mouth on the food and then not ingesting, she again said it may be due to gas...that many will seem hungry and interested, but will not eat if there is gas.

We've had bowel movements (though very little quantity and size) and continuous feedings with critical care (including crushed vit c/probiotics/even crushed poopie from healthy pig), usually every 2-3hrs, with feeding sessions lasting anywhere from 45mins to 1.25hrs, so is fairly constant in between sleep. Unfortunately, we can only get anywhere from 5-10cc per session into him depending on his interest/tiredness, so turns out we are lucky if we are getting probably 40cc's/day into him, which is scaring me. I try to introduce regular foods as well to him so to see if he will eat real foods again, and add fresh hay regularly to stimulate his interest. His activity level and chirpiness is pretty good when he's down and running around, for having so little weight and reserve/energy.

I am still leaning toward something happening with his jaw/teeth/oral region and we've brought him on these trips with him experiencing stress without any answers. it's exhausting for him and i am now at the point of prayer and trying to conserve his energy, hoping for a miracle and healing, where it seems as though no one has answers, some seem to care, some not so much, and the only other persons i could ask are not in until sometime next week and are an hour and a half away. It's very frustrating, this has been going on now for 9days and we're trying to keep him healthy, well-fed and bloat-free ('bad bloat', perhaps some would call it) in order to make a recovery.

Any insight, ideas, prayers would be so much appreciated. He is and always has been a healthy boy and this coming on so suddenly makes no sense and is unfair given the only thing holding him up from continuing his healthy, happy life. Thank you for your help.

Also, thank you, furryfriends, for your offer to talk via phone. I recd your private msg, but could not find a button allowing me to respond. I wish we could talk, but cannot make calls internationally.

Thank you sport_billy for your comment. With yours, did you see a motion of stretching forward, opening mouth and extending it taut for a few moments, almost as though a choking behaviour, muscle spasm or some sensitivity of some sort?

Thank you katiepops & little pig for caring and taking the time to offer your advice and concern.
 
also, given our Baby's situation, will it be completely safe to use the Metoclopramide (pink oral liquid) on him? have read various things re this treatment, positive & negative. Simithicone (which we have) was also suggested, but probably not as potent?
 
I did wonder if you weren't in the UK. Here is my email address. [email protected]

The bloat has probably been caused due to him not eating very much. Are you having any success in getting more syringe food into him? If he doesn't seem very keen on the Critical Care you could try mushing up some of the normal dry food. If you put boiling water over the pellets they will turn to mush and you can syringe feed those once they have cooled. He may prefer to eat them.
 
Oh dear, sorry the news isn't any better.

I'm not the best person to give advice, as I am far from an expert, but if you feel that your vet isn't giving you an opportunity to talk through all of your concerns, this is a bit of an issue.

Firstly, do you trust the vet? If so, take the pig back tomorrow and ask for a double (or even triple) appointment so you have the time to go through everything properly without feeling rushed. If not, are there any other vets in your area you could go to instead for another opinion? I'm assuming from your international call comment that you are not in the UK?

I don't feel like I have enough knowledge to comment on the dental issues, but one of my pigs went into gut stasis and had mild bloat last week. He had Metaclopramide too (but was given an injection). I have heard that a vibrating massage pad can be good for pigs with bloat, but as I didn't have one, I just very gently massaged his tummy with my hands and it did seem to help a bit (he liked it even if it didn't help with the bloat!). Bloat can also be quite painful, did the vet prescribe any pain medication?
 
Yes, am in the US, wish was in your area so could be able to talk.

The bloat diagnosis surprised me because I have been religiously palpating his stomach being sure it is soft not expanded and have been making sure some level of food is in him, as much as absolutely possible, and this means anytime he is awake and will allow, so have been on vigil and avoiding most sleep to do so.

He otherwise generally looks comfortable, stretching out on tummy or side when laying on our bed but not so much when in his cage where the blankies are doubled but not as cushy for him. We do stretches every time I pick him up (which he has been doing for months and loves, he extends his back legs way out almost before we're even up off the floor and is similar to if you/i yawn and stretch), then we relax on lap for a minute or two to settle before we start eating.

As far as the vibration, I had read that, too. I may look to see if there is a light pad that he would be willing to lay on while on lap. Had tried before one of our back massagers under pillow for his Daddy who was given antibiotics last December that made him stop eating, to prevent gas build up...he just looked at me as if to say, 'what is this all about Mommy?', but seemed okay with it. Was considering on one of car trips that maybe the vibration from the ride could serve this way as well, but would imagine it could also serve to build up gas from the stress of it moreso. I've been giving him relaxing massages throughout and allowing him different surfaces or on top of me to stretch or sleep. He loves the warmth and snuggles, burrowing right in (last time he had four dreams while there), but am careful not to let him get too warm as am trying to make sure his hydration is ideal (and was told by one doctor she was happy with his overall appearance/hydration).

I did try offering wet kibble, but he did not go for it. Too difficult to push through our 3-5cc syringe nozzles, which is about the right fit for his mouth, but we've been using diff flavours of critical care, mixing, not mixing, adding various vege juices for change of pace (trying to keep the fruits or gassy veges low to prevent bloat). Have even tried using coffee grinder to break down various hays to be able to syringe feed, a so-so attempt.

We do have some leftover pain med, used it 2 days to see if it would help, but his countenance didn't change or his interest in food, so discontinued for greater concern of GI side effects, appetite issues (or kidney/liver) where he's been limited w eating. Was only a 3day Rx as it was to see if it would help.

I think what we really need is a dental xray (without anesthesia) and we've attended nearly all of our options in this area for specialists.
 
I use a 1 ml syringe and cut the end off it. I find this the most useful size for syringe feeding piggies. Can he eat grated carrot? What dental work has been done on his teeth so far? Has it been done under GA or was it just the front teeth that were clipped?
 
Am using the 1ml for fluids and nozzle on the 3-5 are about same width so these for the food (we're getting about .4-.5ml bitefuls into him at each introduction).

We've had front teeth trimmed about every 6wks since spring (I think his last visit was 5th visit) and as a result have been making sure we've julienned his harder foods (like carrots, celery, various fruits/veges). When introducing these things while syringe feeding after the appt, he was taking certain things (carrot tops, celery, carrot, etc), but then a couple of days later just stopped taking them. We've always given him a human-sized plate full of all varieties of veges/fruits 2ce a day as well as have hand-fed. Still attempt to stick stems/small pieces in or up to his mouth, but he really shows interest and then just stops in his tracks.
 
The only time I have seen that 'open mouth and pull back lips' move was with a piggie who had a dental abscess. For lack of a better description, it looked like she was chewing glass, or trying to get stuck items off her back teeth. In her case she had an abscess down in the root of a back molar, and it was either seriously painful or it was making it hard to swallow. Is there any swelling on his face? Is he on any pain relief to make eating more comfortable? Is he on an antibiotic of any kind? Keep on syringe feeding- that's really important to keep him going while you figure things out. Hope he does well!
 
the front teeth of a guinea pig should never be cut in suspected dental issues with out the back teeth been cheked first, it sounds like the tongue is trapped from the back teeth which as grown over the tongue, if you have a look on guinea lynx there is some good recommened vets for your state, dont let the vet touch his front teeth again with out checking the back teeth first if the vet uses a tool with a light on then this isnt a good way to check the back teeth as you cant really see x
 
It's almost as though he leans forward and stretches mouth out forward, like a big "O" shape and also then tries to get something out from mouth or possibly redirect it so moving lips/jaw in different ways, sometimes using his paw to push at his mouth and moving his head to other positions until corrected and then continues to eat.

All doctors looked at his teeth and as far back as they could, I believe one pretty thoroughly, as she even was able to touch a tooth in the back that she wondered about and tried to see if it was loose or sensitive and it was not.

If the only route is to get an xray to see the molars further back, it was unsuccessful yesterday (and other places have said needing to put him under anesthesia to do so, we're talking the bigger hospitals/clinics around here, and am near a bigger city).

Other than that, not one of them has suggested the need for an antibiotic, with him not having a temperature two of the three times he went in, 5 days apart, and with him not otherwise showing something that points more certainly toward dental abcess (though if a successful xray, we might be able to confirm better one way or the other).

One doctor said the molars didn't appear alarming other than one was slightly longer than the other, suggesting him using one side to use more than the other (which possibly made sense given the length and direction of his front teeth at one point, though they've since straightened out), but she did not see the tongue being trapped or other thing obvious or alarming on a fairly extensive visual. He's also using back molars normally it appears when chewing his bits of critical care, the back and forth motion, and appears comfortable. it's just getting food into his mouth in the first place that makes him tentative (today we gave him a vege/fruit plate of smaller pieces of various yums and he was all over it, a few times this morning, standing on his plate poking around at the pieces, actually starting to grasp with his front teeth, and then leaving it, but extremely interested. we're continuing to try to get him to attempt his yums.).
 
I would push hard to get that x-ray done... obvious conscious is better, but an x-ray is a short procedure and would not require anasthesia for very long. I was concerned whenever my pigs were put out, but quite honestly neither of the ones who have been sedated had any issue with the anasthesia, including one who had two surgeries in the course of a week and was seriously ill at the time. Personally if it was a choice between being put out for a short time or missing a potential problem due to lack of x-ray film, I would err on the side of the anasthesia risk. But hopefully you can find someone who do the conscious x-ray just to remove all risk from the procedure.
 
My concern is his loss of weight and already being stressed by the appts we've been having, and car trips, as well as his age (6 3/4yrs), that he would not be able to handle the anesthesia...and then whatever is determined, will we be able to successful do anything about it? say if there were a thought to perform a tooth extraction, or something more invasive (of course molar scaling is less invasive, but would still leave him open to jaw soreness, antibiotics, pain meds, lack of appetite or ability to eat for some time after waking...and we're already in a dangerous state with his lack of weight). I'm trying to think of his overall wellbeing and there is definitely something going on, but his eating habit changed quickly after his trimming, which was alarming. prior, he was eating on his own. just seems awefully sudden.
 
daveandtiff said:
My concern is his loss of weight and already being stressed by the appts we've been having, and car trips, as well as his age (6 3/4yrs), that he would not be able to handle the anesthesia...and then whatever is determined, will we be able to successful do anything about it? say if there were a thought to perform a tooth extraction, or something more invasive (of course molar scaling is less invasive, but would still leave him open to jaw soreness, antibiotics, pain meds, lack of appetite or ability to eat for some time after waking...and we're already in a dangerous state with his lack of weight). I'm trying to think of his overall wellbeing and there is definitely something going on, but his eating habit changed quickly after his trimming, which was alarming. prior, he was eating on his own. just seems awefully sudden.
Click to expand...

At 6 3/4 years I do see your point! I hope that you can find something that helps soon!
 
Hair loss below eyelid

Sorry have been offline, has been a long week. We have a new situation that I'm not sure if you've seen before. Two days ago had noticed a bit of hair loss just below right eyelid and yesterday noticed it slightly a larger area as well as a bit with the left eyelid, lower but a little closer to the corner of eye. Will try to take pics, but they may not be clear enough.

Also yesterday in the sunshine while feeding him noticed within the right eyelid a little blood streak where the white connects with the inside eyelid. Checked the left, but he has a fatty area that has been there for some time so could not see similar on the left.

Do these things mean anything to you? Possible causes or conditions? We continue to syringe feed him critical care and he is small but otherwise active and generally comfortable (other than some gas the other day). Just a bit more tired probably due to being underweight. He has also not shown signs of the gag reflex he was having when we were trying to handfeed him, which is a positive sign, but still when trying to handfeed he doesnt seem to be able to chew it and then spits it out. These are small very small pieces (carrot, celery, carrot top piece, plum) as he used to eat when we would handfeed after a tooth trimming.

Thank you for your thoughts.
 
Sounds like fungal to me. He could have oral fungal too which may account for the problems he is having with eating. I use Daktarin Oral Gel in suspected cases of oral fungal but I don't know if that's available in your country? Hope he's feeling better soon. X
 
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Thank you for your thoughts. That crossed my mind upon researching a bit, given that he has lost weight and may not have the best immune response right now, though we are adding vit c, probiotics, occasionally poopie from another boy (please tell me if this is not okay in your books...i've read this as being okay (if a ceacal poopie could not be found, and i tried with the other boys, but was not achievable). our last dr had a problem with this, though other drs didnt seem to give it a second thought. they eat their own or others' poopies anyway on occasion, so hadn't thought it would be harmful if adding to the critical care with intent on keeping intestinal flora steady.

Anyhow, regarding the eyes again, had also read online comments about mites (starting around the eyes, believe it or now), but this doesnt seem logical, unless he would have picked up at one of the drs offices (anything for that matter).

I'll look for the fungal med you referred to and will try to post a pic for you to be able to see.
 
Yes, a picture would be most helpful. There's nothing wrong with him eating the caecal pellets of other pigs either, even my healthy pigs do this sometimes. Look forward to the pics and really hope he's feeling better soon bless him!
 
hopefully these pics will be viewable enough...sorry for the quality, and poor baby, was just waking before i was about to feed him.

Right eye (seemed to notice this eye prior to left one being affected. this eye also showed a little blood under eyelid at bottom of white of eye that touches inside eyelid, and was concerned about that)


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Left eye


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for frame of reference, this was how he looked on Oct 30th


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and then a couple of days prior



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(and a cute vid of him from about a week ago doing his little stretch that we've done for many months now :) [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-1zJZNyjm8[/ame]
 
as far as eating ceacal pellets...i was only able to get the regular poopies (could not get to sac that holds ceacal pellets as the young ones are too small, whereas Baby has a large opening and if he were only taking things into his mouth he could perform this on his own. there was a piece of his own that looked ceacal, very small piece, and he was trying to eat it so i had to help him with it. he wouldnt take into mouth without a syringe, though.)

i guess i'm just wondering if the poopies that are not ceacal could cause problems or not. i've seen them eat what appeared to be regular poopies off the floor so didn't assume they would be harmful. probably not as nutritious, but for purposes of keeping gut balance, hopefully helpful.

was reading that it could be a good idea to compensate with Vit B Complex for various reasons (which we had done a year ago for another, had checked ingredients to be sure they were piggie friendly)?
 
That does look like the start of fungal to me. Given that he's quite poorly at the moment I would just treat those spots topically with a little Canestan cream carefully applied with a cotton bud. It wouldn't harm him either to give some Daktarin Oral Gel in case he has oral thrush in his mouth as well.

Have his back teeth been examined properly - not just a quick peek or a finger examination - the vet should use buccal pad separators and a strong light to have a thorough look at his molars; I'm still erring on the side of a tongue entrapment or sharp spurs personally, that would account for the fact that he is able to pick up food but then drops it - his tongue can't actually move it to the back of his mouth.

Have you another appointment booked at the vets and are you giving him any pain meds at the moment? The Vitamin B complex is an excellent idea, I use that on my piggies if they are unable to ingest their pellets for whatever reason. They don't seem to mind the taste either. I give mine 0.4ml twice a week.

I really hope you find out what's wrong with Baby; you obviously love him very much and seem to be doing all the right things to try to help him and he's a beautiful looking boy. Well done you!
 
Thanks for your suggestion of Canestan Cream, it couldnt hurt to try it and i think we have that locally. Is it okay if near eye (would not cause trouble if gets into eye), or if ingested where he may clean himself and get a little into him?
We went to 3 vets. One who did look in his mouth what seemed to be thoroughly (she took him back into exam room so could not see the process, but said she didn't see anything alarming with the molars, from what she could see, 'no hooks or other issues' and the rest of oral exam seemed okay. she felt his change was likely due to teeth trimming). The other vet did the same, part of the exam was with me present and the rest was in the exam room. She said she noticed one molar only slightly longer on one side, but was not concerned. She tried to move a tooth that she questioned as suspicious to see if lose or sensitive and she determined it was not lose or sensitive. Otherwise, she thought an area near one tooth (not molar) was slightly more red, but without an xray could not know the whole of the situation with roots, molars, etc. At this location, they would need to give him anesthesia in order to get xray. The third doctor, who was the one to trim his teeth, barely looked, stated right away she could not see well enough, and took him in for xray (without anesthesia), but was only able to get a shotty body xray and claimed there was some gas, to treat that and see what happens. We both knew that gas was not the problem, and i have been religiously touching his tummy to be sure not tight, as well as feeding every few hours.
In order to see the molars, unless someone can do xray successfully without anesthesia (which our 2nd doctor stated was near impossible, at least to get a good look at the roots), we would have to have him anesthetized for just the xray. I'm very concerned about this, or any procedure to be done actually, as i dont know that he would pull through, either from the anesthesia or the procedure/aftermath/meds. He's lost alot of weight and seems weaker, if that is fungal under his eyes, perhaps his resistance is down as well. He takes the syringe food, though not enough of it. We can generally get anywhere from 6-12cc into him each sitting (using fine grind, it gets in more quickly, using other times of Critical Care, a little more slowly, but we mix these up because we want the calories to get in quickly, but also for him to continue grinding his food and keeping his molars down). So my guess is he's only getting 50-60cc/day, which is far less than we want to get into him. We feed him as soon as he wakes, a little break here and there to let him rest when he's resistant and needs rest, then after a few mins break start again and just keep going until he can't take anymore in. Often that's an hour or hour and a half later and he's ready for a nap. We want him to have enjoyment and social time as well, anything stimulating, and exercise, so alot of activity for him each day, i'm sure it's tiring. If he doesn't eat, though, he will become unwell/more tired/organs and intestines will not function properly, so we just keep going. Am trying to find someone to come to the house to syringe-feed twice/day on the days i need to work, so that i don't have to take him to work with me so often. It's frustrating, if i could be home 24/7 i'd rather. It would be more comfortable for him.

As far as pain meds, I've used a smaller dose on occasion when it appears he's hunched, which has been only the past few days. I try Simithecone on these occasions as well incase related to gas. Had also been given Reglan and have given him a bit of that initially the first few days, and now only on occasion when it seems he's needing. He seems to be passing well enough, some poopies are formed and some turn into a soft bunch (we were having this before anyhow as his anal sac is enlarged and allows it to collect), but as far as eliminating he's doing okay with that, just not the quantity we'd like to see. And stools have been a bit softer, but have attributed that to likely the change in his diet and are trying to find ways to grind hay to add to food (have used coffee grinder to grind hay heads to add, but need a bigger syringe with a wider nozzle to be able to really do this more frequently...today's task, to get to store for a syringe we can work with).

I'll try the fungal cream, though, and hopefully that will help. There is no change today to the areas affected, looking status quo. Was also concerned about a red blood streak that appeared at base of white of eye where it connect to inner eyelid...it looks almost like a tear, but not sure, and uncertain as to what it could be related to (wouldnt think the eye hair loss situation, but maybe they are connected). Am just going to keep watch on this as well.

We have an appt scheduled tentatively for Thurs eve after work, but in order to do a tooth xray we would have to consider anesthesia and would need the day. I'm trying to keep his stress down as much as we can, but with the trips to work, doctors visits that are far away and so far havent been conclusive (though two of the three doctors were good in my opinion), am afraid it will wear him out further and we've lost enough feeding hours on these trips due to him be tired after.

If it were the back molars, would it be just about an overnight thing that he would not accept whole food? It was strange that he started to reject our handfeeding and was seeming to gag or have sensitivity to any food (including syringe) on occasion. this occurred a couple of days after his visit for tooth trimming, where he was picking up and eating things on his own up until then. We'd noticed him being picky on certain foods the previous weekend, which was why we brought him in for trimming in the first place, but he was having a fair number of poopies and was acting quite normal otherwise. The past few days when we've tried to handfeed, he still hasnt taken, but he'll reach right out for the syringe quite a few times and that seems to be easy for him. We also havent seen that 'gag' reflex for quite a few days now so he seems to be able to maneuver the stuff inside his mouth well enough. We generally feed him .5-.7cc at a time, which is quite a decent amount all at once (i think), so we're glad the gag has apparently stopped. we were only hoping he would take in his juliened vege pieces or other tiny pieces of things.
 
today has been a rougher day for our little one. he's showing more signs of discomfort the past two days, but especially today (hunched). it was a little more challenging to feed this afternoon, and did end up giving him another half dose of simithecone (did this morning as well) and pain med.

does anyone know the shelf life for Meloxicam? on the label it reads discard after 12/18/11 (a year from it being prescribed, was leftover from our other little boy) and on a sticker attached to bottle it also states discard after 40days. just want to be sure it is effective or hasn't gone bad.

i'm not sure that we would be able to survive an xray under anesthesia, given his condition, loss of weight, age, especially not even knowing if molars are the issue and can be corrected (or even another tooth issue, or another physical ailment). i'm not sure it's worth the struggle for him if he would not survive the anesthesia/surgery if it were to happen. yet if this could be fixed would want to try to fix it. it's just a difficult decision, but my gut says we may lose him regardless and want not to put him through anything more than he can handle, or his last memories/experiences not be peaceful.
 
Well we went in again today, this time another dr on duty, younger one in the gang, and she thought she saw some overgrowth of the back molars (as well, she'd asked if the other dr who did teeth trimming used clippers or dremel tool, i say both...she stated that some discolouration in the front tooth that was trimmed recommended that the procedure could have caused a fracture of the tooth and that it may have caused sensitivity).

anyhow, she is recommending that we have surgery, though the baby is now in the 800's (grams) for weight and he is 6 3/4yrs old. he has been eating his syringe food well enough, in fact, we're getting even more into him now that we are focusing on using fine grind critical care (smoother and quicker to eat) vs the other thicker grinds (that we've served alone or mixed w fine grind). we were typically getting 8-12cc's a round, but now are easily getting 15-18cc's a round, and usually at least 6 times a day we're feeding him, sometimes some smaller rounds of 5cc's in between when am at work feeding him.

she claims she is not so concerned with his age, says that he isnt so emaciated that she would be concerned about his weight, unless he were to lose more. well, he was 1170 grams this summer and has dropped into the 800's, so it's quite a change over these past few weeks. i'm not so sure about his ability to get through anesthesia, though she said they have someone monitoring breathing throughout. she said usually the procedure takes 10-15mins, but they would have him scheduled for anesthesia for a half hour incase it becomes more complicated (she also mentioned she didn't expect an abcessed tooth, but there could be a possibility of extraction if they were to find anything needing to be removed. i don't see this as likely, either, where he hasn't been showing much in the way of discomfort, but if there were a thought to pull a tooth, it would be more open blood stream/bacterial infection possibility, so would be concerned for something systemic, or for antibiotics to cause havoc on his system, as it did with his Daddy (his Daddy was given antibiotics and within 12hrs completely stopped eating, our biggest eater. he never ate again on his own more than a few things here and there).

anyhow, would you give me your thoughts on what you feel based on the info given? thank you...
 
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