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Going Downhill After Dental...

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gus+walter

gus+walter

Adult Guinea Pig
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Hi,
Gus had a tooth spur removed and some realignment done on Thursday. The vet used GA gas and gave me some metacam for him. Since coming home he hadn't eaten much by himself. I know his mouth will be sore, so that's not my main concern. I have been syringe feeding him CC and water through the day and night, though he's putting up one hell of a fight!
My main worry is that his poo has been very soft and he's still not eating hay. He was a little underweight before the op because the tooth spur was stopping him from chewing properly.
Apart from forcefeeding critical care and water, is there anything else I can do to help him? TIA
 
The most important thing right now is to syringe food to keep him going. Hopefully someone else with more experience can give you better advice. I was lucky in that my dental pig started eating on her own again really quickly after dentals, but I understand it's really normal for some pigs to need some time. General anesthesia can also leave pigs a little bit 'off' for a day or two, so you may see an improvement after that time.
 
Toast had spurs burred under GA and it took about 3-4 days for her to get back to herself.
She picked at hay but wouldn't eat pellets unless I softened them for her until 3 days later when she seemed to snap back to normal and was eating herself again.
I found it really distressing to see Toast so out of character for so long, it was a combination of the GA and the fact that she's a very nervous and anxious pig so she gets stressed easily.
You're doing everything you can and it can be very normal to not want to eat after a GA so don't worry too much yet x
 
It took Badger about a week to fully get into feeding himself again, some pigs just recover faster from the GA and trauma I think. He also didn't drink by himself for about 3 weeks, I think they just become hesitant to use their mouths after it being painful for a while before (and after) dentals. TEAS can help you more though I'm sure :)
 
I don't have any advice to add extra to the above. Just want to send my well wishes. Been following his progress on your Facebook page and commented my well wishes on there a couple of days ago.

You're doing a fab job with him. X
 
Thanks guys :)
He seems to be getting more reluctant to eat anything. We've tried critical care, critical care with juiced veggies, banana, mushed up pellets and just about everything else in between. He's getting more stressed with every feed as it's now a struggle to get anything down him. I'm really starting to panic at this point, I'm only managing a couple of ml every hour or so (I need little naps in between).
 
No, I don't drive and am disabled so I can't travel very far. I've got him another vet appt for 7.30 tonight to see if there's still a fighting chance. I'm not giving up on him yet.
 
I've experienced dental piggies and it is a battle sometimes sadly - trauma to their mouths does cause havoc with feeding :(
Recommended amounts of mushed food/CC is 120mls over 24 hours so attempt as much as possible.
Have you tried mashing Gus's regular pellets/nuggets with cooled boiled water - I find CC or Recovery strong smelling so a piggy who is struggling with these, may prefer their usual dry food softened. Maybe a dish with dry food, add the water and see if he will eat voluntarily by himself ? Also, try the mush on the tip of a teaspoon or your finger.
Sympathise with your situation but it is important to get as much into his gut as possible - how are his poops ? Have you tried a probiotic or a gut stimulant ?
I found it took around 10 days for a full recovery from dental trauma so it is hard work keeping them going but worth the tiredness and frustration.
 
Guinea pig slave said:
I've experienced dental piggies and it is a battle sometimes sadly - trauma to their mouths does cause havoc with feeding :(
Recommended amounts of mushed food/CC is 120mls over 24 hours so attempt as much as possible.
Have you tried mashing Gus's regular pellets/nuggets with cooled boiled water - I find CC or Recovery strong smelling so a piggy who is struggling with these, may prefer their usual dry food softened. Maybe a dish with dry food, add the water and see if he will eat voluntarily by himself ? Also, try the mush on the tip of a teaspoon or your finger.
Sympathise with your situation but it is important to get as much into his gut as possible - how are his poops ? Have you tried a probiotic or a gut stimulant ?
I found it took around 10 days for a full recovery from dental trauma so it is hard work keeping them going but worth the tiredness and frustration.
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Thanks for your reply :) I have given him his usual pellets soaked in warm water but he wasn't interested. I've cut the end of a smaller syringe and have watered down the pellets enough to use that. It'll take a lot longer, but it does make it easier. At least I can bribe him by dipping the tip into a tiny bit of metacam :)
After many tears, bargaining pleas and petty threats of eating it myself (as if he can understand me haha), I resigned for that feed and put him back while I fed Dexter. I always give him veggies super finely chopped in case he changes his mind.....he ate a whole 3 little leaves! :D I know we have a long road yet, but that little pudding knows how to make me smile after an awful morning!
 
:D I really really hope that Gus will start to eat by himself soon. My boy Clyde had a tooth spur filed down and then an abscess opened. He refused to eat afterwards and died two days later. I am praying that this does not happen to your Gus. :tu::tu::tu::tu::tu::tu::tu::tu::tu::tu::tu: Fingers , toes and paws very firmly crossed for you here!
 
When my guinea pig Agnes and Gertrude had this issue, I struggled more with Agnes with getting her to eat as normal, maybe try some porridge oats? They are easy to pick up and my pigs love them. Maybe try grated carrot. Hope he starts eating soon! Piggy fingers crossed for you both xx
 
My 5 year old sow is in the same predicament unfortunately. She lost 20g in weight and started refusing to eat pepper.. This was for around 2 weeks, and everything else was fine so i just kept an eye on her weight as it was only a minor loss. I weighed her daily and she remained the same until suddenly she'd lost another 30g in a day, left more of her veg.. Vet visit suggested it may be teeth related. Next day lost more weight..started syringing cc. Next day or 2 stopped eating on her own. She had 2 spurs on bottom back tooth burred down. She suffered an anaesthetic reaction and nearly died 4 hours after her dental (not long got her home). For first 4 days she ate lretty much nothing- seemed interested but couldnt tackle it. I was worried the effects this would have on her newly burred teeth.. Rumaging in hay on day 2 but barely eating. Lots of funny mouth movements etc. yesterday, day 5, i doubled her metacalm (every 12 hours instead of 24) as have been advised to do this in extreme pain cases i.e abdominal surgery etc. this is day 7 and she is now eating pellets (tasty small ones she doesnt normally get fed to encourage her), ample hay and is now maintaining her weight without syringe feeding.. Which is excellent.. However she still hasnt drank from her bottle (I'm still syringing her water due to this) and is still barely interested in veg. The fact its took this much pain killer to make her more comfortable is worrying. She will stay on double dose until wednesday where we will then go back to normal dose.. If her appetite reduces then she needs further investigation.

This is my first dental issue with any of my pigs and it is emotionally and physically draining!

I hope he starts eating for himself soon.. Offer him grass (as much as his system is used to) as this will wear his teeth just like the hay will and hes more likely to go for nice fresh wet grass x
 
Adelle said:
My 5 year old sow is in the same predicament unfortunately. She lost 20g in weight and started refusing to eat pepper.. This was for around 2 weeks, and everything else was fine so i just kept an eye on her weight as it was only a minor loss. I weighed her daily and she remained the same until suddenly she'd lost another 30g in a day, left more of her veg.. Vet visit suggested it may be teeth related. Next day lost more weight..started syringing cc. Next day or 2 stopped eating on her own. She had 2 spurs on bottom back tooth burred down. She suffered an anaesthetic reaction and nearly died 4 hours after her dental (not long got her home). For first 4 days she ate lretty much nothing- seemed interested but couldnt tackle it. I was worried the effects this would have on her newly burred teeth.. Rumaging in hay on day 2 but barely eating. Lots of funny mouth movements etc. yesterday, day 5, i doubled her metacalm (every 12 hours instead of 24) as have been advised to do this in extreme pain cases i.e abdominal surgery etc. this is day 7 and she is now eating pellets (tasty small ones she doesnt normally get fed to encourage her), ample hay and is now maintaining her weight without syringe feeding.. Which is excellent.. However she still hasnt drank from her bottle (I'm still syringing her water due to this) and is still barely interested in veg. The fact its took this much pain killer to make her more comfortable is worrying. She will stay on double dose until wednesday where we will then go back to normal dose.. If her appetite reduces then she needs further investigation.

This is my first dental issue with any of my pigs and it is emotionally and physically draining!

I hope he starts eating for himself soon.. Offer him grass (as much as his system is used to) as this will wear his teeth just like the hay will and hes more likely to go for nice fresh wet grass x
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Thanks for your reply, I'm so happy that little sow is finding her feet again! :)
What dosage of metacam do you give her? I've been instructed to give 0.15ml every 24 hours, but by around tea time he looks hunched over.
We've had a real struggle when it comes to food, the once loved cc is now looked at with disdain. I'll offer him the little syringe with a little metacam on the tip, if he doesn't have it then it's on to the big syringe and forcefeeding so I can keep track of how much he has.
This morning I came down to find that he's now suffering with diarrhoea, so I'm taking him back to the vet again later to see if anything has been missed or if they can offer a solution.
 
When you are at the vet I would ask about increasing the dose of Metacam or at least giving it twice a day. That is a low dose and given once a day will wear off pretty quickly due to their fast metabolism. Is it dog Metacam?
 
Was going to ask the same as @helen105281 .. I used to use cat metacalm at a dose of 3 units (the syringe that comes with it, up to the 3kg mark NOT 3mls!) once a day.. I'm now using dog metacalm at a standard dose of 4 drops (0.15ml roughly) once a day but crunchie is now on that dose twice daily (exactly every 12 hours to keep on top of it). I also needed to use a full dose twice daily in my post op spay sow. It may he worth enquiring about but also ruling out that metacalm isnt causing the diarrohea (it can cause stomach upset). A probiotic may help, such as fibreplex, pro-c or avipro plus (my preference). Getting more fibre in will help, i.e hay. I know this is difficult in a piggy with no appetite, i offered 6 different hays in crunchies cage before she would start even thinking about eating any. Its now whittled down to 3. The first (and only) hay she would eat to begin with was oat hay- its a massive hit with all my pigs so may be worth trying for tempting. She would also eat grass which is also great for the teeth post dental but may need to watch you dont feed to much in a diarrohea piggy. Hope you get some answers soon x
 
helen105281 said:
When you are at the vet I would ask about increasing the dose of Metacam or at least giving it twice a day. That is a low dose and given once a day will wear off pretty quickly due to their fast metabolism. Is it dog Metacam?
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I'm not entirely sure the previous one we had was for dogs, but they gave me this lot in a little brown bottle because I had difficulty messing around with all the different syringes. I'm well ham handed these days
 
If it is cat Metacam the dose would need to be even higher as it is a lower strength concentration I think.
 
I've cleared it with the vet that I can give him 0.15ml every 12 hours as it's nearly been a week and he still isn't touching food by himself. I got some yummy ings hay to try and tempt him, but I think he prefers to sleep in it!
I've calmed down a bit now that he's not putting up as much of a fight when syringe feeding, the vet gave me a couple of sachets of supreme science recovery to try him with and he snatched the syringe out of my hand! So I've ordered a box of that, he must be sick of critical care. I'll feel a lot better when he starts to eat by himself again, but when he was having the spur removed they also trimmed his incisors so I think he's having difficulty picking the food up in itself. He begrudgingly took a bit of parsley from me, but refused any more. As long as he's accepting his syringe feeds, we've still got a good fighting chance :)
Thanks so much for all your help, I'm more of a lurker these days here but I'm so glad to know that I can ask questions when needed :)
 
Glad you are feeling more positive! If its a brown bottle it will be loxicom rather than metacalm (no difference) but it should say cat or dog even on just the bottle :-) sounds like the same dose as crunchie if its dog, but a low dose if its cat. You could give exactly double that if its cat loxicom but see how u get on with that dose. X
 
Sending lots of love and vibes, been keeping an eye on the thread x
 
I called the vet to ask what kind of metacam they've given me, luckily it's the one for dogs :) he's been a little trooper with his syringe feeds and we managed a whole 150ml yesterday! He had a go at eating a little banana peel, so at least he's trying to eat by himself which makes me feel a lot more hopeful.
It's been a full week since his dental, is it normal for them to be off food for longer than a week?
 
I would worry if still not eating for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I would be concerned as to why they are unable to eat, as if the teeth have been done correctly, and there isn't an abscess brewing that is causing pain, they should be able to eat and secondly, by this stage, as the piggy is not eating, the teeth will be starting to overgrow again.
 
We have a follow up appt for Thursday with the vet that did his dental, but if he isn't eating by Monday then I'll call and have it brought forward. He's been really good with his syringe feeds and seems a bit more like himself. I even spotted a popcorn this morning after cage cleans :D
He's showing interest in food, but he quickly gives up when he finds that he can't pick it up properly. I've made his recovery feed as thick as the syringe will allow and have been adding little bits of grass to encourage him to chew. He's still drooling a bit and has a wet chin which is bothering me. I know that some piggies take longer to recover, and I'm suspecting that it's the GA that's thrown him off as he looked very poorly for a few days after and I was very scared that I'd lose him. Is it possible for the vet to do dental treatment on his back teeth without GA? If he needs more work done I really don't feel comfortable with him being anaesthetised again :/
 
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