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Guinea Pig not eating on his own after dental work.

Kreacher13

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Hello everyone.

My 3 year old male guinea pig is having problems. I took him to the vet after noticing he was eating very very slowly and dropping food out of his mouth. I took him the same day and they were able to see that his teeth were very slightly overgrown, possibly trapping his tongue. He went under GA and had his teeth trimmed. However, this was a few days ago and it just seems he has gotten worse and worse. He is unable to eat on his own completely. Food falls out of his mouth still, around a week after his surgery. I took him back and they gave him fluids and antibiotics. He’s on metcam or whatever it’s called for pain as well .Ive been feeding him critical care but the problem is he completely refuses it sometimes. I’m talking thrashing and head butting with all his strength so I can’t get the syringe in his mouth. My dad and I both try so hard to feed him but it’s almost impossible to get him to eat enough. I’ve tried everything. Mushed pellets, pumpkin puree. Also, his poops are so tiny and small. It’s obvious nothing is going through his system. (He’s also on gut motility meds to avoid gut stasis. It’s making me so sad watch him want to eat but struggling. He just hates syringe feeding too. (Sometimes he happily eats it but most of the time it’s a fight to even get 1ml of critical care in him). I’m crying just thinking about him in pain. Does anyone have any tips?
 
I’m sorry to hear this

While it can take them a while to regain confidence in eating after dental work, there is also the possibility that there is still pain or that something is still wrong in his mouth - the teeth grinding and dropping food can be a sign of that.

It would be best if you can get his mouth checked again - even the slightest thing can make the difference between them being able to eat or not

Make sure you are weighing him every morning so you can monitor food intake.
I can fully appreciate that it is hard to get him to eat (and it’s possible there is still a dental reason for that) but he needs at least 40ml but ideally 60ml of critical care to keep his gut functioning and prevent stasis

What dosage of Metacam is he on?
Is it once or twice a day?
Is it dog (1.5mg/ml) or cat (0.5mg/ml) version?

I hope he is ok

Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support Levels
 
I’m sorry to hear this

While it can take them a while to regain confidence in eating after dental work, there is also the possibility that there is still pain or that something is still wrong in his mouth - the teeth grinding and dropping food can be a sign of that.

It would be best if you can get his mouth checked again - even the slightest thing can make the difference between them being able to eat or not

Make sure you are weighing him every morning so you can monitor food intake.
I can fully appreciate that it is hard to get him to eat (and it’s possible there is still a dental reason for that) but he needs at least 40ml but ideally 60ml of critical care to keep his gut functioning and prevent stasis

What dosage of Metacam is he on?
Is it once or twice a day?
Is it dog (1.5mg/ml) or cat (0.5mg/ml) version?

I hope he is ok

Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support Levels
Thanks for the reply. I just checked, he’s actually on meloxicam 1.5mg/ml once a day.
 
Ok that’s good, it’s dog version which is three times stronger. It does depend on the dosage he is being given, sometimes they can need it twice a day but the fact it’s dog version is a good thing.
(Metacam, loxicom are all the same product just different brand names - all have the same active ingredient, meloxicom)

Definitely get in contact with the vet again. Hopefully they can get to the bottom of what is going on in his mouth

Keep us posted
 
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