Dental Guinea Pig stopped moving mouth

[taigi100]

Hey,

After some noticeable weight loss, our guinea pig had a surgery for some teeth problem last friday. Since then we ve been trying to force feed (3-5 ml every 2-3 hours) but it seems he kept getting worse. We managed to maintain his weight (he s really slim, he lost like 1kg before the surgery, now at 670g). The vet keeps saying she did everything she could, yet this morning I noticed the pig is no longer moving his mouth, and one of his teeth is visible by just looking at him. Post surgery he kept scratching his teeth.

What can I do to save his life?

 

[taigi100]

By stopped moving i only mean his mouth. Otherwise he can be decently active when trying to force feed

 

[Lady Kelly]

Where abouts are you based? It's hard to find a vet competent enough to deal with anything more than basic dental problems so perhaps we could point you in the direction of a more knowledgeable vet?

 

[Merab]

Agree with @Lady Kelly - you need a cavy savvy vet.
Please let us know what happens - there’s support here for you at a worrying time.

Welcome to the forum

 

[taigi100]

@Lady Kelly @Merab's Slave Thanks!

I'm based in Timisoara, Romania. As far as my knowledge goes we only have 1 vet in town who deals with guinea pigs, and she s the one that performed the surgery.

She said that the pig had his teeth overgrown and his tongue stuck in them. She freed the tongue and fixed the teeth problem. Also, whenever I get in contact with her she always sais with a sad voice that she did everything she could (I have a particular dislike in giving up on pets that are still alive).

Due to those circumstances, i turned to find help online.

 

[Merab]

That does make things more of a challenge for you.
There are forum members who have much more experience than I do with this kind of issue who will be able to offer more advice and support @Jaycey @Wiebke

 

[Wiebke]

I am very sorry; the dental has obviously not gone right and the teeth at the back have overgrown again. Guinea pigs have the fastest growing teeth of all rodents because they have evolved against the very abrasive silica in grass and hay.

If your vet is unable to cope and you cannot get to another vet in another town or city, then you may have to sadly weigh up whether it is kinder to let your beloved boy make his journey to the Rainbow Bridge as he can obviously no longer use his teeth or tongue and they will keep growing unchecked. As you are such a caring and devoted owner, it is the most heart-breaking and depressing decision to make when you realise that you cannot win a so hard fought battle and there is no medical help.

I have been there when the teeth started to quickly overgrow in a stroke victim I was looking after for a friend who was working long shift hours. Nimue had survived a massive stroke, but it had left her much weaker on one side. She could no longer chew evenly and her tongue was becoming trapped, so she couldn't swallow properly aymore.
As she was starting to have lots of tiny strokes, taking her to the next town to a dental savvy vet for treatment was not an option; she would not have survived the procedure.
It was very sad and upsetting for me and her loving owner to make the decision to have her put to sleep; but the only and the best thing I could do for her after she's gone from a tiny 600g down to 400g despite my best round the clock syringe feeding efforts.

BIG HUGS

@furryfriends (TEAS)

 

[Merab]

Thanks @Wiebke for tagging TEAS - I knew there was someone else with dental experience but couldn’t remember while I was responding this morning .