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Dental Guinea Pig Struggling To Eat

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Cinnamon

Cinnamon

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Hi guys,
Haven't been on here for quite some time but I'm in a stump about one of my male guinea pigs, Willow. He's turning 7 this year and has been going strong until the past week where he has been off his food (struggling to eat). I took him to the vet (3 days ago now) as soon as I realised he was acting strange, I believed he had overgrown molars or his front teeth were giving him trouble, as a few years ago him and his brother both got frightened and jumped out of their cage and broke their teeth and were taken to the vet for filing, etc (did get a new cage after that, that scenario makes me sound like the worst pet owner) and after that they were fine, no hiccups, but Willow's teeth have been starting to get chipped easily but this hasn't affected his appetite until now.

The vet looked over him and organised an appointment to file his teeth down, he went under anaesthetic because he was too squirmy without it. They said his molars were fine and they just filed down his front teeth. I thought we were out of the woods but now he's obviously hungry but still struggling to bite into food and gives up after a few tries. I have grated carrot and all other veggies and that helps but he's not eating as much as his brother. I have also given him critical care which he hates. He also seems hunched all the time and never lies down or relaxes, so I feel like he might be in pain or something? But I'm so confused because the vet said they'd check him all out when he was there because of how old he is yet they didn't tell me anything else was wrong.
I'm very confused and anxious as I do live in a rural area where there isn't a proper exotic vet that would specialise in guinea pigs (as with my other guinea pigs who have now passed the vets just didn't try as much as they would if it was a dog or a cat). So please do remember that before telling me to take him back to the vet and please be nice. I would just like some advice from people who have had their guinea pigs teeth filed and if they've had the same aftermath.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 
It's very common for them to have a sore mouth after a dental so if you don't have any pain relief I would recommend asking the vet for some, Metacam is the common one.

As he's in pain he won't be interested in food so you need to continue handfeeding until he does feel like eating.

If he doesn't show any interest in a few days he will need to go back to the vet to check everything is okay.

I had a pig once who had his back teeth treated by a vet who wasn't used to doing pig dentals. She had cut his mouth in the process and so needed antibiotics and a lot longer handfeeding until he recovered enough to eat on his own.
 
That sounds horrible. The poor little man. It definitely sounds like he is in pain.

Does he have any sore spots on his jaw? and is he running a fever? We have a flexible tip thermometer to check our piggies temp if we're worried about him. If he's coming in high and has a tender spot then it will be likely that he has an abcess on the tooth's root and you can go back to the vets armed with knowing what's wrong.

In the meanwhile (providing his stool is normal) you could feed him blended veggies mixed in with the critical care to see if that improves him taking it.

Good luck!
 
Thank you for your replies and suggestions, very much appreciated.

He is eating, but it's only little bits until he gives up after a while and just sits in the corner. I know his appetite pretty well and can compare to my others so it does seem like he is in pain, I just didn't know what route to take when it came to that. I thought they would of put him on painkillers as they did when they broke their teeth, but I believe this vet I went to was new and inexperienced in the guinea pig department (lucky me)...

I will check his mouth out, and his stool is small (obviously because he's not eating as much) and I've found I've had to get it out myself for him, plus there was a bit of mucus in it last night, which I tried researching but it was hard to find out what it was, could it be from not eating properly?
Sorry I forgot to mention that part ^
 
He could be having trouble in passing stools. Older boars can suffer from this, but I haven't had any first hand experience so can't comment further.
 
In the short term I would call the vet and ask for Metacam (or the Australian equivalent).
If he is in pain, that might actually solve all of his problems.

If you don't have access to a specialist vet then more poking and prodding at this point probably won't help, so try and address the pain issue and take it from there.
When I had a pig with broken teeth (Ruby) I found that popping her in a towel lined washing basket a couple of times a day with lots of veg shavings allowed her to eat slowly, and without the pressure of lots of otehr pigs around.
Actually Ruby loved that washing basket and would happily burrow into the towels for a little sleep afterwards...
 
Cinnamon said:
Hi guys,
Haven't been on here for quite some time but I'm in a stump about one of my male guinea pigs, Willow. He's turning 7 this year and has been going strong until the past week where he has been off his food (struggling to eat). I took him to the vet (3 days ago now) as soon as I realised he was acting strange, I believed he had overgrown molars or his front teeth were giving him trouble, as a few years ago him and his brother both got frightened and jumped out of their cage and broke their teeth and were taken to the vet for filing, etc (did get a new cage after that, that scenario makes me sound like the worst pet owner) and after that they were fine, no hiccups, but Willow's teeth have been starting to get chipped easily but this hasn't affected his appetite until now.

The vet looked over him and organised an appointment to file his teeth down, he went under anaesthetic because he was too squirmy without it. They said his molars were fine and they just filed down his front teeth. I thought we were out of the woods but now he's obviously hungry but still struggling to bite into food and gives up after a few tries. I have grated carrot and all other veggies and that helps but he's not eating as much as his brother. I have also given him critical care which he hates. He also seems hunched all the time and never lies down or relaxes, so I feel like he might be in pain or something? But I'm so confused because the vet said they'd check him all out when he was there because of how old he is yet they didn't tell me anything else was wrong.
I'm very confused and anxious as I do live in a rural area where there isn't a proper exotic vet that would specialise in guinea pigs (as with my other guinea pigs who have now passed the vets just didn't try as much as they would if it was a dog or a cat). So please do remember that before telling me to take him back to the vet and please be nice. I would just like some advice from people who have had their guinea pigs teeth filed and if they've had the same aftermath.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Hi! Please continue to offer syringe feed as well as grated veg or soft veg. 80% of the daily food intake is hay, so you need it cover that angle, which you cannot control. Our syringe feeding guide also has got a section about caring for dental guinea pigs.
Have you got grass growing where you live? That is often easier to eat, as well as fresh herbs and green leaved food, if necessary cut into strips. That plus some syringe feed to cover for hay intake should hopefully help to get his weight up.
Please weigh daily at the same time to monitor the food intake. Cheap supermarket kitchen scales will do.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

It is very common for dental guinea pigs to not eat immediately after a dental treatment. The mouth is sore and it takes a while for the dental system to rebalance as the chewing is usually not even at the beginning. There is often a pain issue which has led to the uneven chewing and overgrowth in the first place. It can take a few rounds of frequent burring at increasing intervals to rebalance the teeth. Unfortunately, guinea pigs have the fastest growing teeth of all rodents. :(
 
Thank you all for your helpful advice, it has definitely helped so much! I felt so stuck and now i feel much better about it all, knowing I wasn't alone on this matter. I can't thank you guys enough!

My mum called the vet today (as I've been busy) to discuss what's been happening and then an appointment was booked, the vet fully checked him out, feeling for any lumps, etc, temperature was perfectly normal but has lost a significant amount of weight. I explained how he's been (he's been climbing up the cage as he did when he was hungry but gives up on food) and that all the signs seem to point to him being in pain, so we got some Metacam, 0.14 mL, once a day for 5 days. After giving him that he has perked up a little bit but I'm going to continue feeding him critical care until he has enough "courage" to eat by himself. Thank you for all your friendly words of advice, let's just hope he's on the road to recovery!
 
Oh and to add (I'm rereading and forgetting to answer questions!), we do have heaps of fresh grass (they get it every day) but he seems to turn his nose up at it, maybe eating a strand once and a while.
 
Just thought I'd update for those people interested..
Willow doesn't seem to be getting any better, the painkillers aren't doing anything (From what I've seen) and tomorrow is his last day he'll be on them. I've been syringe feeding him throughout the day but the most he takes at a time is 10 mL of critical care, I've done that 3 times today, he hates the stuff so it's a huge struggle.
I've tried poop soup, and today he's been eating his caecal poops, but still is very hunched and doesn't seem happy.
I don't have a vet to go to because of Easter (4 day holiday) so I have no idea what to do.. I'm trying my best but I believe it's just not enough.. I feel horrible for feeling so negative but I don't think he'll make it through the weekend..
 
Do you have enough Metacam to carry on or did they give they only give you enough for 5 days? If you have enough I would carry on with it until you can get to a vet. How much critical care are you managing to get into him in mls?
 
helen105281 said:
Do you have enough Metacam to carry on or did they give they only give you enough for 5 days? If you have enough I would carry on with it until you can get to a vet. How much critical care are you managing to get into him in mls?
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I think we do, so I might do that, that won't mess with him too much?
It's probably around 35 mLs as I try to do over 10 mL each time. I try to do it every 3 hours, but since it takes around 1 1/2 - 2 hours (so then feed him again 3 hours from that time) to give him just the 10 mL it's hard to give him so much in such small amount of time if that makes sense. I know I should be giving him more, but it's incredibly difficult but I'm still trying. He does eat little bits of hay and dry food occasionally but it's only a small amount, but I think I'm filling him up on critical care so he doesn't feel like eating (or maybe I just stress him out too much..As he's a very anxious piggy)
 
No not at all, some pigs are on long term Metacam and it is best he stays on it than be in pain.

I used to think the critical care filled them up but I have actually found that it encourages them to eat so if you can get more in it will help as 35ml is not enough to keep his system going. It is good that he is nibbling at hay and dry food but try to get as much critical care in as you can. I have found that after a feed of critical care my pigs go and start eating hay. If you are able to speak to a vet at all I would ask about giving the pain relief twice a day too, is it dog Metacam?
 
Keep weighing him at regular intervals and compare the weights that are taken at the same time each day. If his weight is stable, or decreasing then the critical care isn't filling him up. I know that 35ml isn't the equivalent of the amount a normal pig will eat.

I also know how hard, and draining it is to be handfeeding around the clock. Do you have anyone that could help? A friend, family member or neighbour that could take over for a little while. I know from experience that I can only do it for so long before I'm just mentally and physically worn out. I then have to ask a friend to do a few feeds for me, just so I can relax and also so the pig can get more food into him than I could do.
 
helen105281 said:
No not at all, some pigs are on long term Metacam and it is best he stays on it than be in pain.

I used to think the critical care filled them up but I have actually found that it encourages them to eat so if you can get more in it will help as 35ml is not enough to keep his system going. It is good that he is nibbling at hay and dry food but try to get as much critical care in as you can. I have found that after a feed of critical care my pigs go and start eating hay. If you are able to speak to a vet at all I would ask about giving the pain relief twice a day too, is it dog Metacam?
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Okay thank you for that info! I'll continue with the metacam. It's cat metacam.
I'll aim to get 20mL each session if I can, he just gets to about 10 mL and starts struggling around more so I get worried it'll go down the wrong way.

Jaycey said:
Keep weighing him at regular intervals and compare the weights that are taken at the same time each day. If his weight is stable, or decreasing then the critical care isn't filling him up. I know that 35ml isn't the equivalent of the amount a normal pig will eat.

I also know how hard, and draining it is to be handfeeding around the clock. Do you have anyone that could help? A friend, family member or neighbour that could take over for a little while. I know from experience that I can only do it for so long before I'm just mentally and physically worn out. I then have to ask a friend to do a few feeds for me, just so I can relax and also so the pig can get more food into him than I could do.
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I know he's lost a lot of weight, he's nearly half the physical size of his brother, which is adding extra worry onto me.
How much do you think I should be feeding him? I know 80-120 mL was suggested on the syringe feeding guide on the forums.

It is mentally and physically draining indeed. Also hard when I'm not free all the time, but my mum did feed him last night while I was away, but she always worries it'll go down the wrong way (so do I!).

I did notice today when I picked him up for his feed, he has a lot of saliva and dribbled a bit, I'm unsure what this means, but could this be relating to his molars? Which makes me frustrated since the vet said they were fine, when I believe they were/are the main problem. Why oh why does it have to be holidays :(
 
It could be possible that his incisors were the only problem when he was at the vet. But if they trimmed then too short, and him not wanting/be able to eat food then the molars have had chance to start to overgrow.

The dribbling and saliva could be an indication that something is going on further back in his mouth.

How are his poops and pee output doing? Along with monitoring weight that's a good signal of how well we're doing with handfeeding.
 
Jaycey said:
It could be possible that his incisors were the only problem when he was at the vet. But if they trimmed then too short, and him not wanting/be able to eat food then the molars have had chance to start to overgrow.

The dribbling and saliva could be an indication that something is going on further back in his mouth.

How are his poops and pee output doing? Along with monitoring weight that's a good signal of how well we're doing with handfeeding.
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Ahh that is something to think about, thank you!
I haven't seen him dribble since this morning so that's positive, and I fed him 20 mL this morning and then that took 3 hours which is crazy but all in the name of love :) so I've given him 35 mL and my mum is going to give him another 30 mL (there's only so many hours in the day)..
His poops are a lot bigger than they have been and he's peed a few times whilst I've been feeding him. His weight has stayed steady but hopefully he gains a little due to his upped intake of CC.
Last night he did nibble on some veggies and tonight he came up to the cage as he usually does when he was happier and tried to take some carrot from me, and eaten some more veggies tonight, so that is a huge plus..
Thank you for all your help by the way :)
 
That is fantastic news! I hope he continues to perk up. You have a brilliant mum for helping out!

Remember to look after yourself too, and have a relax when you can.

Keep up the good work! :D
 
I've got a boy going through on going dental stuff along with other stuff . What I do to feed him when his teeth are done is get a straw and poke it into a piece of sliced cucumber. It makes wee cucumber pellet kind of shapes. I hand feed him the wee pellets and kind of help him balance it in his mouth until he has got it right in. I had another boar years ago who also had wonky front teeth as he got older too. I'd do the same straw thing except I'd gently push the cucumber out of the straw and he'd take it straight from the straw. It works with strawberry too. Good luck
 
Jaycey said:
That is fantastic news! I hope he continues to perk up. You have a brilliant mum for helping out!

Remember to look after yourself too, and have a relax when you can.

Keep up the good work! :D
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Thank you! She only managed 5 mL in 3 hours though because he got really grumpy and fidgety, but it's better than nothing I suppose. :(

I'll try to, thank you, I didn't realise how hard syringe feeding was until I actually did it!

Mamaguineapig said:
I've got a boy going through on going dental stuff along with other stuff . What I do to feed him when his teeth are done is get a straw and poke it into a piece of sliced cucumber. It makes wee cucumber pellet kind of shapes. I hand feed him the wee pellets and kind of help him balance it in his mouth until he has got it right in. I had another boar years ago who also had wonky front teeth as he got older too. I'd do the same straw thing except I'd gently push the cucumber out of the straw and he'd take it straight from the straw. It works with strawberry too. Good luck
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Thank you for that idea! I'll definitely try that indeed, see if it helps him as he does seem to give up if it gets too hard.
I hope your boy is okay and has a speedy recovery :)
 
Hi everyone!
We decided to take Willow to a specialised exotic vet (2 1/2 hours away..). We had many options but in my head I knew it was his teeth so she had a proper look under anaesthetic and found heaps of spurs and the molars had started growing over the tongue! He also had a lot of ulcers on the sides of his mouth so no wonder he was in pain. Tad frustrated that our inexperienced vet classed the molars as "fine", (obviously didn't know what they were looking for and this was the main problem all along). Now that the problem has been found he is trying to eat again by himself and is now on the way to being his chirpy self again. Thanks all for all your helpful tips and advice, I hope this is the last vet visit for a while for Mr. Willow.
 
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