Furryfriends, thank you. Although we don't want to part with him I am really becoming more convinced that your offer would be what's best for him because we don't seem to be doing a very good job and it's awful seeing him continue to decline. He's such a beauty and we don't want him to die from this. One of the things I worry about is how he'd cope separated from his brother when they're so close but I suppose that's still better than him staying with his brother but us not getting on top of this tooth problem and him get really poorly.
Would it be possible to contact you off board about this?
I can't pm and not sure about putting my email on here.
This does sound like a good option at the moment. I live in the same town as Debbie (am now just around the corner!) and when Garry first had his teeth problems and his weight really dropped to about 575g, I was plodding on with my own vet and their so called 'exotics expert'. After two treatments under general anaesthetic, the vet told me to seriously consider having Garry put to sleep as his quality of life would never be any good if we had to keep doing his teeth like that. Then, I took Debbie's advice to go and see her vet Simon. Not only did Simon diagnose another condition in Garry that the other vet had missed completely, but in only 3 months, and with only a handful of visits, Garry's teeth are now at least working for him. He's also had to overcome an abscess in that time and a poorly bum, so had his work cut out!
Simon doesn't use anaesthetic unless it is a very extreme case. When Garry first saw him, Simon said his teeth had begun to grow over his tongue again. He was literally 'out the back' with Simon for 5 minutes while Simon filed the teeth down. That was repeated every 10-14 days for a while.
Garry was very close to dying when I first started going to see Simon and the change around has been amazing. He has had to teach himself how to eat again and spent a while eating mashed up pellets/oats/Science Recovery. He then moved onto some finely chopped veg/softened veg and now he is eating his oat porridge still, along with some softened nuggets. He has the odd bit of Science Recovery but most important of all, he is now eating veg for himself, munching on salad leaves and even carrot! It is great to see. He does need his front teeth looking at, but now only once every 2-3 weeks. Because he is trying to eat for himself, there is minimal work required on his other teeth.
Basically, what I think I am trying to say is that it might be an idea to let Simon have a look at your piggy. Maybe in the meantime, without the stress of having to give constant care for a while, you might be able to source a proper piggy vet in your area?
