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Guinea Pigs and Anesthetic

S

s.buck

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One of our pigs has got to go for a dental operation on Thursday and needs to go under anesthetic. I'm aware that there's a risk with anesthetic but can anyone tell me just how big the risk is? He's got suspected overgrown teeth, luckily he is still eating but seems to be in discomfort when doing it. It's strange as he always eating hay etc.
 
you need to ask your vet that question as it all depends on your piggy and the vets experience and knowledge levels. A highly experienced guinea pig vet dealing with the beginnings of dental problems where there is no weight loss or underlying health conditions is going to have a much higher chance of success than a less experienced vet who is dealing with severely overgrown teeth and a piggy who has lost half their body weight.

You of course have the other option of travelling to an experienced vet who would do conscious dentals. The most experienced is Simon at the Cat and Rabbit Clinic in Northampton and then I know that The Guinea Pig Vet in Matlock has also tried out his technique for conscious dentals though obviously she is less experienced than he is.
 
Any anaesthetic for any animal.or human always carries a risk, and in all cases the risk depends on age, weight, general health, but also on random health factors (like an unknown heart condition for example) that neither you or the vet can really factor in. A dental procedure is quite short and uninvasive surgery so with an experienced vet and a seemingly healthy piggy it should be quite low risk.
As @Lady Kelly says there are a couple of expert UK vets who do dental surgery without anaesthesia if you are willing and able to travel. And we have had urgent dental surgery done on one of our piggies with anaesthesia, with a very good outcome.
The long term effects of good or bad dental surgery however can go far beyond the anaesthetic risk, a bad dental from an inexperienced vet can sometimes make matters worse- not wishing to scare you, of course your piggy needs the dental surgery, but please take the time to explore how much experience your vet has in this area and seek a second opinion if necessary before commiting, if it isnt an urgent problem!
 
Thanks both for your replies. As I mentioned he's still eating and hasn't experienced any weight loss. The vet we see is a small animal specialist and is generally very good, she has got our pigs through a few ailments. I may ring up tomorrow and ask about her experience. She has said that he will need a dental as she could see overgrown teeth, and said she will also do a skull x-ray to check for any other problems. She seems very thorough which is reassuring. Fingers crossed I guess!
 
I second going to see Simon in Northampton at the Cat and Rabbit Clinic (or equally Ellie from Derwent Valley Vets) for any dental work. The drive can be very long but it is worth it. My guinea pig had dental surgery with my exotic vet and no matter how good of a vet they are, guinea pig dentals usually never go right first time. They didn’t for me, and I still had to travel 3 hours each way to see Simon to fix his teeth a couple of times afterwards. His first dental was done fairly well but the teeth have to be exact or they still have problems, which is what happened in my case. If a dental goes wrong, or doesn’t go to plan, it really can be life or death. It’s not something you ever want to risk. Simon is amazing and if you are having any dental work done, I strongly urge you to go and see him. He also charges only a fraction of the price as there is no anaesthesia involved.

Also: we had an X-ray done the first time he had a dental (with our exotic vet), but after talking with Simon & Kim, there really wasn’t much point for it at all. I cannot stress enough that even if you’re seeing a good exotic vet, there is an extreme difference between fixing other ailments, performing other surgeries and fixing teeth
 
Little Ones said:
I second going to see Simon in Northampton at the Cat and Rabbit Clinic (or equally Ellie from Derwent Valley Vets) for any dental work. The drive can be very long but it is worth it. My guinea pig had dental surgery with my exotic vet and no matter how good of a vet they are, guinea pig dentals usually never go right first time. They didn’t for me, and I still had to travel 3 hours each way to see Simon to fix his teeth a couple of times afterwards. His first dental was done fairly well but the teeth have to be exact or they still have problems, which is what happened in my case. If a dental goes wrong, or doesn’t go to plan, it really can be life or death. It’s not something you ever want to risk. Simon is amazing and if you are having any dental work done, I strongly urge you to go and see him. He also charges only a fraction of the price as there is no anaesthesia involved.
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Although I agree of course @Little Ones that many forum members recommend Simon Maddock and of course he is an established piggy dental expert, other vets can sometimes do good dentals too if they are experienced. Our vet fixed Blodwen's 6 overgrown molars in one half-hour surgery with anaesthesia and she hasnt needed any further treatment since, that was about 15 months ago.
Nobody would dispute that Simon is great- and that a piggy dental vet should be chosen carefully- but I think we need to he careful of suggesting any other vet must do bad dentals, I remember feeling a bit forum-shamed for not travelling an impossible 200 miles to Northampton when Blod needed urgent dental work, but she did perfectly fine with our local expert piggy vet a mile away!
 
PigglePuggle said:
Although I agree of course @Little Ones that many forum members recommend Simon Maddock and of course he is an established piggy dental expert, other vets can sometimes do good dentals too if they are experienced. Our vet fixed Blodwen's 6 overgrown molars in one half-hour surgery with anaesthesia and she hasnt needed any further treatment since, that was about 15 months ago.
Nobody would dispute that Simon is great- and that a piggy dental vet should be chosen carefully- but I think we need to he careful of suggesting any other vet must do bad dentals, I remember feeling a bit forum-shamed for not travelling an impossible 200 miles to Northampton when Blod needed urgent dental work, but she did perfectly fine with our local expert piggy vet a mile away!
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I was in the exact situation as I couldn’t get to Northampton. A lovely forum member took him for me which I couldn’t be more grateful for.

My point was that, unless you know otherwise, we think our exotic vets are qualified to perform dental surgeries when really the experience is only very limited. The place I went to is actually quite experienced with dental surgery, they do about 3 a week. I spoke with Simon on the phone who recommended I go ahead with it, seeing as they are experienced, to at least try and fix it before making such a long trip. We did and it didn’t work out and it cost us a fortune for the anaesthetic, dental and X-ray, all for the problem not to solved and for an X-ray which was essentially pointless had we just seen Simon in the first place.

With dentals, from my own experience and from the communications I had with other members & their dental journeys when I was dealing with my own, I think Simon should be the first option - as in trying your best to see if it’s a feasible option, and if you absolutely cannot get to Simon (or Ellie in matlock) at all, then yes go to your exotic vet provided they have a lot of experience. But as I said, when it comes to dentals, if there’s any chance at all that you can see Simon, then you should - just because of how damaging a poorly done dental can be, and how much of a waste of money a dental that hasn’t quite worked can be. My vet, once Peanut still wouldn’t eat hay, then concluded that the issue wasn’t the teeth but a mechanical issue with his jaw (even though I could hear that his teeth were uneven still when he was eating). Bear in mind, this was a very experienced dental practice. Simon managed to sort him out, though and now he eats wonderfully.

I’m so glad that Blodwen was sorted out. I know that not all exotic vets will be bad at dentals, but it seems too much of a risk in my eyes!
 
I can recommend Simon Maddock, he is a fantastic piggie vet and his dental experience is second to none. I have been on the receiving end of a bad dental using a local vet who said he could perform it correctly. My Ted goes to see Simon every 8 weeks and Simon has kept him alive for the last 18 months plus when my local vet wanted to PTS.
Experience is really essential and Simon does around 25 dentals per week, we travel from West Cornwall and stay over night in a hotel see Simon first thing in the morning and travel back home that day, it’s a long trip but worth it
Wishing your piggie a speedy recovery x
 
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