Hay Rejection, Ongoing Problems

[Potatoez]

About a month ago I posted about my piggy having tooth spurs which entrapped the tongue, and getting them fixed. He was great after that until about a week ago when he slowly stopped eating his hay again. I took him to the vet again today thinking the problem had returned and they said his teeth don't look bad, one small spur that they offered to fix but communicated that they were unsure if it was really an issue. He is the same weight as he was at the time of the dental so he is getting enough food in him if not enough hay. I'm under quite a bit of financial strain as the two appointments together with the dental cost nearly $500 total. I'm unsure about whether to do another dental. They gave him some anti inflammatory and antibiotics incase there was an underlying issue, but I suspect it's not an illness issue as he remains very excited about pellets and veggies and drinks plenty of water. He seems to drop pellets once in awhile. He occasionally nibbles on seed tops of hay. I'm just kind of unsure of what to do, any advice would be useful.

 

[Wiebke]

About a month ago I posted about my piggy having tooth spurs which entrapped the tongue, and getting them fixed. He was great after that until about a week ago when he slowly stopped eating his hay again. I took him to the vet again today thinking the problem had returned and they said his teeth don't look bad, one small spur that they offered to fix but communicated that they were unsure if it was really an issue. He is the same weight as he was at the time of the dental so he is getting enough food in him if not enough hay. I'm under quite a bit of financial strain as the two appointments together with the dental cost nearly $500 total. I'm unsure about whether to do another dental. They gave him some anti inflammatory and antibiotics incase there was an underlying issue, but I suspect it's not an illness issue as he remains very excited about pellets and veggies and drinks plenty of water. He seems to drop pellets once in awhile. He occasionally nibbles on seed tops of hay. I'm just kind of unsure of what to do, any advice would be useful.

Hi! I am sorry about your ongoing dental issues. Not eating hay is typical for a dental guinea pig; it can take some time after a first dental for the teeth to balance out evenly - and that means more rounds of burring. As tough as it is, the best way of getting on top of dental issues for good is to prevent them from blowing up again in the first place; if you wait until they are really bad again, you will be just back where you are now, but not any further. As a new spur is already forming, this means that it is going to grow pretty quickly again as long as nothing is being done. The quicker the less your piggy can chew as it grows at a rate of over a mm in a week. Doing it now means that a) your piggy is still in a good state and b) its eating won't be as badly affected and its dental balance has got a chance to right.

@furryfriends (TEAS) is running a sanctuary for guinea pigs with chronic dental problems in conjunction with a vet. It is their experience that guinea pigs with dental problems can often be cured with just a yearly check-up if brewing problems are tackled before they become a problem and if the dental balance can be restored, which usually doesn't happen in just one treatment. Once the balance is right, your piggy will eat hay again.