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Help! Guinea pig after dental, I don;t know what to do

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vitka123

vitka123

Junior Guinea Pig
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I need help with my 3 year old boy. It all started from him getting impacted. I was helping him with it by removing it manually. Then I noticed that he lost weight and he started with diarrhea. I took him to the vets and he has been put on Baytril once a day. After over a week, I noticed that he stopped eating.
So again I took him to the vets, where when I explained whats happening I been told it might be his teeth but he will have to go under anesthesia to have it checked over and sorted.

He had his treatment on Tuesday. Everything went well. It turned out that his teeth were growing into his tongue and he has some ulcers on it as well. I been sent home with critical care food, Baytril 0.25 once a day, Rantidine 0.15 three times a day and Emeprid 0.2 twice a day. We went back to the vet for check up on Friday, grayham still not eating on his own. I said that I am feeding him, he has his medication regularly and been sent home. That evening I noticed that Grayham was breathing funny so on Saturday morning took him to the vets. He has no fluid on his lungs but his breathing might due him being so underweight. I was sent home with Metacam 0.1 once a day and Fibreplex 1.0 three times a day. That was yesterday morning. At the vets he had the injection of the metacam and fibreplex to start him off and it seemed to perk him up a bit. I give him liquidized tomato or other veg and on some occasions he is eating it but mainly when i take him out of his hutch, first put it on my finger, then he will nibble on it for a little and walk away. I also keep him warm at all times.

My concern is, how long will it take for the ulcers to heal? I am fed up of worrying that he isn't eating and scared that I might lose him. At the moment I am off work but soon I am back at work and I might be starting another job so I will be less at home. I just want him to eat and drink on his own again.
Has anybody please please give me some advice or help on how long will it take? I just worry all the time.
 
Bump... can anyone help..x
 
I am just so worried! My piggy never been ill like that, I am really scared that I will loose him :(
 
I'm sorry to hear that Grayham isn't well - I know what it is like to worry all the time - I do it too.

There are many helpful posters on this forum, they have helped me greatly through this year, so hopefully someone will be a long with some good advice.

Somethings they may need to know - have you been keeping a track of his weight, do you know how much he has lost and over what period? What food has he had over the past 24 hours?. It is essential that guinea pigs eat regularly to keep their guts moving, so if they are eating nothing or eating very little you need to syringe feed them extra. Is he still losing weight? It is important to try and stop the weight loss asap.

Guinea Pig teeth are always growing and so dental problems can be common in some piggies. How guinea pig savvy is your vet? There is a vet in Northampton called Simon Maddock, who is very highly regarded in terms of guinea pig dentistry, and he can do it without the need for anaesthetic. I know it is a fair trip down the M1 for you but this current thread of little Toby will show you the wonders he can work:http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/...bly-living-with-me!)-grateful-for-advice-tips

I really wish you and Grayham well and I hope someone can come along with some advice soon.
 
Furryfriends is a member and the owner of this forum. She will be the best person to advise you as she runs her own sanctuary for guinea pigs with special needs and has a lot of experience with dental piggies. Her vet is also Simon Maddock who has been mentioned above.

I have pointed her in the direction of this thread.

Please be patient as she could be busy but I am sure she will answer when she can x
 
Thank you so much to all of you!
Grayham used to be healthy and chubby and weighed 1180g. On( I think) Saturday week ago he was about 880. Last night he was 812 and now he is 817g. I syringe feed him since Tuesday with critical care although my vet didn't tell me how much of it he should get and as I researched a little bit about it I found out I wasn't giving him enough. On a single feed I give him from 12-15 ml every 2 to 3 hours. Plus couple of ml of water at the same time. Also he does nibble sometimes on liquidized veg, but I decided to start and give him that through syringe as he does enjoy it. He does not like Critical care food but it seems to be keeping him going. He always has fresh liquidized veg water dry food and grass in case he decides to start eating on his own. When he had an injection of pain killers and fiber yesterday at vets, i put some water and liquidized veg in front of him and he had quite a bit.
 
Just a little update on grayham...
Fed him his critical care of which he had 10ml, then he would not let go of the syringe when I was feeding him liquidized tomato of which he had 6,5 ml and he had 7.5ml of water. I did not force feed him his tomato and water, when he stopped going for the syringe I stopped giving it to him, but he definitely wanted it :)
Full belly in piggy happy mummy :) I also noticed he did dribble a bit but more on critical care as he doesn't like it.
 
Hiya! It sounds like you're doing a great job caring for Grayham. He may prefer mushed up nuggets as syringe food than Critical Care. Some love CC and others hate it.

Ulceration heals quickly once the teeth are no longer rubbing or growing into the tongue. Are you giving metacam? When is the vet going to recheck the teeth? Ideally they should be rechecked after a week. I really wish you were closer and were able to get to see Simon. I do offer temporary sanctuary places so that piggies can get treatment from Simon and then return home. I would be happy to provide your piggy with a place if need be. I currently have a piggy here who arrived last Thursday unable to eat anything for himself and weighing just over 500g, and after just one conscious dental treatment he can now eat for himself and is starting to gain weight. He will be rechecked next week. Generally dental piggies need some ongoing treatment which is why conscious dentals are so important as it wouldn't be feasible to be anaesthetising them every week or so.


If you wanted to have a chat then my contact details are on my website. www.teasnorthampton.co.uk
 
I wish I had good advice to give you! My pig, Sundae, has had dental issues, but eating after the dental was never an issue, even when she had cuts in her mouth and tongue from the overgrowth and spurs. It always seemed to feel better for her once they were done. Make sure to keep getting Critical Care in to keep his system moving. Baytril sometimes causes loss of appetite, though it sounds as though he had this symptom before the Baytril was started. I hope you see some improvement soon!
 
i had a piggie with ulceration on his tongue, due to teeth problems, i syringe fed him for about 2 weeks on his one crushed down pellets, and he was on septrin, as baytril can be hard on the stomach what probiotics are * using, i used natural yoghurt, which my piggies love, my gp vet told me to give mine 1ml twice daily, and pro-C from pets at home. i hope this helps alittle, it just takes time for ulcers to heal once it does he should start eating slowly again, please weigh him every day till he's better, then keep weighing him once a week after he is back to normal.
 
yes, I am giving him metacam once a day o.1 ml. It did seem to work when he had his metacam injection at vets on Saturday and since then It doesn't seem to be doing a trick no more. I shall try that pro-C as well, and crushed pellets. Do I mix them with water and syringe feed him?
I have noticed his poo is getting bigger, well to his normal size since he started having more CC liquidized tomatoes and water through syringe. Still does not solve the problem of not eating on his own.
And another thing, he is still breathing funny like he has blocked nose, but there is no discharge from it or sneezing, but as soon as I put him on my knees to feed him, get him warm and fed he stops breathing funny.... We are going to see a vet today, last time at the check up it was a vet nurse I think and she didn't look at his teeth (that was Friday) but when we rushed him on Saturday we saw a vet and she had a look at his teeth all she said she can see some food there. Nothing about ulcers or his teeth looking weird... ;/


Och! AND THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU I AM EXTREMELY GRATEFUL!
 
I have really bad feeling that vet will tell me to put Grayham to sleep today... He has no interest in nothing. He only moves about when I have him out, when he is in his hutch he is just sat there in his house facing the wall. I continue to syringe feed him but as I tried to feed him tomato he was different to thi morning, he did not want it... I am keep feeding him and giving him water but I am so scared that my vet will decide that it will be better to put him to sleep...
 
I'm sorry to hear that he isn't doing as well this morning.

As you mention a hutch I assume he is outside - Is there anyway you can bring him inside to get him out of the cold?

I really hope he can pull through - it's so sad to see them unwell.

Good luck today.
 
Through summer they are outside, now its cold they are in garage in a special hutch, but since grayham got poorly he is inside with me, in a specially build hutch with hot water bottle to keep him warm as he is skin and bones at the moment and not well. I would not dare leave my babies in this cold :) especially with him being so ill.
 
Simon works miracles with so many dental piggies I couldn't run my sanctuary without him It was because of the wonderful work that he does that I set up the sanctuary to enable us to help more piggies. However, the sooner we can see these piggies and treat them the better the chance of full recovery. Little Toby, who only arrived last Thursday, is already doing remarkably well.
 
he is still taking syringe food, although he does dribble, more on CC food than water and tomato. I did try his dry food instead of CC but as I say no interest and it wont go through syringe even when liquidized very finely. The only problem is that Northampton is quite far and obviously money;/ I am going for check up at 3.30 and I will demand seeing vet and checking his teeth... At one sitting I can get from 10ml t0 15 down him. Tomato goes down better, after giving him CC food I give him from 5 to 7 ml of tomato and water as much as he can take usually from 5 to 8 ml.
 
Been to the vets...
So physically He is OK. poop is getting bigger, teeth are fine, breathing fine, nothing that they can find wrong with him. Vet said that if he won't pick up till tomorrow, I should give them a call. Went home and guess what..... HE ATE INDEPENDENTLY! Only mush like, but he had loads and then we tried him with small chunks of cucumber which he munched on for ages... so what we noticed he eats better in the evening. Fingers crossed :)
 
Come on Grayham... we are all rooting for you.. xoxoxoxo
 
Poor Grayham, sorry I saw your post earlier but could not comment as I was back at work, I was going to say that you need to weigh up whether he has any quality of life as a pig facing the wall is a miserable pig. I also noticed that his Metacam dose is very low and only once a day. Could you discuss a higher dose with your vet or suggest splitting the dose in 2? Is it dog or cat Metacam? I see that he has improved since your vet visit which is good.
 
you see that was my concern, quality of life. It's a dog metacam. I am trying to give him the best life possible, even now when he is ill. But if he won't get better obviously I will have to start thinking about it...
 
For comparison, my Phoebe is on long term Metacam and has the dog one at a dose of 0.2ml twice a day. If his mouth is sore keeping him pain free is important, so I would call the vet to discuss a higher dose if possible.
 
The tomato might be quite acidic which might aggravate his ulcers. When Daisy was really bad at the start of her dental treatment she was on 0.2ml of metacam twice a day, 0.4ml of banana septrin twice a day, fibreplex 3 times a day spaced two hours either side of the septrin so it didn't stop the antibiotics from working, daktarin orange oral gel and 120ml of mushed pellets as she hates critical care. It took us 6 weeks and a lot of persuasion (combined with grass) to get her to the stage of not needing syringe feed. We go to see Simon every fortnight and our local vet burrs Daisy's incisors every other week too. Good luck with Grayham
 
I agree on the tomato and also think Daktarin oral gel is worth trying especially if his mouth is sore. Dose is 0.5ml twice a day for 3 weeks. It can be bought at the pharmacy over the counter. Run it past your vet if needed but some vets have not heard of it being used before.
 
Thank you for those advices! I will definitely try daktarin gel now. I seen 4 vets now, two seemed not bothered other 2 were nice but were just telling me to keep trying n that's it. 6 week's it's long time but at least I know now that there is a chance! I wish I'd live closer as I would take grayham straight in to see Simon! But from what you all are saying I will try out your technics. He isn't bothered about either Cc or his dry food in liquid form but he manages to nibble on mushed veg and he tries all the time to eat small pieces of veg. I tried him with cucumber and he seems to like it a lot.
 
So I have bought some daktarin n will try it now for few days. He does try bless him to eat bigger bits so it means he hasn't given up:) xx
 
I cut Daisy's veggies into matchsticks or folded small leafy things up into strips to help her eat them. You could try mushing cucumber juice into the pellets instead of water to make it taste nicer. Daisy got bored quite quickly of plain pellets so we mashed strawberries and banana for her. My attempt to juice grass failed however. If you have a coffee grinder you can make a mix up of 60% hay to 40% pellets in powder form which you just add liquid to, to help with fibre if Grayham can't eat hay. Brenda the Cavy Corner vet has been learning how to do dental work from Simon so it may be worth seeing her.
 
I would love to see someone who knows more about piggies, but they all are quite far:( I also noticed his feet are red underneath:( ech...
 
Och and I did try his dry food mashed up and he doesn't want it in that form... We'll any form at the moment :(
 
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