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Help Guinevere please

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Hi Tim, Oats are good for pigs. They can be quite fattening. I have only ever made it up with goats milk for babies, but this is still probably suitable for grown ups. Making it up with water would be fine (the scottish way!), but would lack the nourishment of goat's milk? xx
 
I am in the same position really with Elvis, he is still not eating apart from the odd tiny bit.His teeth are being regulary trimmed so I don't think thats the problem. of course there may be something else but only time will tell:(
In the meantime its just syringe feed to try and maintain his weight. Good luck
 
What weight is Elvis?
Many syringe fed pigs never get back to their original weight and many of them need to be syringe fed for weeks or even months.
 
He is the same as last time 1lb 11, he has eaten a bit of grass today and seems fine in himself so we will just carry on.
 
AP- Yes the antibiotic is Zithromax with a dose of .8ml once daily ? I belive the xray was of a general forward body area as the vet said earlier that a full body one wouldn't show the mouth area in enough detail.
The eye lid droop appears to come & go but I haven't worked out a link to why/when yet.

Nutmeg - Mmmmmmm yum yum, Guineveres just had approx 8mls of oat/water mash & couldn't get it enough of it, I refused to give him more as its a first time food but I definately think its the 'dish of the week' so far:)

Ruth - Poor Elvis, how long has he been off his food for & have you any reasons or ideas why ?
Guinevere stopped eating 5weeks ago and has lost approx 10oz but steady at 2lb now. Syringing is just so time consuming but we broke our record yesterday with 102mls & that was after her morning under at the vets:<>
Good luck & please keep us informed of his progress.
 
I suppose your kitchen would smell better than mine if you make it with water. Warmed up goats milk for the porridge reeks! x
 
I'm so sorry that I've not replied to this thread sooner :red
I really do hope that Guinevere will be ok - it sounds like you are doing a fantastic job x
 
Not much change with Guinevere, although in the last couple of days she's appeared happier & we've even been treated to a couple of very loud Wheeeeeks:) she's also taken a real fancy to Nutmegs suggestion of Porridge oats & again in the last couple of days has been eating small amounts of it off a plate in the cage.

So maybe not much change but what little is in the right direction I suppose.

He's slowly losing weight at probably an once a week at present, thats with a minimum of 90ml syringe food per day(the record is 134ml), has anyone any other ideas on good food stuffs to maintain weight.
Also we've never wormed him, could this be worth doing or is it unconnected ?
 
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Sorry for calling Guinevere a he and a she in the same paragraph, its difficult because we still call her Mrs Guinevere but I want to be technically correct on here to help solve her problems thus the factual Mr Guinevere:{

P.s She still won't swallow tiny bits of veggies even when mixed in with the porridge
 
Worming is unlikely to be affecting his oral/dental problems, but it can contribute to the inability to gain weight. It is hard helping pigs gain weight after illness anyway, but if even huge amounts of syringe-food - as Guinevere is having - is barely even maintaining the weight, then it may be worth treating with Ivomec & Panacur to rule out parasitic activity in the gut affecting the absorption of nutrients.

P.S. Your record is equal to mine, been a while since I had to syringe-feed a guinea though.
 
Update 16/03/10

Hello Everyone, I am Guinevere's Mum, Emily :)p

First of all, I would like to thank everyone who has helped with Guinevere's problems so far - you have all been very kind and very helpful and we appreciate everything:<>

We took Guinevere back to the Chiropractor last night (2nd appointment) and she told us that his jaw is definitely twisted because she can feel it and he could have either dislocated his jaw, damaged a nerve or chipped a little bone. If it is the nerve then it could take same time to heal, and if he had chipped the bone then she didn't think he would be eating the critical care as well as he does and he would have constant pain rather than just when eating or when pressure is applied to the jaw.

We seem to have reached the end really. Our Vet is totally baffled mallethead and now the Chripractor has done all she can ?/.

Tim and I have discussed it and we think that the jaw dislocation or possible nerve damage does tie in with the fact that he was biting and tugging the parsley bell a lot before all of his problems started (this was attached to the bars of his cage). His teeth issues only became apparent, once he had stopped eating.

On Sunday we were syringe feeding him, when suddenly he started shaking his head to his right side as if some of his food was stuck in the side of his mouth, and he seemed to be in agony, squeeking and his whole body seemed to be shaking as if he was having a spasm. This carried on for about 20 seconds and then stopped. Hours later he ate 30 + syringes of food with no problems. The head twisting is intermittent, when feeding.

He loves to rest his jaw on the wheat bag when he goes to sleep in his favourite place.......the fleece bag (wup wups when I take it out of the microwave :<>)and he even rests his jaw and tries to bite the radiator pipe when he is excercising in the hallway and so heat is a definite must, he loves it!

We wondered if there was any kind of muscle relexant drug availale
that may help Guinevere's jaw. He is still taking the Metacam but he is due to finish this very soon. He has also nearly come to the end of his Zithro antibiotic and we have definitly seen an improvement since taking this, he is much happier, wupping, attempting to bite veg but gives up................

We are not willing to give up on Guinevere, we have come so far now and we are determined to beat this. So if anyone recognises any of these symptoms, please let us know.

I am also now studying the RHA course, I have now received the materials for part 1 from Vedra and so I am really keen to learn from others who are more experienced.

Thanks once again and sorry for the long post.

Emily, Tim and of course Guinevere :))

x
 
Hi Emily, thanks for the update on Guinevere. I'm not aware of any muscle relaxant drugs that would be safe for him, but I wonder if you've ever read about/considered TMJ, which is basically weakened jaw muscles affecting the chewing ability? The info is here:

http://www.guinealynx.info/malocclusion.html#top
http://www.guinealynx.info/chinsling.html

Good luck on the RHA course, I am also studying it (well, have been since 2008, just done the exam and building myself up to doing the residential). There are quite a few others here studying it, there are a few threads around in the Health & Illness and Guinea Pig Chat sections. :)
 
Thank you Laura - this sounds very promising. Do you know where you can buy the chin slings, is it worth emailing Concepts Inc at the bottom of the webpage?

My mother has just told me about vitamin B or Vitamin B 12 for nerve damage - has anyone else tried this ?

Thanks again

Emily x
 
I've not heard of using B vitamins for nerve damage, but I do know they are exceptionally useful in various areas of piggie healthcare. May be worth a try, to be honest I think you have to look into stuff like this when you've come as far as you have with Guinevere and still not really got anywhere.

I know there are people in UK who have tried the chin sling, I will look into it for you and let you know. TMJ isn't something that is really mentioned here but it's discussed quite a lot on the GL forums. I'll have a look this afternoon.
 
Thanks very much Laura

I have managed to track the inventor's name down and emailed her Ingrid Rice. She will custom make one for 49.95 canadian dollars and if I wanted it super duper quick, it would cost and extra 25 canadian dollars. It would be interesting to hear from other users in the UK so if you could find anything out, we would be very grateful.

Emily x
 
If I am not mistaken the Sheffield rodentologist is a member on the forum, pig in the city.
 
Welcome to the forum, Fred.

TMJ - Temporo Mandibular Joint syndrome, quoted from Guinea Lynx:

While malocclusion is often due to genetics (or as previously mentioned, due to illness, injury or infection) it has also been postulated that ligament and muscle weaknesses contribute to malocclusion. Some cavies have responded very favorably to a new treatment using a flexible jaw sling to hold the jaw in position keeping the upper and lower back teeth in contact with each other. The even pressure and resistance allow the teeth to grind against each other and help the guinea pig regain jaw muscle strength making future dental planing unnecessary. This treatment works best after an initial planing of overgrown molars.
Click to expand...

http://www.guinealynx.info/chinsling.html

Put at its simplest it is a weakness of the lower (mandibular) jaw which can contribute to malocclusion.
 
Thank you FurryFriends - we will phone tonight. All we can do is keep our fingers crossed.

Emily Tim and Guinevere xxxxxxxx :))
 
i looked on google about jaw pain, it gave me a headache, may as well been in a foreign language..
how do you guys/gals understand this science stuff, are you piggy experts or can anybody learn, maybe i'm too old lol
 
Haven't had a chance to look at the forum recently. It seems like you have come a long way in trying to sort out Guinevere's problems. It is very interesting about the jaw problems, I think they are often unrecognised. I will be keen to know if the sling helps at all. Barbara xx
 
Thanks for asking Polly :)p

Yesterday we drove over to Alcester Pigs to see if he could help Guinevere. He is extremely knowledgeable about guinea pigs and rabbits etc, both Tim and I feel as if we have learned so much since meeting him yesterday.

Guinevere’s teeth were in a terrible state. His tongue had become trapped due to overgrowth of the lower molars, he also removed a couple of spurs (one had rubbed into his cheek and given him an ulcer. His top right had grown into his cheek which was also causing him pain but now thanks to Alcester pigs he has a super duper set of gnashers and is eating the rescue remedy faster than ever. He loves his food. He also found that his front incisors did not have the ridge/step behind the enamel therefore he had no 'cutting action' with his front teeth, he also corrected that. His front teeth also appear to be crooked. We now need to encourage Guinevere to eat solids again. I know that this will not happen overnight and that we have to be patient with him but we now know how to check Guinevere’s teeth by pressing your index finger in between the molars and measuring the indentation marks which are left behind on your finger.

I can’t thank you enough for the time you spent on Guinevere’s teeth and also explaining everything to us :<>

Emily, Tim and Guinevere

xx
 
I'm so pleased you've managed to get the help you needed. I hope things continue to progress well for Guinevere. :)
 
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