Help Not Eating And Lost Bowel Sounds

[katycs]

Please please help me, I don't want to have to put my guinea pig down.
My piggie is 3 years old and had his teeth filed down a month ago. He was absolutely fine afterwards but Tuesday night he started picking at his food and spitting it out. He was started on metcam yesterday but it didn't help and today he stopped eating completely. Although he continued to take food into his house and to beg for food. He lost bowel sounds and was given morphine and metroclopomide. He wolfed down the life preserver mix and has now eaten slices of apple and cucumber.
Tomorrow he is being sedated so they can see his whole mouth. But the vet has already said of its his teeth again then it's not fair to put him through this every month. I don't want him to have to go through it monthly and tonight I'm just praying that he just has an ulcer..
About 3 months ago we stopped him biting his metal bars, do you think that's how he was keeping his teeth down? Is it usual for this problem to happen after living fine for 3 years? What else could it be except his teeth?

 

[Wiebke]

Hi! I am very sorry for your problems. Unless you have a piggy with a misaligned jaw, tooth problems tend to develop in middle aged or older piggies. The cage biting is actually more a sign of the tooth problems, not a cure.

Please tell us where you are, so we can see how much we can help you. How experienced is your vet with dental issues in guinea pigs?
I am tagging our expert, who is running a sanctuary for guinea pigs with dental problems.
@furryfriends Excellent Adventure Sanctuary

You will also need our hand feeding guide, as dental piggies don't eat for a while after the treatment, which may take several rounds to get right. It very much depends on what actually the problem is with the teeth.
http://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/complete-hand-feeding-guide.115359/

 

[katycs]

Hello, I live in Hampshire. My pig lives in our lounge and we always thought he bit the bars to get attention or food, he never seemed to just do it, which is why we made him stop.
It's just so sad because he's running around and begging for food just like always but he can't eat. He's still taking the life presever really well and is attempting to eat his hay.
Genuinely just heartbroken for him. He's starving

 

[Wiebke]

Hello, I live in Hampshire. My pig lives in our lounge and we always thought he bit the bars to get attention or food, he never seemed to just do it, which is why we made him stop.
It's just so sad because he's running around and begging for food just like always but he can't eat. He's still taking the life presever really well and is attempting to eat his hay.
Genuinely just heartbroken for him. He's starving

Please read our hand feeding guide; it has a section about dental piggies.

 

[Freela]

I have limited experience with teeth, but my pig Sundae had repeated tooth filings over a four or five month period of time. One side of her molars kept overgrowing and throwing off her bite and cutting up her tongue and the side of her mouth. After three or so dentals in about 4 months, she finally puffed up in an abscess along her jawbone. I'm pretty sure that the abscess was brewing for months, causing her to chew unevenly and wear her teeth unevenly, but we couldn't see it for a long time. Once we treated the abscess, that seems to have fixed the issue, as (knock on wood) it has been a year and no further dental work required.

I would say that it's up to you when to have an animal put to sleep. You live with him and are best able to assess his quality of life. It's not 'unfair' for him to have ongoing dental work if his quality of life between dentals is good. So don't make a decision you aren't ready to make because the vet doesn't think it's fair. I think some vets see a chronic problem in a small animal and feel it's not worth treating. I know there are some dental pigs on here who lead really good lives in spite of chronic dental issues, so don't make any decisions until you've researched your options.

There are some vets that do conscious dentistry, which could help eliminate the need to have him put under monthly if he does need ongoing work. I'm not sure where you live (I'm all by my lonesome in Canada so my resources aren't that helpful!) but not all vets are created equal when it comes to guinea pig teeth, so make sure you are seeing one who knows his/her stuff before making any final decisions.

 

[Elwickcavies]

Monthly sedation for dentals can put a strain on a guinea pig's heart so if it is an ongoing dental problem, it is important to try to find a vet that does conscious dentals. There are getting to be more of these around, but Simon at the Cat & Rabbit Clinic in Northampton is the leading guinea pig dentist in the UK. If your local vets are unwilling to try dental work without a GA, it might be worth seeing him. Details are in the recommended vets tab at the top of the page. Keep at it with the hand feeding. You need to keep his strength up while he's finding it hard to eat himself.