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I hope this is allowed... can anyone recommend a cavy savvy vet near Southampton/Hampshire?

Fluffbabies said:
Oh no! Do you know if there would be an alternative treatment Simon would go for then? I do wish they were there to go and see with her! Would providing her with pain relief for two weeks so I can take her to them be a possibility or would that be far too long. I don't want it to get worse for her by waiting but I want her to have the right treatment.

Do you have any idea how often dentals need to be done and the approximate cost? I imagine it would be more stress for her each time.
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How is she in herself, at the moment? Simon is in work on Saturday 3rd April, but wouldn’t be able to do surgery that day. It’s hard to know how often dentals would need to be done, if the tooth was removed. Probably every few weeks x
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
How is she in herself, at the moment? Simon is in work on Saturday 3rd April, but wouldn’t be able to do surgery that day. It’s hard to know how often dentals would need to be done, if the tooth was removed. Probably every few weeks x
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Oh no :( every few weeks would be very hard for us to get to Northampton that often as we live in Southampton! And I don't know how I'd feel about getting dentals done somewhere else where she'd be put under each time. If they could do something about the abscess without removing the tooth and needing dentals I think it might be better for her.

She's fine in herself at the moment. She looks healthy otherwise, she will run around and get excited for salad/veggies, she's eating hay, nuggets and drinking. She's a good steady weight. I haven't noticed her having difficulty eating but I have noticed her top front teeth are ever so slightly uneven now when they were always perfect before. I think she's sleeping a bit more and she will make a little nest in the hay to sleep in, which she never used to do. The other piggies went to guard her when I was showing Chris the lump on her eye which concerned us a little. She was chewing the wicker ball as well.

I don't want to risk her recovering from this or getting sick by waiting if that's too long. It feels like a long time to me but I don't know anything about piggy tooth abscesses and what could happen by waiting.

If she's on metacam and an antibiotic, I guess I'll likely need to be syringe feeding her if the antibiotic means she loses her appetite?

Auxi said she could refer to Anton Vets (I don't want Leia going there from my previous experience with them) or Great Western Exotic in Swindon, which she said communicates well back and forth with her. I wonder if anyone has any experience with going to Great Western for similar?
 
Fluffbabies said:
Oh no :( every few weeks would be very hard for us to get to Northampton that often as we live in Southampton! And I don't know how I'd feel about getting dentals done somewhere else where she'd be put under each time. If they could do something about the abscess without removing the tooth and needing dentals I think it might be better for her.

She's fine in herself at the moment. She looks healthy otherwise, she will run around and get excited for salad/veggies, she's eating hay, nuggets and drinking. She's a good steady weight. I haven't noticed her having difficulty eating but I have noticed her top front teeth are ever so slightly uneven now when they were always perfect before. I think she's sleeping a bit more and she will make a little nest in the hay to sleep in, which she never used to do. The other piggies went to guard her when I was showing Chris the lump on her eye which concerned us a little. She was chewing the wicker ball as well.

I don't want to risk her recovering from this or getting sick by waiting if that's too long. It feels like a long time to me but I don't know anything about piggy tooth abscesses and what could happen by waiting.

If she's on metacam and an antibiotic, I guess I'll likely need to be syringe feeding her if the antibiotic means she loses her appetite?

Auxi said she could refer to Anton Vets (I don't want Leia going there from my previous experience with them) or Great Western Exotic in Swindon, which she said communicates well back and forth with her. I wonder if anyone has any experience with going to Great Western for similar?
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My friend’s rabbit went to Great Western and sadly had a very bad experience. They did the wrong op!
I think you should be able to get through to Simon returning. Does it appear to be growing in size?
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
My friend’s rabbit went to Great Western and sadly had a very bad experience. They did the wrong op!
I think you should be able to get through to Simon returning. Does it appear to be growing in size?
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I'm unsure. We first noticed it Friday night so in a week it might have grown a little bit. It's still the size of a large marrowfat pea, not yet marble size. It feels hard to me and can't be comfortable. It's sticking out her cheek.
 
Fluffbabies said:
I'm unsure. We first noticed it Friday night so in a week it might have grown a little bit. It's still the size of a large marrowfat pea, not yet marble size. It feels hard to me and can't be comfortable. It's sticking out her cheek.
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It’s hard to know what to suggest. I think with some Zithromax, it’ll hold it in check until Simon is back x
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
It’s hard to know what to suggest. I think with some Zithromax, it’ll hold it in check until Simon is back x
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Thank you so much for talking to me about it. It's hard knowing what to do when you haven't heard great things about the other options (Anton Vets and Great Western) and Cat and Rabbit are a long wait. I know it is a hard situation to judge!

I just got off the phone with Cat and Rabbit. They're fully booked today obviously but I explained the situation and asked if they could find time to just ask Simon or Kim if they think we can make it til the 12th. They're fully booked on the 3rd as well so that's not an option. I am leaning towards waiting until the 12th, treating her with the Metacam and antibiotic to try and hold it in check. I wouldn't want to put her through an op somewhere I don't have confidence in which would then mean monthly 4.5 hour round trips to get her teeth done. If that's what it takes then I may go that route anyway. She is 4. I think my partner might be leaning towards keeping her as comfortable as possible but not treating it as she's 4. But I think she may have a year or two left!
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
It’s hard to know what to suggest. I think with some Zithromax, it’ll hold it in check until Simon is back x
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Auxi just rang me with the results of the X-ray. She told me that it is not just one tooth that has issues, that there is a group of multiple overgrown teeth. She said that the issues are in the roots, not the mouth. As I understand it she said the roots are overgrowing into the mandible and it is a chronic disease that will continue to cause issues. She said that the affected tooth will need to be removed to get rid of the abscess and that it's quite a big operation. She said that it is likely even if we remove this tooth and solve this abscess, that in time the other teeth will need removing as well as they get worse and cause more abscesses. So she said at the moment she is happy and sorting this tooth would be a good idea but in time it may be too much to keep have removals/dental work done.

She said the consequence of not treating at this point or with the next issue, would be that the abscess spreads to the inner ear or the eye. That if we don't go the surgical root the only treatment is to keep her as comfortable as possible on Metacam (painkiller and anti-inflammatory) and that she will probably be able to continue eating and living under this pain relief until the point that she cannot eat anymore. And at that time it would be time to let her go and PTS. :'(

I'm going to see what Simon/Kim say when they hopefully she her when they're back.

How does this sound to you as someone who knows a lot about dental pigs? Does it sound about right? I know she's just turned 4 and I don't want this to be the beginning of the end. I want to keep her living happily as long as possible even if that means paying for ops/dental work but I also need to know at what point it's too much to put her through if it'll be issue after issue.
 
Oh and I asked for an antibiotic. Auxi said she didn't think it would do much because the fluid in guinea pig abscesses is quite think so it wouldn't treat it well. But she said she will give me Cephaloridine?
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
double check the suitability of the antibiotic as I think it may be similar to penicillin which is toxic for guinea pigs x
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I think I heard it wrong.. the antibiotic is Sulfratrim (trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole) 0.2ml twice a day.
The metacam she prescribe 0.4ml twice a day. Leia weighs 1.042kg.
They did give me a huge syringe so I have to pop back out to find a smaller syringe so I can accurately measure those small amounts 🙄
 
Fluffbabies said:
I think I heard it wrong.. the antibiotic is Sulfratrim (trimethoprim and sulfamethoxazole) 0.2ml twice a day.
The metacam she prescribe 0.4ml twice a day. Leia weighs 1.042kg.
They did give me a huge syringe so I have to pop back out to find a smaller syringe so I can accurately measure those small amounts 🙄
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Ah, thank goodness for that! 😊
 
I've booked in to get Leia seen on the 14th April. It was the first appointment they had. She's just got to make it 3 weeks now with the painkillers and antibiotics. I've got critical care on standby. Fingers crossed and try not to worry too much in the meanwhile is all we can do now I guess!
 
Fluffbabies said:
I've booked in to get Leia seen on the 14th April. It was the first appointment they had. She's just got to make it 3 weeks now with the painkillers and antibiotics. I've got critical care on standby. Fingers crossed and try not to worry too much in the meanwhile is all we can do now I guess!
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Now you've got an appointment, you can ring on the 12th at 8 am and say you would like an emergency appointment xx
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
Now you've got an appointment, you can ring on the 12th at 8 am and say you would like an emergency appointment xx
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It wasn’t that they don’t have time on the 12th or 13th but they said they didn’t have the operating room on those days. Only on the 14th 🤷🏼‍♀️
 
I just gave Leia her metacam and antibiotic for the second time. First time being last night. Wow what a struggle! I didn’t want to hurt her tooth root abscess more by holding her face and mouth but we got it in eventually!

I weighed her and I was shocked that she’s only 999g this morning :( she was 1042g on the 24th. I’m going to phone the vets when they open and ask what she was yesterday. Her weight does go up and down but averages at 1039. When should I be (more) worried about her weight. Three weeks seems like forever if she’s dropping weight already :(

I gave her a handful of basil after her meds and she chowed it down. She will eat her lettuce but not at such rapid pace as the others although she looks like she’s trying to keep up! I think she’s trying to eat hay because we see her with little bits in her mouth but it may not be enough to maintain her weight. I’m pleased that she is running round the cage when we shake the salad bag but I’m very worried about keeping her strong for 3 weeks.

i’ve got the critical care on hand but I don’t want to hurt and stress her more by holding her to give it to her If I can courage her to eat more veggies
 
She is now chasing nugget and mounting her a lot. I don’t know if that’s a good sign or a sign she’s in pain/grumpy!
 
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