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just had rocky at the vets

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becks

becks

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as he is has dropped 100g in weight :-( he was only little as it was.

the vet gave him a full check and can find nothing wrong, this week we switched him onto wagg as he's been really fussy of late (though when he does eat he eats fine - same with rolo), so the vets suggested we monitor him a little longer.

she's looked at his teeth and can't see any immediate problems there but if no weight gain in the next week or so he will have to go in for a dental under anaesthetic :-( i hate having animals anaesthetised, i spend the whole day worrying about them, especially when its piggies.

rockys been eating his hay and veggies fine, so i';m hoping the wagg will do the trick....we've also just gone buying them a new snack shack as they love them.

please everyone, keep your fingers crossed for my little boy and that he does gain some weight soon and doesn't have to undergo an anaesthetic. if anyone has any tips on foods that help with weight gain it would be much appreciated too./
 
(Porridge) oats and sweetcorn are good for putting weight on.

I hope that you can get to the bottom of Rocky's weight loss; poor boy!
 
Why does he have to have a general anaesthetic when there is no nned for one?
 
alcesterpigs said:
Why does he have to have a general anaesthetic when there is no nned for one?
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because it isn't the front teeth they will be looking at (they have been checked and are fine), it is the back of the mouth for spurrs, which they can see a small one of, but don;t think that is enough to effect, but if it is then they will need to treat at the same time.
 
jess_2745 said:
I think what alcesterpigs is saying is that a vet doesnt need to use anaesthetic even for the back teeth.
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what they said was sedating - i am assumed this would entail anisthetic? though will check before booking an appointment obviously. i've never had spurs removed from teeth before - though i know from my friends with rabbits that there are very few vets (and none around here) who will remove spurs without anisthetic on rabbits.

whatever my vet advises i trust them totally - they are the vets for weirfield wildlife centre (who have been on animal rescue 24/7 a few times), they have all three levels of recommendation by the royal school of vets, and we have had numberous animals under them over the years (which they have done more than we could ask to save...including if theya re unfamiliar with the animal ie when we had a bird who was a compulsive egg layer) contacting specialists in that area for advice.

i will check though to ensure my understanding first, and see if there are any other options.
 
I say this so frequently:

There is absolutely no need at all to give a guinea pig either a sedative or a general anaesthetic to either examine or trim the teeth.

You will find that vets do this for their own benefit not for the good of the pig.
 
Have you thought of contacting the CCT, maybe Vedra is not too far away from you?
 
alcesterpigs said:
Have you thought of contacting the CCT, maybe Vedra is not too far away from you?
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CCT as in Cambridge Cavies Trust? (or am I on teh wrong abreviation?) Cambridge is a good distance from us I am afraid (talking 100 miles).

Although I will happily ring round local vets, (and even as far as Sheffield) to see if any of them would do it - we have taken Rolo to Sheffield before now (50 miles away) for veterinary treatment).
 
Yes that is the CCT. Lincolnshire covers a large area with consequent large distances!
 
Best of luck getting to the bottom of his weight loss, I hope you can find a vet who is willing to treat him without sedating him. If there is a suspected spur on his back teeth, that may well be causing him some discomfort. Is he eating normally i.e. not slower or chewing things over very carefully? How old is he?
 
alcesterpigs said:
Yes that is the CCT. Lincolnshire covers a large area with consequent large distances!
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i know, i wasn't having a go, i do appreciate your suggestion, and i know some parts of lincolnshire do even have the same start of postcode (pe) making it even more deceptive.

i did a routeplanner just in case, as even i wasn't sure.

the other site i came along
http://www.cavy-vet.co.uk/
has my vets on as one of the recommended ones.

i've a couple of days of work start of next week, so if no improvement with the food change i will have a good ring round and see if there's anywhere that will check and treat him without.
 
CCC4 said:
Best of luck getting to the bottom of his weight loss, I hope you can find a vet who is willing to treat him without sedating him. If there is a suspected spur on his back teeth, that may well be causing him some discomfort. Is he eating normally i.e. not slower or chewing things over very carefully? How old is he?
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he's picking his food up, but the vet has said that its possible he is taking it away and then hoarding it - and then his cagemate rolo is coming along eating it, so i;m going to have to watch him very closely over the next few days i think, ensure he really is chewing every little bit.

i really hope it isnt spurs, as i know that it can be a returning problem, and so have to be done every four months or so, and don;t really want to have to put him through it every four months, but time will tell i guess.

he's two years old roughly - he was a rescue of aprox 1 year when i took him on last july.

i'm going to ring lindsays vet and see whether they do dentals without - if i can find any that do i figured its worth asking them to have a proper look.
 
It's worth contacting CCT even if you can't get there, as Vedra might be able to recommend a rodentologist in your area who can do teeth without anaesthetic - she did this recently for another member on here

Hope he's ok

Sophie
x
 
sophiew said:
It's worth contacting CCT even if you can't get there, as Vedra might be able to recommend a rodentologist in your area who can do teeth without anaesthetic - she did this recently for another member on here

Hope he's ok

Sophie
x
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thanks sophie, will give that a try then.
 
alcesterpigs said:
A guinea pig hoarding food?
It is a gp not a hamster.
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not hoarding as in in his cheeks...hoarding as in picking up his food and then changfing his mind and putting it back down (after i move so i assume he is eating), i'm sorry if my wording isn't perfect.
 
Dried sweetcorn? if so were will i get it i know petshop sells it dried on cobs also how much oats?
 
i like to hand feed some of the veggies to the girls they know that i alternate between different veggies. Cottonbud eats whatever you give her, furby on the other hand tastes it decides whether she is going to eat it now, if not she takes it and puts it in her house and comes back for something else. Once i have finished giving out bits and they have finished the bowl she goes back and eats them later, funny little pig!
 
lovelygirl said:
iCottonbud eats whatever you give her, furby on the other hand tastes it decides whether she is going to eat it now, if not she takes it and puts it in her house and comes back for something else. Once i have finished giving out bits and they have finished the bowl she goes back and eats them later, funny little pig!
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that's exactly what rocky does....tho he hides it in his hay and returns later - i think cos he;s scared of missing out if more food goes in in hte meantime - that is exactly what i meant by hoarding.....i therefor assumed he'd been eating fine as the food was still vanishing, but it is possible that rolo is going eating the food not rocky.

i fed them some carrit sticks this morning, and rocky was nibbling away this time, however he does seem to eat more on one side of the mouth than the other. i;m going to watch him v closely over the next few daysl.
 
becks said:
not hoarding as in in his cheeks...hoarding as in picking up his food and then changfing his mind and putting it back down (after i move so i assume he is eating), i'm sorry if my wording isn't perfect.
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We all know what you mean Becks:). Hoping that Rocky has had a good lot to eat today. Chat later let me know what my vet says.
 
lindsay7 said:
We all know what you mean Becks:). Hoping that Rocky has had a good lot to eat today. Chat later let me know what my vet says.
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just tried your vets and again they use anisthetic, i will go through the list of vets this weekend, so that i know what the options are if no joy next week.

thansk for being so supportive on this lindsay, it's much appreciated.
 
Good luck love i know what its like to go thru a piggie with toofie problems......argh it's so ongoing.........
If possible retrain Rocky to eat all veg and hay etc........ it may take time....look at Debbie's thread re Poppet it took her over 6 months but it worked!
Wishing little Rocky all the best i do hope it's something that can be trimmed without aneas.....for Rocky's sake (i went thru over 1 year of anaeas with our piggie......it's difficult for them when they come out, they're so out of it)......but if you find you have to....be ready with some nibblies, not straight afterwards unless you know he can tolerate. Then offer food constantly cause when they recover from anaes they seem to loose their appetite slightly, you then have to offer and encourage constantly xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx sorry to repeat but i've been thru this, just offering my opinion on what i've experienced.

All our loves and wheeeeeeeeeees for little Rocky xx>>>xx>>>xx>>>xx>>>xx>>>
 
thanks glynis, it's always nice to know others who have been through it - how is your piggie these days?

i'm really hoping that thing smay be on the up today, though i am still very wary and monitoring....lindsay and i have compared exactly what he was eating at hers (he stayed with her for almost a month in june/july whilst i was on honeymoon) and we've come up with soemthing he hasn't had since - green beans.

i've also switched him end of last week to wag, as they started being funny over excel (they did this on lindsay whilst i was away and she'd given them a mix of the two).

anyway yesterday i thought he'd increased (our scales work in 25g, and it was between two), and today there is a definate increase (it's on the next 25g marker) so i'm hoping it continues.

i've been standing watching him eat, and whilst yesterday i thought he was eating just on one side in the morning, last night he definiatly ate on both sides of the mouth and chewed his food well.

have to wait and see now what happens with time - i am praying that he wont need a dental still!
 
Just as an aside, I bought some digital scales for about £9.99 from Tesco and they are brilliant - so much more accurate, might be worth seeing if you can get some? my old scales would give a different weight each time you weighed the same pig!

Hope he's ok

Sophie
x
 
Would my enormous hunk of a pig Dexter fit on the Tesco scales, Sophie? You know how big he is, I'm having a hard time finding digital scales that will hold him! I could really use digital scales, it'd be quicker if the scales tell me what the pigs weight is than me counting myself.

Good luck Becks, hope he continues to improve.
 
My digital scales were free with a stationery order at work and they gave me them for the Guinea pigs. x)

My scales get well used they have a nice big bowl at the top for the piggies to sit in which is good for Chocolates huge but gorgeous bum to fit.x)

Well done Rocky, Auntie Lindsay send her love and the girls send extrax>>
 
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