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Lotties teeth and weight loss

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Amysmom

Amysmom

Teenage Guinea Pig
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As my daughter mentioned in a previous thread one of our girls Lottie had to have her teeth looked at by the vet because we noticed her top and bottom front teeth were at a slant.The vet tried to have a look at her back teeth but unfortunately couldnt because there was so much hay at the back of her mouth.

We have just had a look again and her teeth arent slanted anymore!
The problem is though that she has lost 5g of weight in 2 days-should we be worried by this? She also makes a noise when she eats certain foods-like a crunching kind of noise and when she eats fruit and veg she starts off enthusiastic but then goes off it but she does finish off cucumber and romaine lettuce though.

The vet said the main thing to watch at the moment is her weight and that if she looses it she will have to have her in and have a look around the back of her mouth to see what the problem could be.Is the weight loss of 5g in 2 days the point where we need to be worried?
 
The difference between a big wee can be 30g in guinea pigs, so 5g is NOTHING to worry about. :)

Obviously keep an eye and make sure she isnt loosing weight, but 5g is not a problem. :)
 
I would definitely take her in. I think losing 5 g in two days is definitely worth looking into. My experience with teeth is that by the time you notice an issue with the front teeth, there is an issue with the back teeth too. Maybe you could try encouraging her to drink or rinsing her mouth gently with syringed water before taking her in, to make it easier for the vet to view the back molars. Good luck- hope this helps!
 
Bonnie weighs 522g, so has put on 11g in the past two days.
Lottie is now 454g. Are these average weights for a 3 month old?!
 
Unfortunatly with piggies there are only ranges of average, rather than exacts. :) The general rule is for them to be putting on a steady amount of weight per week. :)

However, My boys weighed just a little more than that when i got them at 4 months old, so i would say they arnt underweight.

HTH
 
I'm taking Lottie back to the vet later on because she just wont eat veg/fruit this morning.I put her on my lap and tried her with grated carrot, she starts to eat then suddenly goes off it, she did the same with her romaine lettuce she usually loves.I put her back in the cage and she was squeeling at me as if to say 'I'm hungry!'.All she seems to be able to eat is hay.
Shes also at the water bottle A LOT and I'm wondering if its because shes either soothing something in her mouth or shes trying to fill herself up.

I spoke to the vet on the phone-shes at another branch today and she has a full list but shes agreed to have another look at her.She said she doesnt want to dive straight in but will try and have another look (I will remember the syringe of water tip if theres hay in her mouth).She said it may be that there may be something going on in her mouth that will right itself, is so she will give her some painkillers and hopefully that will enable he to eat.

Fingers crossed she gets sorted so she can enjoy her food like her sister Bonnie.
 
While I don't think 5g is that much of a weight loss (mine fluctuate weekly but around 30g), if she is struggling to eat is definitely a good idea to get her checked. Does her breath smell at all? if so it could be oral fungal, which makes their mouth really sore.
 
Well the vet managed to have a good look around Lotties mouth and she did syringe water into her mouth and remove the hay that was in there.She said she is reluctant to do that because sometimes they can inhale the water into their lungs but it worked a treat and enabled her to have a good look.

The good news is she cant see any problems with her teeth and those front ones have definatley grown back-they were beautifully straight.She said its an indication thats shes eating, she also had a feel around her tummy and felt pellet deposits-so she IS eating her dry food.

We are now hoping that the cause is that because it looks at though she broke her teeth it left her with some pain so 1st we are trying her with some pain relief-Metacam once a day and hope it gets her through this patch until things settle down.

The vet said shes such a lively guinea pig-she certainly is! she doesnt think theres any other underlying things going on-fingers crossed.
She really is a lovely girl-so cheeky, confident and loveable so we just pray she gets over this and its nothing more serious.
 
oh poor Lottie thats a lot to go through, I hope the metcam works a treat and she's back on her feet and munching away happily soon
 
I'm glad the back teeth look good- it does make sure that if she hurt her teeth earlier they may still be sore and she may be reluctant to eat because of that. Keep an eye on her weight, and try to tempt her with some tasty treats! I hope the pain relief does the trick and she is back on her food quickly!
 
Lottie has just had some very soft juicy pear and loved it, have also syringed her some soluble vitamin c as adviced by the vet.

We will keep a close eye on her weight and we have to make sure her poops dont become sloppy or have blood in as this is a side effect of the painkiller.

I just want to see her gain the weight that her sister is-she looks quite a lot bigger than Lottie.
 
Just for comparison my piggies at 3 months were 590g (Daisy, rex) & 600g (Ziggy, an aby) I might just have fatty piggies though lol

The teddies & rex are similar types of piggy, but I'm not sure how they compare.
 
I dont really know if the panikiller is helping Lottie or not because she still wont eat much fruit and veg.She will happily eat a grape and very ripe pear but when she eats cucmber or apple she goes off it after a few bites.
She wont touch carrot at all.As far as I know she is eating her dry food and is definately eating lots of hay.

Another thing is that shes grinding her teeth quite a lot but other than that she a happy,lively confident little girl so I dont know what to think-I thought guinea pigs who grind their teeth are in some sort of discomfort.
 
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