• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Mouth Health Advice

Status
Not open for further replies.
M

Mandy129

New Born Pup
Joined
Mar 12, 2017
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Points
20
Hi one of our Guinea Pig has some sort of problem with his mouth. It seems to have gone all crusty! He seems to be eating ok but it doesn't look very comfortable. We tried to clean it but he's not happy about it.... I'm in Australia & vets cost a fortune just for a consult so wondered if anyone had any advice/ home remidies. Ive attempted to attach a photo. Grateful for ant feedback.

20170312_082249.webp
 
That's probably fungal, you'd definitely have to go to the vets for that. Poor little man! Looks very painful. Hope he's better soon :)
 
Vets are expensive here too but that will definitely need seeing to, it's worth it to make them better though!
 
Mandy129 said:
Hi one of our Guinea Pig has some sort of problem with his mouth. It seems to have gone all crusty! He seems to be eating ok but it doesn't look very comfortable. We tried to clean it but he's not happy about it.... I'm in Australia & vets cost a fortune just for a consult so wondered if anyone had any advice/ home remidies. Ive attempted to attach a photo. Grateful for ant feedback.

View attachment 60349
Click to expand...

Hi! This looks like a very advanced case of cheilitis, i.e. lip inflammation/infection to me. Your vet may need to administer a two-pronged antibiotic, preferably a strong one, and ideally systemic oral antifungal approach to hopefully get on top of it now; cheilitis can be fatal if it has progressed too far. Just home remedies are not enough, especially not when it has got to that stage!

Please take any fruit (including tomatoes), as well as scratchy hay off the menu.

Guinea Lynx :: Cheilitis
 
You have to get this piggy to the vet. I'm sorry but if you take on a piggy you take on the vet bills as well.
Your piggy is probably in pain, it's not fair to leave him like this.
 
Thanks for the advice... I have been to the vet & she looked puzzled at his symptons. She took my piggy to another room to check in the mouth & said she removed some blocked food from inside the lip & the pouch. She said he needed dental treatment for his back teeth as she thought he wasn't chewing correctly but it needed a specialist vet. She sent me away with some general info, no medication, no mention of fungus etc. I have rung the said specialist who has quoted a minimum of $500 for first treatment & probably a requirement to have dental treatment every six months. The vet seemed to think he was healthy other than that. Although now i am concerned he's not eating much.... maybe the trauma of the vet visit? Could she have got this wrong? The scabby lip seems to have improved on its own.
 
I think I'd go to another vet how on earth could the vet leave your piggy like this. He needs urgent treatment. he may not be eating probably because his mouth is so sore. You have to take him to a better vet
 
I am sorry, but I think it sounds like the vet that you saw really does not have any idea about guinea pigs.
At the very least she should start treatment for cheilitis.
As others have mentioned a double pronged attack (bacterial+fungal) would be the best option for such a severe case.

How did she diagnose the dental problem?
Has you piggy been loosing weight?

I think I would try and find a more guinea pig savvy vet and ask for a second opinion.
Or is it possible to return to your original vet with more information (guinea lynx has some good suggestions for cheilitis) and ask if you can start treating the lip problem before going down the dental route?
 
In the meantime...it's better than no treatment at all.

Search for it on the internet and see if you can get it while looking into finding a vet who knows what they're doing with guinea pigs.
 
Also make sure the vet doesn't think piggies teeth should be straight. The first vet I went to recommended either straightening the teeth (which results in death because they're not supposed to be straight) or PUTTING HER DOWN because basically she had no idea piggies teeth should be at an angle because they're fibrevours.

You definitely need to find a better vet, I wish they would actually be trained to be decent vets. The should be struck off imo. If this happened at the doctors to a child they would never work again.
 
Hiya - can you please add your country, state/province or UK county to your details, so we can help you better. click on your username on the top, then go to personal details and scroll down to location. this makes it appear below your username in every post and allows us to tailor any advice instead of keeping it general. We have got members and enquiries from all over the world.
Unfortunately, the Guinea Lynx list of recommended piggy savvy vets in some countries seems to have disappeared.

If your piggy is losing its appetite, please step in with syringe feed; that is vital. Switch to weighing daily at the same time to monitor the food intake and be able to adjust the feed accordingly. Hay should make up to 80% of the daily food intake, but it is impossible to monitor that!
Our step-by-step guide also tells you what you can do with what you have at home or easily available. Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
 
Ugh... that's frustrating. It's my pet peeve when vets without any experience with the animal still agree to see them, do nothing productive, and then charge you for it. I've been there too (actually lost a pig who might have survived with more up-to-date treatment) and it makes me mad! It can be really hard, depending on where you are, to find vets with guinea pig experience, but it's well worth phoning everyone within an hour or two and seeing if anyone is experience with guinea pigs or similar animals. I can't believe a vet would look at that scaling on the lips and not see an issue. I hope you can find someone who knows their stuff!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top