jess496
Junior Guinea Pig
I need some advice on my 4 year old Guinea pig.
He's had dental surgery for first time Friday and now he's even worse than before, he's not eating hard foods at all and he's trying to refuse critical care but I hate forcing him if he doesn't want it. It's like he can't swallow the food?. I'm not sure why that is.
I think the vet has messed up here because I think she's filed his two back teeth too much to the point where he cannot chew food at all and she also filed his front bottom teeth down alot even though they weren't long at all so she didn't need to touch them so now his tongue sticks out when trying to eat so he can't pick up food because it's so short but I'm not sure if what she's done is right?. At first I thought they were gone as they are that short.
I took him to the vets 4 times already because he had lost weight and was fussy with his food, first two appointments they didn't seem concerned that he lost quite amount of weight and I booked third appointment last Fri for an x-ray so that nothing was missed, when I arrived the vet said they would take an x-ray which I signed a form for it and if there is any dental work needed doing they said they would do it straight after x-ray so they kept him there all day. I had no updates that day so I had to call to find out as I was worried about him because sedation is risky for Guinea pigs but they said on phone that they did mild sedation for x-ray.
When I collected him after his surgery, I asked for printed x-ray images so I can have a look myself and the receptionist kept putting me off said they'll have to ask the vet so I waited until the next day, they emailed me two photos that the vet took on her phone of before and after during surgery but I said to them where is the x-ray images and they took ages to respond so I emailed them again and still no answer so I called them asking for the x-ray images and it turned out that they didn't even do them which I'm angry because they have done the surgery without an x-ray? They cannot even see all the back teeth so what if they are also over grown?. They even said that if the back teeth that can't be seen by eye are over grown they cannot do them anyway but they did the two big ones that you can see by eye.
I'm really stuck because vets in my area don't seem to know much about guinea pigs and I had no choice but to let them do it. It might not even be the teeth if they had done the x-ray. Surely filing teeth wouldn't make him worse than he was before?.
What am I supposed to do for him? It's costing alot of money if he's not improving and I'm stuck because I don't want to take him back if they aren't doing the correct treatment as they didn't listen to me about wanting an x-ray. It's very hard to find a good vet.
I also spoke to Simon vets that everyone on here seems to recommend to ask for advice and they can't help unless I bring him in which isn't possible as I can't get there which is so frustrating. They wouldn't even give advice or recommend another vet nearer.
When I feed him critical care or water it's like it doesn't go down? It's like there's a blockage if that makes sense? I don't want to take him back to the vets because I don't trust them and I feel it's not fair on him to keep taking him back as it must be so stressful. I feel terrible as I see guinea pig owners that manage to keep their guinea pigs going for months with critical care food & they get through it but I feel like I'm falling him as I can't stop him losing weight everyday & it's really tiring doing this.
I've also complained to vets by email this morning and have had no response yet.
Can someone have a look at the two photos of his teeth and confirm that they were over gown? I'm no expert but I don't think they were that bad?.
His weight was 1467g and he's now 1109g.
He's had dental surgery for first time Friday and now he's even worse than before, he's not eating hard foods at all and he's trying to refuse critical care but I hate forcing him if he doesn't want it. It's like he can't swallow the food?. I'm not sure why that is.
I think the vet has messed up here because I think she's filed his two back teeth too much to the point where he cannot chew food at all and she also filed his front bottom teeth down alot even though they weren't long at all so she didn't need to touch them so now his tongue sticks out when trying to eat so he can't pick up food because it's so short but I'm not sure if what she's done is right?. At first I thought they were gone as they are that short.
I took him to the vets 4 times already because he had lost weight and was fussy with his food, first two appointments they didn't seem concerned that he lost quite amount of weight and I booked third appointment last Fri for an x-ray so that nothing was missed, when I arrived the vet said they would take an x-ray which I signed a form for it and if there is any dental work needed doing they said they would do it straight after x-ray so they kept him there all day. I had no updates that day so I had to call to find out as I was worried about him because sedation is risky for Guinea pigs but they said on phone that they did mild sedation for x-ray.
When I collected him after his surgery, I asked for printed x-ray images so I can have a look myself and the receptionist kept putting me off said they'll have to ask the vet so I waited until the next day, they emailed me two photos that the vet took on her phone of before and after during surgery but I said to them where is the x-ray images and they took ages to respond so I emailed them again and still no answer so I called them asking for the x-ray images and it turned out that they didn't even do them which I'm angry because they have done the surgery without an x-ray? They cannot even see all the back teeth so what if they are also over grown?. They even said that if the back teeth that can't be seen by eye are over grown they cannot do them anyway but they did the two big ones that you can see by eye.
I'm really stuck because vets in my area don't seem to know much about guinea pigs and I had no choice but to let them do it. It might not even be the teeth if they had done the x-ray. Surely filing teeth wouldn't make him worse than he was before?.
What am I supposed to do for him? It's costing alot of money if he's not improving and I'm stuck because I don't want to take him back if they aren't doing the correct treatment as they didn't listen to me about wanting an x-ray. It's very hard to find a good vet.
I also spoke to Simon vets that everyone on here seems to recommend to ask for advice and they can't help unless I bring him in which isn't possible as I can't get there which is so frustrating. They wouldn't even give advice or recommend another vet nearer.
When I feed him critical care or water it's like it doesn't go down? It's like there's a blockage if that makes sense? I don't want to take him back to the vets because I don't trust them and I feel it's not fair on him to keep taking him back as it must be so stressful. I feel terrible as I see guinea pig owners that manage to keep their guinea pigs going for months with critical care food & they get through it but I feel like I'm falling him as I can't stop him losing weight everyday & it's really tiring doing this.
I've also complained to vets by email this morning and have had no response yet.
Can someone have a look at the two photos of his teeth and confirm that they were over gown? I'm no expert but I don't think they were that bad?.
His weight was 1467g and he's now 1109g.
It's great that you're getting him seen so quickly, I hope everything goes well at the vet and they figure out what's going on