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Not Malocclusion But Refusing To Eat, Dropping Food, Drooling And Diarrhea

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Monty the Grey

New Born Pup
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Brno, Czech Republic
Hi,
my girlfriend and I are rather desperate with our 2.5-year-old Monty, who's been feeling unwell for the past 2-3 months.

Right now he's only eating very little (having lost almost 100g in the past week), we have to force-feed him instant hay (RodiCare) and hand-feed him vegetables and fruit - he rarely eats anything we leave him in the cage. Today he even has trouble to eat anything at all, he only bites the food and leaves it be.

In the past couple of weeks he had diarrhea, which might have improved in the last few days but he's still not pooping proper poops. He also makes weird clicking sounds when swallowing, he drools and food falls out of his mouth, but malocclusion has been ruled out by a vet (see the history below).

He's still active occasionally - walking around the flat as before, but he's become more tired and his moods are very down in general (he used to be very wild but he no longer runs away from us, he's comfortable lying for 20 minutes rather than 2 as before etc.).

The last vet we visited said she had no idea what he might be suffering from, but she suggested she could perform an endoscopy if we wanted. However, we're not sure if we want to put him through all that. We don't want him to suffer, but it's hard to say if he's suffering already or not, because occasionally he still looks happy even if he's not his old self in general.



Recent history (extra data for those interested):
The troubles started with an enlarged nipple. We took him to a local vet, who gave him antibiotics to see if they would help. He also gave us some general pet probiotics (not guinea pig- or rodent-specific). Monty was taking the antibiotics for 2 weeks but since his nipple didn't change too much, we decided to take him off the meds and only continued with the probiotics.

At this point he'd already stopped eating hay and in general he ate less than before. He also started drinking water - despite having refused to drink all his life, getting water only from cucumbers and other vegetables. But since he'd stopped eating, he started drinking water directly. And he started having diarrhea.

Because of the loss of appetite and weight-loss we took him to a vet at my girlfriend's home town, whom she'd known from the past. She agreed with our conclusion that Monty might be suffering from coccidiosis and she gave him some anti-coccidiosis meds and had his poop tested (turned out positive as a medium stage coccidiosis).

We took him back home and after a few days of taking the meds he stopped eating altogether. We took him to another local vet, who deals with dental problems - we assumed his teeth might have overgrown from not eating properly for the past month and a half. She put him to sleep and examined his mouth and took an x-ray but said that his teeth are fine, except for having grey spots caused by digesting problems and limited diet. For another 4 day she was giving him meds to boost the digestive system.

After he finished the digesting meds, we started giving him special rodent probiotics (Bio-Lapis). We had his poop analyzed again and yesterday it came out negative for coccidiosis and other parasites. That said, Monty is still unwell, eating very little and we have no idea what to do with him at this point
 
Hi there,

Have you been syringe feeding him? Guinea pigs that arent eating willingly need to be syringe fed regularly to keep the guts , and in turn their whole system, working properly.

Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

It would be great if you could add your location to your profile- this enables us to tailor any advice given to your location and advise on what is available where you are.

Have you checked the recommended vet locator at the top of the page to find a piggy savvy vet in your area? It sounds like you need a second opinion to examine the teeth as well as the throat. I understand its terribly fustrating when we dont know what is wrong, which is why 2nd, sometimes 3rd and 4th, opinions are needed.

Please start syringe feeding him for the time being, and try and locate another piggy savvy vet that may be able to help you. It sounds like a teeth/mouth/ throat problem to me, and he will require a second opinion to try and get to the root of the issue.

Hope you get some answers soon x
 
Hi, Adelle,
thank you very much for your reply.

Yes, we've been syringe feeding him, for over a month, actually. We're giving him probiotics this way and instant hay (pulverized hay which needs to be mixed with water).

The first vet we visited was rather inexperienced with guinea pigs, the seconds one was good but only dealt with the coccidiosis, the third one took an x-ray and is the town's specialist in rodent dental problems, hence we trust her expertise. The weird thing is that the last vet agreed that all symptoms point to malocclusion but that she's pretty sure it's not that.

We might have to find someone for a second opinion though, it won't hurt at this point.
 
Hi and welcome!

Please step in with syringe feeding to make sure that your boy is getting enough food.
If he has diarrhea, please stop the fresh food and just concentrate on the fibre. You can feed mushed up pellets, recovery food or a mix of both until the poos have firmed up again for at least 24 hours. See your vet if his poos are not firming up again by Monday morning.

Our detailed illustrated syringe feeding guide tells you how; it also contains a section on care for dental guinea pigs. You have already been given the link. Make sure that you also offer plenty of water and that you do not force any food in that he is not able to take. Rather give little, but often, no more than 0.5 ml at the most, less if he has problems to swallow.
Please weigh your boy once daily at the same time to keep an eye on his weight/food intake.

Did your vet check the premolars at the back for spurs that can overgrow and either trap the tongue or burrow into the cheek very quickly when a piggy can't chew properly anymore? Has she considered oral fungal thrush or a dental abscess in the making?

Thank you for adding your country; that is a great help.

I am linking in our members who have the most experience with caring for dental guinea pigs. @furryfriends (TEAS) @MintyAndGarry (TEAS)
 
Hi, Wiebke!
Thanks for your fast response as well.

As mentioned to Adelle, we're syringe feeding him already, we have for around a month. We're giving him RodiCare (instant hay) and Bio Lapis which is mentioned in the Syringe Feeding Guide.

The diarrhea got better after we started with Bio Lapis, the poop are still not 100% solid but they're not liquid or too mushy anymore.

Monty got a head x-ray and overgrown or side-growing teeth were ruled out. We didn't discuss fungal trush or dental abscess but the vet assured us that she'd examined Monty's mouth and throat thoroughly when he was asleep.

And thank you very much for summoning other experienced members of the forum, this community is very awesome!
 
Hi, Wiebke!
Thanks for your fast response as well.

As mentioned to Adelle, we're syringe feeding him already, we have for around a month. We're giving him RodiCare (instant hay) and Bio Lapis which is mentioned in the Syringe Feeding Guide.

The diarrhea got better after we started with Bio Lapis, the poop are still not 100% solid but they're not liquid or too mushy anymore.

Monty got a head x-ray and overgrown or side-growing teeth were ruled out. We didn't discuss fungal trush or dental abscess but the vet assured us that she'd examined Monty's mouth and throat thoroughly when he was asleep.

And thank you very much for summoning other experienced members of the forum, this community is very awesome!

If the poop is still staying on the soft side, could you try and see whether you can get hold of fibreplex (which also contains probiotics)? It can help where a conventional probiotic can't help with a digestion that is not working properly, especially when the poo is stubbornly on the soft side.
Probiotics, Recovery Foods And Vitamin C: Overview With Product Links

Please appreciate that it is a weekend and both the members I have linked in are very busy people running a sanctuary for guinea pigs with dental problems on top of their normal jobs, so they may not be able to come back to you or not as quickly.
 
I am not sure that an actual dental issue would show on xray as such. You need to examine the crowns of the teeth to be sure what is actually going on. The fact that the mouth was examined under GA should have confirmed much more, but it may be that a tiny spike on a tooth was missed. It could also be an oral thrush that is causing the issue. Does your guinea pig still seem interested in food? Dental piggies desperately want to eat, but can't, whereas a poorly piggy just won't be interested in even trying to eat. Are you giving any pain relief?

I wouldn't be worried about the soft poops as this is completely normal for a guinea pig who is only eating syringe food.
 
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