Overgrown Molars - What’s Needed?

[A Guinea Pig]

My almost 2-year-old guinea pig, Sugar, started losing weight, and she's now down over 150 grams (from 850 to 700); she used to be extremely chunky and is now pretty skinny. As soon as this began, I started giving her critical care and got her into our specialized exotic veterinary clinic a few days later. Her problem is an overgrown molar on the bottom left side pushing into her tongue.

She was sent home with Meloxicam two days ago and is still getting critical care multiple times a day. Her poop is also soft so I gave her Bene-Bac but it hasn’t seemed to work nor has stopping veggies. Should I continue to give her Bene-Bac, and will she be able to have veggies even with soft poop?

Her molars need to be filed; I was quoted just over one 1 grand, or 750 if I chose not to do “Pre-Anesthetic Bloodwork” or “IV Catheter and Fluids during Surgery/Procedure”. That's on top of the initial 200 for the exam and meds. She’s an expensive piggy but definitely worth it.

I’m in training right now to become a veterinary assistant, I was speaking to one of the vet techs (who doesn’t normally work with exotics) about what she thought of the price rundown; see what she thought because it is definitely expensive.

Pre-Anesthetic Exam:
$80.00 → $80.00
Pre-Anesthetic Bloodwork with PCV/TP, Mammal (In-House):
$0.00 → $177.00
IV Catheter and Fluids during Surgery/Procedure:
$0.00 → $161.60
Teeth Filing Minor (Anesthesia + PM + SC Fluids):
$615.20 → $615.20
Flumazenil 0.1 mg/ml Injection:
$60.70 → $60.70
Subtotal: $755.90 → $1094.50

She said to get the blood work, but that this was definitely on the expensive side and to shop around different clinics (which would cost more in exams), and that any time I choose a more specialized clinic it’s going to cost more. Is it recommended to give guinea pigs IV catheters, fluids, and blood work for a molar trim?

The quote included overnight staying, which I’ve emailed asking for that to be removed and the new quote sans that. The vet tech in my program agreed with me that she needed to be taken home to be given critical care and monitored overnight as that would not happen if she was left alone there.

The non-exotic clinic (that still has exotic vets) I took my passed guinea pig, Opal to, was quoted this:

Teeth Trim - Small Mammal
117
Oxygen & Gas Anesthesia 1st hr
97
Sedation Monitoring
70
Presurgical Physical Exam
0
Surgery- Nursing Care
0
Midazolam 5mg/ml Injection
29.23
Buprenex Injectable
22.30
Send Home Medications If Needed
30
Actual total may vary between: $354.95 and $384.95

The second clinic when quoting Opal, didn’t offer the extra blood test of fuilds/IV; I'm 99% sure they had the same issue.

I’m mainly worried that this is going to need to be redone often. The vet didn’t mention it but I know with Opal her genetics are poor on the teeth side so she would have. If needed again how long would it take, and would it be recommended that she get an X-ray to identify the problem or would it? It would matter since she would need the shaving regardless. If an X-ray is needed is it recommended for her to be sedated, and should I ask for that at the same time as the teeth filing?

Sorry for all the questions and the long post. It's pretty difficult to find specific answers to things like this, even when looking at older threads and doing lots of Google searches.

 

[piggieminder]

I have no experience of teeth trims but didn't want to read and run. Hopefully someone with experience of this will be along soon.

 

[Mrs Tiggy Winkle]

The first quote sounds very expensive to me. In the past I have had toothwork done on my piggies but there aren't specialised clinics here.
Sorry to be cynical, but this sounds a bit like we can charge this so we will. Or we can try and bill all sorts of stuff that's maybe not even necessary like the overnight stay.

But I am in a different country, so things may well be different. Though in early days in this country when I was counted as privately insured because on my parents' medical insurance in Canada (I was still a student) doctors and dentists tried to add extras to their work for me to pay. So this is where some of my cynicism is coming from. It may be unwarranted of course.

I hope an expert comes along soon.

 

[Truffolo]

I think blood work in guinea pigs requires sedation, so this charge might be taken from a dog or cat price list. There is also not much examining you can do prior to anaesthetic other than listening to the piggy's lungs and heart with a stethoscope. I don't think you can do blood pressure with guinea pigs, but I could be mistaken. It does make sense that if a vet charges so much for a procedure that may be often repeated in guinea pigs, he is not best placed to card long term for his clients

 

[Wheekallweek]

Most of us are in the UK so pricing here may be different unfortunately, but the first quote does seem expensive!
Would you trust the second vet to do the procedure? If so I would say go for it. The problem won’t resolve itself unfortunately and will continue to get worse until it’s burred down.
I think bloods are mainly to check renal and liver function with regard to tolerating the anaesthetic, but I personally have not had them done prior to anaesthesia.
I would personally still opt for fluids to ensure adequate hydration though, however these can be given subcutaneously and don’t need to be given by IV necessarily.

 

[A Guinea Pig]

I think blood work in guinea pigs requires sedation, so this charge might be taken from a dog or cat price list. There is also not much examining you can do prior to anaesthetic other than listening to the piggy's lungs and heart with a stethoscope. I don't think you can do blood pressure with guinea pigs, but I could be mistaken. It does make sense that if a vet charges so much for a procedure that may be often repeated in guinea pigs, he is not best placed to card long term for his clients

It’s an exotics-only clinic so no cats or dogs. Her heart and lungs were good at her last check, which is great. I'd assume they see a lot of guinea pigs as they are a pretty common pet here. They might just change a lot since they can as it's been said.

 

[A Guinea Pig]

She's got an appointment scheduled next Tuesday so we’ll see what the other clinic says about their price range for teeth burring. Thank you everyone for all the support, insight, and advice. I really appreciate it.

 

[A Guinea Pig]

Sugar’s appointment with the other vet went well. It was half the price for both the exam and the surgery. She’s been on dog meloxicam twice daily and will have her teeth burred this morning. She's been eating all her Critical Care and is active. Hopefully, her procedure goes well.

 

[weepweeps]

Sugar’s appointment with the other vet went well. It was half the price for both the exam and the surgery. She’s been on dog meloxicam twice daily and will have her teeth burred this morning. She's been eating all her Critical Care and is active. Hopefully, her procedure goes well.

Good luck.

 

[CTWC]

I pray all goes well