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Overgrown Tooth Advice

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liquidmelancholy

liquidmelancholy

Junior Guinea Pig
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I took my piggy Peanut to the vet last Wednesday as I noticed he had started gurning and making wide gapey faces when eating, especially pellets. I immediately suspected teeth issues. I went to the vet who, from an inspection of the inside of his mouth, confirmed that one of his teeth on the bottom, closest to the front of his mouth (pre molar?) had started to overgrow slightly, and was overgrown so that his tongue was becoming limited in its movement.

She said that she was loathed to put him under anaesthetic to file the tooth down as it was only a little overgrown and he is still eating normally, it just takes him longer to chew and swallow. I mentioned that he looks likes he's almost choking sometimes, and he does actually spit out mush of pellets every now and then, presumably as a result of his mouth being full already and not able to process and swallow that bit of pellets. She said it's extremely unlikely he'd choke, and basically just to monitor his eating for now, and when it starts to look like his ability to eat is becoming a problem, to then bring him in to have the filing done under anaesthetic.

Today his gurning seems more pronounced, but he is still eating fine. He is booked in to see the vet next Wednesday for a 2nd injection for suspected mites. I'm so torn over what to do with his teeth. I feel like there's 3 options and I don't know what to do for the best.. Either I should just go ahead and ask for his tooth to be done asap (like in the next couple of days), or to wait and ask for it to be done next Wednesday at his appointment, or as the vet said, wait until he starts having problems with eating?

He's not quite 3 yet and perfectly healthy and happy, and still eating fine right now! I couldn't live with myself if I had him go under the procedure and he didn't make it, as it isn't a life or death situation at the moment :( Would really appreciate some thoughts and advice! :no:
 
Premolars are the teeth that tend to overgrow. I don't know which is the vet closest to you that has experience with dentals, but perhaps another member does.

There is a vet in Northampton, Simon Maddock at the Cat&Rabbit Clinic, who is a specialist for dental work and who has saved a number of piggies' lives that would have otherwise died, if you can get your boy as far as him. He is very quick, but precise and uses as little anaesthetics as necessary.
http://www.catandrabbit.co.uk/html/contact_us.html
 
If he is still eating fine, I would say just leave it till the appointment, and watch over him while he is eating to see if he is struggling. If he starts struggling to eat, you could move the appointment forward of feed himself soft food that he can chew.
Hope I helped x
 
This is the thing, I'm not worried about him not being able to eat, as he is still tucking into everything as usual. On that basis I'm willing to wait until next Wednesday and ask my vet to go ahead with the procedure.

I'm just concerned about any possible choking issues. But I suppose his gurning, and spitting the occasional bit of mush out, looks a lot worse than it really is. I had a piggy with very overgrown teeth before, to the point where she could only be hand-fed, and she didn't appear to look as if there was a risk of choking. I'd like some reassurance that choking isn't likely! :(
 
There is a very very slim chance that he will choke. He probably wouldn't eat if there was a chance he would choke. If you want to you can watch him when he eats to be sure. :nod:
 
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