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Please Help Advice needed on Smokey

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Cgilchrist

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Hi Guys following my other thread Smokey is 2 and a half ish. he has been losing weight steadily, took him in to my piggie vet who knocked him out for his teeth but when he was out they weren't bad so he did bloods, renal, xray etc and finally the Xray showed he has a slightly swollen heart. Vet came to the conclusion that this was the cause of weight loss so heart meds, metacalm etc. he's been syringe fed but he is still havign difficulty eating. he tried to eat a grape and he just kept on pushing it round. when i cut it into small pieces he was eating slowly but managing so he has had mini carrot, apple and grape bits plus syringe feed with probiotic, CC and some puree'd veg. Vet had him in for Monday and has started him on a different pain medication Smokey seems ok in him self and a bit brighter but still can;t eat properly. Now the vet wants him in again on for another xray and check of his mouth etc as he thinks possible arthritis in his jaw? My concern is that when i spoke to the vet about his teeth he said ' sometimes if you cut them too short it can cause problems and they were not really overgrown so i didn't trim them' but when i look at smokeys front teeth they are slanted he tries to bite but can't cut through anything and ends up pulling at it. Mark is a very good piggie vet but I'm wondering if he is maybe not too confident with teeth so is looking for other possibilities what shall i do? I do trust mark but I really don't want to go through another xray and GA (won't do it without) if it could be just his front teeth stopping him eating. :{
 
Poor Smokey. I think you should just point out the fact that his teeth are slightly slanted and this may be the problem, surely he'll understand that it's better to rule out the problem with Smokey's teeth rather than putting Smokey through another x-ray.
I'm sure it wont cause any problems if you bring it up. Your vet probably knows that as a very caring owner of Smokey you've already looked for possible problems, maybe he'd even welcome your suggestion.

Good luck, I hope everything goes ok x
 
if his teeth are slanted then its defo his back teeth..there only needs to bit a point the size of a pin head and this can stop them eating and give them loads of problems..

can you take him to CCT who will do his teeth with out GA?

you may find your vets giving him GA all the time will make him have more problems in the long run..he needs his teeth doing and your vet doesnt sound confident doing them if he did he would do it with out a GA ....

its pointless putting him on diff meds when the biggest problem is his teeth..
 
I have text the CCT so hopefully they will get back to me soon. My vet has so much experience I feel bad doubting him but it just seems a really obvious thing to me but then i am not a vet so what do I know!
 
Well I decided to take him back to the vet today and he took another xray and filed his molars a little and smokey has eaten salad on his own and munched grass with a lot less effort so i hope now the meds are kicking in and the teeth are ok he will get back to normal. he's just gone back to tuck into the bit of salad that was left! :<>
 
I am glad you got his teeth sorted, from what you described there was no doubting there were issues with his teeth. Hooray for eating salad! :)

Some pigs with heart conditions do have dental problems as well, sometimes long-term sometimes transient - it can all be tied in together.
 
i think a week ago they weren;t too bad but a week of not eating i think made them just that bit worse if that makes sense. still giving him some CC just in case but he seemed to be eating all night every time i woke up i could hear him munching away! rolleyes
 
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