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Possible teeth problems

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Roo3

Roo3

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Tonight we've give one of our boars, Zippy, his usual pile of veg. Normally he's out of his little house like a shot when he hears the bags being rustled but tonight nothing. I gave him his usual romaine lettuce, some of which he did eat, grass, carrot and brocolli. He's eaten most of the grass, but I was watching him try to eat the carrot and he keep trying to pick it up and take a bite out of it but didnt seem able to grab hold of it with his teeth.
I've grated some carrot for him and he's had a little nibble at that. He's eating his hay normally and is drinking from his bottle normally.
Could this be teeth problems? Zippy is just over 4 years old. I've weighed him tonight and he's lost about 20 grams since I last weighed him on Sunday.
Any help / advice would be very much appreciated. I'll try to get him into the vets tomorrow.
 
We're luckier than that as we go to an excellent vet in Northampton who is brilliant with guinea pigs!
We've given Zippy some critical care and will give more before we go to bed tonight. I'll be ringing the vets first thing tomorrow.
 
Roo3 said:
We're luckier than that as we go to an excellent vet in Northampton who is brilliant with guinea pigs!
We've given Zippy some critical care and will give more before we go to bed tonight. I'll be ringing the vets first thing tomorrow.
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:)):))i dont think you can get luckier then the CCT :)):)):(|);)
 
I guess thats a matter of opinion. Personally I feel luckier that I have found a brilliant vet about 15 minutes from my house, rather than putting my pigs through the stress of a car journey that would take well over an hour to go to the CCT.
I am not being rude when I say that and I don't want people to think I am being rude. I'm just understandably concerned about the welfare of Zippy and have asked for advice from members with more knowledge on guinea pig health than me, not a review of the CCT! :(|)
 
Zippy will be in the best of hands with Simon - he is one of the best and most experienced guinea pig vets in this country! I am sure that he will be able to find out whether there is tooth trouble.

20g is well within the daily variation that includes a full/empty bladder or a full/empty belly... so you do not need worry about his weight, unless there is a definite downhill trend.

Sadly, I can't help you with teeth, as I have no experience at all with them.
 
Good luck at the vets today. :)

It does sound likely to be the teeth - even something small like a sharp spur on the molars can upset some piggies, affect their eating even if there's no actual overgrowth. It may be that there's something very small that's bothering him.

Oral fungal infections are common at this time of year (one of my own is struggling with this too), and this can present similar symptoms to molar trouble - reluctance/inability to eat, dribbling.

It sounds like Zippy is struggling with his teeth though, from your description.
 
Well we're just back from the vets and Simon has had a good look in Zippy's mouth. His front bottom teeth were slightly slanted which points to him not chewing his food properly. When Simon felt the left side of his mouth it was quite tender for him which points to either an abcess or problems with his teeth at the back.
He's had his teeth filed a bit and is on Metacam and Zithromax.
We are to take him back in 5 days to have him checked out so hopefully we've caught it early enough and the medication will start to work for him.
Last night, after his last syringe feed, we don't think he ate anything until we syringed him this morning. We've just put him straight back in his hutch, put some grass in and he's been chomping on it!
 
AWWW - good to hear! Nothing like grass to tempt a piggy's appetite! ;)
 
Simon said the Zippy's also got a runny nose, which may be affecting his appetite and is not ruling out bladder problems as he had a bladder stone removed in January and it could have reoccurred. It looks more likely to be his teeth though we think.
 
I keep hearing about how amaaaaazing this Vet is.....makes me wish I'd 'discovered' guinea pigs sooner, as I lived in Northampton a few years ago (before I had any pets) and could've experienced this VIP care for myself! Now I have Vet envy! :)

Hope Zippy continues to do well and you manage to sort out the problem x
 
Hes very quiet today, we syringed him again last night and this morning he had lost only 5 grams. Couldnt see that he had eaten much himself overnight but he must have. Syringed him again this morning and he was really fightingpow-pow with the syringe but we got 10 down him in the end. Since then he has been very quiet and sat in his house. Came out once and had a sniff round but didnt eat or drink. Put some grass in and no response at all, going to syringe him again in 10 mins.
 
MintyAndGarry said:
How's the Zithromax going down?!:)):)>>>
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He struggled a bit this morning with it, but then he was fighting any syringe that went near him this morning.

Just about managed to get another 10 syringes of critcal care down him but he's really fighting against that. I don't know whether thats a good or bad sign though. He either doesn't like it, or just doesn't want to eat. Not sure which one it is though.
 
Roo3 said:
He struggled a bit this morning with it, but then he was fighting any syringe that went near him this morning.

Just about managed to get another 10 syringes of critcal care down him but he's really fighting against that. I don't know whether thats a good or bad sign though. He either doesn't like it, or just doesn't want to eat. Not sure which one it is though.
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Personally I'd take something positive out of the fact that he's fighting against the syringe.....at least he is able to fight, so still has some strength in him, if you know what I mean. Trying to syringe feed a piggy who is too weak to do anything is a different situation entirely, so I'm really glad you're not in that position x
 
Sometimes I wonder if we need to step back and look at the bigger picture and decide if sryinge feeding is the best thing to do:(
Elvis is not eating at all this week except for the syringe feeds, he doesn't move around a lot either, although he potters around in the run on the garden a tiny bit, I do wonder am I doing the best thing but then again I couldn't stop. Its not a good place to be at the moment.
 
Zippy has been in his house pretty much all day. Have just syringe fed him again but hes being a nightmare with it. Tried him on all his favourites but no interest at all. He is basically just sitting in his house not moving. Going to keep an eye on him tonight then ring the vets again in the morning as his appetite is definitely going backwards. Its weird cause at first he loved the syringe food and took it really well. Now hes fighting it tooth and nail.
 
He's really not happy. We've let him free range in the lounge but he's just sat there and looks totally deflated. Don't know what we can do to help him. Does anyone have any advice they can give us? I'm really worried about him now.
 
Hes been admitted to the emergency vet8..., he seemed bloated and he wasnt properly passing any faeces. He was also very flat and looked deflated. I cant believe how quickly he has gone downhill from yesterday. The vet extracted some faeces and they were covered in a thick mucus. They are going to give him something to try and get his gut moving and i will pick him up in morning and take him to Simon at the cat and rabbit clinic. Its just fingers crossed for him overnight now.-c
 
Just read your updates. Sorry to hear that Zippy's taken a turn for the worse. Thinking of you both and hoping for the best x
 
Well Zippy made it through the night:), and seems slightly brighter this morning. I picked him up from the emergency vet at 7.30 am this morning and considering how he was last night they were pleased with him. He is def a little brighter and has started passing a few very small faeces. He doesnt seem as bloated either although he isnt eating for himself. He is also moving around a bit whereas last night he was totally deflated and just lie there barely moving. I have now dropped him at the cat and rabbit clinic where they are going to keep an eye on him until Simon or Kim can look him over this morning. I feel better now as at least i know hes in the best place. Have to also say the vet at the emergency practice was excellent, far better than the vet we saw last time when our rabbit snarf was ill.
 
We're sat here nervously waiting for a call from Simon. He called earlier to say that he thought the best option would be to x-ray Zippy to see if there is anything more serious going on in his tummy and also to have an xray of his teeth. ?/
His tummy is full of gas but it's best to try and find out if anything more sinister has caused this bloat.
When Simon spoke to us Zippy was still quite bright but definitely not his usual self.
Just wish they'd hurry up and call us now, but I guess no news is good news and they have been very busy at the vets today.
 
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