Back in mid Feb I posted about Ruby loosing a bit of weight, and on further examination it seemed she had snapped off both of her top teeth at the gum line.
She is a manic bar biter so I put it down to that, fed her soaked pellets and thin strips of veg for a few days, and everything seemed fine.
Her teeth came back in nicely and she started eating normally again.
But last weekend she seemed a bit funny with her food, so I checked her mouth and she had partially snapped off 1 top tooth.
Hmm. I started with the same routine as before, and by mid week it was looking ok again.
Today I noticed she hadn't eaten any of her pellets (unheard of) and it seems she has now snapped the other top tooth off.
In herself she is fine - lively, asking for food, and pooping as normal.
But she is struggling to eat and can only rather awkwardly manage very specific foods.
She is hungry, but seems to give up quickly, and can't manage pellets or veg cut into chunks at all.
She is eating grass, hay, herbs and thin strips of some veg.
I am topping up with syringe feeding which she is taking, and her weight is stable.
But i am starting to worry this might be symptomatic of dental problems at the back of her mouth.
Has anyone else had dental issues present like this?
Today I called the specialist vet that we usually see, and she is not available for 2 weeks!
But she suggested one of her colleagues who only treats exotics (and zoo animals) and said he is very good with guinea pigs.
He has a small practice and only see exotics a couple of times a week, as the rest of his work is onsite at zoos.
I was able to speak to him directly (poor man) and he fitted us in on Tuesday (given it's a bank holiday Monday and Friday this seemed very reasonable) but I am nervous. He sounded great and experienced, and I know his zoo has a herd of guinea pigs so he sees them all the time.
But obviously because he rarely sees members of the public (he only agreed to see us because his colleague asked) I have no idea if he understands 'pets' vs 'zoo' guinea pigs.
And Ruby - I know I moan about her, but she is such a special piggy and I can't bear to make a bad decision for her.
Equally it is clear we can't wait another 2 weeks to see a vet, and being holidays here at the moment it is hard to find alternatives.
Arghh - keep your fingers crossed that I am panicking over nothing and Ruby is fine by Tuesday and gives this fancy zoo vet a firm nip for daring to look into her mouth.
Apparently he is also an expert at darting animals - I wonder if he has ever used this technique on a guinea pig
She is a manic bar biter so I put it down to that, fed her soaked pellets and thin strips of veg for a few days, and everything seemed fine.
Her teeth came back in nicely and she started eating normally again.
But last weekend she seemed a bit funny with her food, so I checked her mouth and she had partially snapped off 1 top tooth.
Hmm. I started with the same routine as before, and by mid week it was looking ok again.
Today I noticed she hadn't eaten any of her pellets (unheard of) and it seems she has now snapped the other top tooth off.
In herself she is fine - lively, asking for food, and pooping as normal.
But she is struggling to eat and can only rather awkwardly manage very specific foods.
She is hungry, but seems to give up quickly, and can't manage pellets or veg cut into chunks at all.
She is eating grass, hay, herbs and thin strips of some veg.
I am topping up with syringe feeding which she is taking, and her weight is stable.
But i am starting to worry this might be symptomatic of dental problems at the back of her mouth.
Has anyone else had dental issues present like this?
Today I called the specialist vet that we usually see, and she is not available for 2 weeks!
But she suggested one of her colleagues who only treats exotics (and zoo animals) and said he is very good with guinea pigs.
He has a small practice and only see exotics a couple of times a week, as the rest of his work is onsite at zoos.
I was able to speak to him directly (poor man) and he fitted us in on Tuesday (given it's a bank holiday Monday and Friday this seemed very reasonable) but I am nervous. He sounded great and experienced, and I know his zoo has a herd of guinea pigs so he sees them all the time.
But obviously because he rarely sees members of the public (he only agreed to see us because his colleague asked) I have no idea if he understands 'pets' vs 'zoo' guinea pigs.
And Ruby - I know I moan about her, but she is such a special piggy and I can't bear to make a bad decision for her.
Equally it is clear we can't wait another 2 weeks to see a vet, and being holidays here at the moment it is hard to find alternatives.
Arghh - keep your fingers crossed that I am panicking over nothing and Ruby is fine by Tuesday and gives this fancy zoo vet a firm nip for daring to look into her mouth.
Apparently he is also an expert at darting animals - I wonder if he has ever used this technique on a guinea pig
And lots of non-bitey ones from the rest of us 
x
Hopefully she will be okay with your feeding regime and lots of TLC.
