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Dental Sore mouth?

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Indi2014

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Hi All
Are there any other problems guinea pigs could have with their mouths other than dental problems. My little pig is 5 years old and has been quite healthy most of her life until the past couple of weeks. Took her to the vet as she was off her food, vet gave her some antibiotics which seemed to work. She is off her food again, it almost as if she is struggling to swallow, trying to use her paw to get at the food in her mouth like its trapped. Took her to the vet, looked inside her mouth and couldn't see anything wrong. Shes even struggling to swallow critical care. Any ideas what this could be? Something more complicated? Thank you to anyone that replies!
 
Indi2014 said:
Hi All
Are there any other problems guinea pigs could have with their mouths other than dental problems. My little pig is 5 years old and has been quite healthy most of her life until the past couple of weeks. Took her to the vet as she was off her food, vet gave her some antibiotics which seemed to work. She is off her food again, it almost as if she is struggling to swallow, trying to use her paw to get at the food in her mouth like its trapped. Took her to the vet, looked inside her mouth and couldn't see anything wrong. Shes even struggling to swallow critical care. Any ideas what this could be? Something more complicated? Thank you to anyone that replies!
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Hi!

I am very sorry. How piggy savvy is your vet? Please see your vet (or another vet) again as soon as you can.

Have they really checked the crucial back teeth for overgrowth or something stuck? they are often hidden behind gunk in the mouth.
Can you please do a quick check by looking at the front teeth: if they are even and neat, then the back teeth are OK. If they are slanted, jagged or inward pointing and no longer self-sharpening, then there is usually a problem with the back teeth.

Oral thrush (fungal infection) can sometimes be an issue; in this case, an oral fungicide like itrafungol is the best treatment.
And in rare cases a throat infection, swelling at the back of the mouth (for either of which an antibiotic should have worked) or neurological loss of the ability to swallow can happen. I've had all three of them happening to piggies of mine over the years.

Pawing at the mouth rather points at something stuck/some major irritation in my own experience. Could you try to gently clear the mouth with a cotton bud to see whether something is stuck?
 
I agree with Wiebke... this does sound like potential dental issues and I wonder if your vet was able to properly assess the back teeth. Guinea pigs can chew food for a long time and food debris may make the back molars difficult to visualize... in addition some vets are not particularly experienced with guinea pig teeth and may not see issues even when they are present. What you describe sounds a lot like a hind molar issue- either a spur that is painful, an overgrown molar that is trapping food underneath, etc. I would go back to the vet (or another vet with more dental experience) and get them to take a good look at those back molars. Even the best vet can make these mistakes... once I took one of my pigs in believing she had a dental issue and the vet couldn't see anything with her awake and thought her teeth looked okay... he offered to knock her out and take a better look and I agreed and she did indeed have a molar spur that was digging into her inner cheek and causing pain. These things can be hard to see because of chewed food and tiny mouths that don't open that wide... I think it's worth another look!
 
Thank you so much for your replies :nod:

I'm definitely going to get a second opinion on this. She definitely wants to eat, she keeps trying but obviously can't.
 
My boy Jack was in a similar situation - wanting to eat but unable to and dropping weight. After taking him to our local vets, who said his teeth were fine as the front teeth were level and the back teeth couldn’t really be seen, things didn’t get any better so I took him to the Cat and Rabbit Clinic in Northampton to Simon and Kim Maddock. It turned out his back teeth were horrendous and his tongue was trapped, hence he couldn’t eat/swallow properly. I would recommend Simon and Kim as the can also check your pigs teeth without sedation and are very experienced with guinea pigs.
 
Indi2014 said:
Thank you so much for your replies :nod:

I'm definitely going to get a second opinion on this. She definitely wants to eat, she keeps trying but obviously can't.
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Which country are you in!

If you are in the UK, then by far the most experienced dental vet is Simon Maddock at the Cat&Rabbit Care Clinic in Northampton. He sees piggies from all over the country, from as far as Cornwall and Edinburgh in Scotland and does about as many dentals in a week as most exotics vets do in their career.
Guinea pigs, and even less guinea pig dentals, are unfortunately not featuring large on a vet's curriculum, especially not a general vet's.
The Cat and Rabbit Care Clinic
 
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