Dental Struggling to eat before and after dental work

[cwlight]

Aw, hoping he gets eating now, it may take a while to get back to normal as he will be sore, has he been given any pain killer for a few days?

He has Metacam for up to a week.
However, nothing seems to have changed : he can just about manage small pieces of banana ; other than that it is 20ml of syringed mash every 2-3 hours, with some Critical Care as well.
We were not that worried so far as thought it might take a few days for him to start eating again, but I've just had a call from a vet nurse at Colne Valley checking up how he is, and when I said "no change" she was very concerned ; she said he ought to be showing signs of eating a bit already, and if not doing so by tomorrow then it indicates what they've done hasn't worked. I also have your statement, that your piggie Ted started nibbling hay immediately after seeing Simon, going round my head!
With Simon being unavailable from next Tuesday, and tomorrow being the only day I could possibly get Jake over to Northampton, I'm wondering if I should try and get an appointment with him? Of course, he may not be able to see me anyway.

 

[cwlight]

Just a heads up. If you do need to see Simon, he’s away, on a course, from Tuesday 25th until 1st July.

Please see my previous post to Bill & Ted.

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

Ring them straight away 01604 478888

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

He is working Saturday this weekend too x

 

[alpacasqueak]

Yes definitely a good idea to ring ASAP! They’re very busy with Simon being so great!
He’s saved the life of my two chinchillas with teeth problems and helped my piggy Sheepy in his final weeks with his nashers, def highly recommend him! Good luck xx

 

[Bill & Ted]

I would definitely go see Simon ASAP, my Ted is fine now, after all that worry last year, just wish I had know earlier about him as it would have saved a lot of money and anguish for poor Ted and our family.

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

With regard to eating after a dental. I find almost all piggies are eating immediately, unless their mouth is very ulcerated due to teeth cutting into it, but even those are usually eating within a few hours, once Simon has sorted the teeth.

 

[cwlight]

With regard to eating after a dental. I find almost all piggies are eating immediately, unless their mouth is very ulcerated due to teeth cutting into it, but even those are usually eating within a few hours, once Simon has sorted the teeth.

I'm about to set off : have an emergency appt at 3-3.30 so will be very tight from Ipswich. Thanks.

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

I'm about to set off : have an emergency appt at 3-3.30 so will be very tight from Ipswich. Thanks.

Great news. Hope all goes well xx

 

[Bill & Ted]

So glad you are going see to him, he will be able to tell what the problem is I’m sure x

 

[rhymer]

So glad you managed to get an appointment with Simon. Fingers crossed your little one is ok.x

 

[Bill & Ted]

Any new on Jake?

 

[Mackers]

Please don't give up. My little Barbara has had 3 months of not eating and was close to being PTS until we finally had a breakthrough. Like your little chap, Simon had seen to Barbara's teeth so many times but we couldn't get to the bottom of why she WANTED to eat but would just drop food from her mouth. On my last visit, Simon detected tiny areas of white spots in her mouth. Barbara had a fungal infection (thrush) in her mouth, which had previously shown no symptoms at all, not even a redness/soreness in her mouth. Thrush in the mouth can be incredibly sore and it was no wonder she didn't want to pick up any food.

Simon prescribed Itrafungal and after 48 hours on it, she started eating for England! We're back to see Simon for a check up on Saturday but she's already put on 108g in a little over a week.

Hope your little guy is OK.

 

[cwlight]

Got back to Ipswich at 7 p.m. : just in time for Jake to have another 20ml of syringe feed! Some of us have eaten less than him today, though ....
No magic fix, unfortunately. Simon was very good, but is almost as puzzled as the previous vets as to why he can't chew / bite.
He did another dental (Jake's 3rd in 8 days), this time awake of course, but said in all honesty yesterday's vet, Alexa at Colne Valley, had done a very good job with his teeth : pretty good angles and length ; he simply tidied up a few little bits, but, like all the previous vets, said Jake's teeth were nowhere near bad enough to stop him eating.
His conclusion is that there must have been a problem with them before the first dental, and he must still be feeling a lot of pain from them, and his jaw is now ridiculously weak : too weak to bite through anything. He has dramatically upped the pain relief : "The dose he's on is so low it's virtually a homeopathic dose!" being his words! ; and he's prescribed an anti-fungal in case there is thrush there, though nothing is evident. He also syringe fed him while I was there : much faster than we manage!
He has said to carry on syringe feeding, and give the 2 drugs each day for up to 2 weeks, and hopefully he'll get the hang of eating again ; but overall was baffled as to why he was struggling.

 

[cwlight]

Thanks, again, for all the good wishes and advice from everyone. Without this forum, Jake would not be alive now, I feel.

 

[Bill & Ted]

Aw, sorry there was no magic solution but at least you know his teeth have been done correctly and your vet has done a good job. Now he is on a good dose of painkiller he my start eating in a few days time once it kicks in. Wishing him healing vibes x
My Ted started off eating a little grass, rolled up dandelion leaves and beetroot sticks from a Bistro Salad bag along with the Critical Care before he saw Simon last year.

 

[artcasper]

Gosh poor Jake... I hope things improve for him very soon x

 

[Mackers]

Hope things pick up. I picked coarse long stem grass and almost force fed that to Barbara to get her going. I found that if I threaded it through to her molars and didn't just poke it behind her front teeth, she would grab hold and start eating it blade by blade. So try that - really push it to the back of the mouth sliding it along the inside of the cheek. I have a video of me doing it (pre-anti fungal meds so she STILL had a very sore mouth at that time) but don't know how to send that to you.

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

Hoping the higher Metacam dose will help, plus itranfungol works quickly, if there is a fungal issue.

Finding what works best for your piggy, with regard to eating, is the way to go. Some prefer hard food, such as carrot or broccoli stalks, whereas others cope better with leafy veg or grass. I always cut the leafy veg into thin strips and watch which length of grass they prefer. Some like really long pieces, such as @Mackers found with her piggy, but others like it cut into short pieces. Our little Tilly loves grass, but copes much better with short pieces and likes veg cut into tiny bitesize pieces. I experiment with all different ways until I find what works best, for that particular guinea pig.

 

[KayBalor]

Hope he gets better soon!