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Teeth Crunching

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aimzer

aimzer

Adult Guinea Pig
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Hello everyone,

I noticed today that my guinea pig Maple was making a crunching/clicking noise. It seems so be coming from her mouth. I had a look at her teeth and one of the bottom teeth is a bit shorter than the other one. She hasn't lost any weight and she is still eating.
Can anyone help? Does she need a vet today?

Thanks.
 
It's possible that it is an early indication of dental problems, or Maple could be telling that she has some sort of pain. There is also chance that she is telling you she is slightly stroppy for some reason. I'd get her checked out within the next few days though. I sometimes wish our little furries could talk to us, paws crossed for her x
 
Tim said:
It's possible that it is an early indication of dental problems, or Maple could be telling that she has some sort of pain. There is also chance that she is telling you she is slightly stroppy for some reason. I'd get her checked out within the next few days though. I sometimes wish our little furries could talk to us, paws crossed for her x
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Thank you for your reply. I notice she is taking a wee whole longer to eat things. I have booked an app with the vet for Thursday afternoon.
 
aimzer said:
Thank you for your reply. I notice she is taking a wee whole longer to eat things. I have booked an app with the vet for Thursday afternoon.
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Hope everything goes ok with her, ask your vet to take a good look at her back teeth x
 
aimzer said:
Hello everyone,

I noticed today that my guinea pig Maple was making a crunching/clicking noise. It seems so be coming from her mouth. I had a look at her teeth and one of the bottom teeth is a bit shorter than the other one. She hasn't lost any weight and she is still eating.
Can anyone help? Does she need a vet today?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Your girl doesn't need a vet today, but please have her seen in the next couple of days during regular hours. Slanted, irregular front teeth can indicate a problem with an overgrowing premolar spur, which eventually can grow over the tongue and trap it, preventing it from swallowing and eating. Make sure that you vet really looks at the premolars and if necessary gently clears out the gunk in the cheeks with a cotton bud for a better look or does a scan.
 
She seems to be struggling to eat now. Can't eat a green bean and taking ages to get through a piece of lettuce. I'm going to take her to the vet just now. Just worried as I am on nightshift tonight :(
 
aimzer said:
She seems to be struggling to eat now. Can't eat a green bean and taking ages to get through a piece of lettuce. I'm going to take her to the vet just now. Just worried as I am on nightshift tonight :(
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Please chop up all veg into thin strips and start offering her syringe feed (in an emergency mushed pellets are fine) in order to keep her weight up. Dental guinea pigs are hungry guinea pigs, so she is going to to cooperate and you should be able to get a good amount in one go. 2-3 top feeds in a day should be enough.
Here is my Hywel with his chopped up breakfast veg when he was suffering from a root abscess: Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

Take the time to read through our syringe feeding guide; we have got all the tips from prepping a syringe to caring for a dental guinea pig pre- and post treatment. Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

DSCN3267_edited-1.webp
 
aimzer said:
She seems to be struggling to eat now. Can't eat a green bean and taking ages to get through a piece of lettuce. I'm going to take her to the vet just now. Just worried as I am on nightshift tonight :(
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Oh gosh, you're doing the right thing hun. Paws crossed for you both x
 
Sorry my reply is so late. I am on nightshift. The vet told me to separate my 2 girls overnight so I can see what maple is eating/pooing. I just up lots of veg and come fruit into strips and she's managing them OK. I also out in some mushed up pellets but not sure if she's keen on that!

She said she can't see anything wrong with the back teeth but they were full of food. She said in order to have a proper look she would need to put maple under GA. She said she wasn't happy to do this until she has found a definite cause :/

Am I right in thinking some vets do conscious dentals?
 
She also said the front teeth look OK. Although one is shorter than the other she thinks this is just the way they are :/ she says they don't feel lose or broken. I think that's a bit odd considering maple could not bite on a green bean with her front teeth! Usually she snatches it right from me!
 
Just home from my nightshift. Maple has eaten all the small bits of veg I left for her and the handful of hay :) I separated her overnight from Daisy. I have just put her back in the cage and she has started making the clicking noise again! I never heard the noise at all when she was separated, odd! I'm worried it might be something other than her teeth as I have read clicking can be a symptom of URI, however she is not showing any other URI symptoms and she is struggling to eat which makes me sure it's the teeth!
I have another vet I'm going to go to but can't get an app til tomorrow.
 
Is the vet you saw cavy savvy, if not look at the vet locator above & see if there is one of them closer to you. It may be an idea to keep her separate until you know what's going on, & also to see if it's her that's eating the food.
To keep the bond with Daisy, eiether put a divider in a C&C cage or move 2 cages together.
You need to have them beside each other so they can see & chatter to each other.
 
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I put her back in with Daisy today as they were both getting lonely. Maple was just next to Daisy's cage but they were difficult to bond so don't want to have them apart for too long. There is a more cave savvy vet about an hour from me so I'm hoping to get an appt for tomorrow. The receptionist said I should phone at 8am as they leave some appointments to be booked on the day!
 
UPDATE:

Took Maple to the more experienced vet today. I told him about the clicking I heard and he sounded her chest and said her chest and heart both sound fine. He looked at her teeth and said the bottom back ones are starting to grow over the tongue. He says its not completely grown over yet but they do need sorted and the front ones need filed so they are back to the same length.
So she is booked in tomorrow morning to have her dental done under GA. She is 5 and a half so I am worried but he is very experienced and does them regularly so he knows what he's doing. He advised me to continue topping her up with syringe feed as she is starting to lose weight.
We are just home (1 hour drive each way!) So I have given her around 10ml syringe feed and she is now tucking in to hay. Hope all goes well tomorrow!
 
Ok now I'm a bit worried,
Maple is now just sitting in the corner of the cage she hasn't eaten the parsley I gave her and only ate a small bit of the grape!

Help
 
That's her out of the op. Just starting to wake now. The vet said its one of the worst she's seen! There was a big absess where her bottom molars had been digging in to her tongue. I can't believe it was that bad. She only really stopped eating properly the other day! Praying she makes a full recovery!
 
Tiamolly123 said:
Are you topping her up syringe feeding?
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Yes I syringe fed her throughout the night last night. She is still at the vets, they will give her a couple of feeds and make sure she recover from anaesthetic well and I'll collect her this evening if all goes OK.
 
I'm so relieved that a vet has managed to sort her out. It goes to show, travelling that little bit further afield to find an experienced vet is worth it ;) The vet I go to is also about an hour or so drive. Fingers crossed she makes a full recovery :) x

Ps: Perhaps it's worthwhile forwarding the details of this vet to admins? So they can put them on the recommended vet locator on here. That is if they are not already:)
 
Tim said:
I'm so relieved that a vet has managed to sort her out. It goes to show, travelling that little bit further afield to find an experienced vet is worth it ;) The vet I go to is also about an hour or so drive. Fingers crossed she makes a full recovery :) x

Ps: Perhaps it's worthwhile forwarding the details of this vet to admins? So they can put them on the recommended vet locator on here. That is if they are not already:)
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Thank you. The vet is actually already on the recommended vet list on here :)
 
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furryfriends (TEAS) said:
So the abscess is on her tongue? That's going to be a difficult one to manage. Has the vet mentioned which antibiotic she will be giving? Zithromax is the best for abscesses so hopefully she will prescribe that. X
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Come to think of it, she didn't actually say where it was. I will ask her when I go to pick up Maple and will ask for zithromax too. Thank you.
 
The abscess was at the left side of her tongue. She hasn't pooped since the op. She has has small amounts of syringe feed. I asked for zithromax but they said try Baytril first :(:( I have zantac and metacam too.
 
Does anyone know, can the zantac be given alongside baytril or should they be given 1 hour apart like with a probiotic? Also should I still be giving probiotic if she's getting zantac?

I'm syringe feeding her and she is being very cooperative. I've given 8ml over around 20-30mins. Do I just keep giving until she refuses to take anymore?
 
aimzer said:
Does anyone know, can the zantac be given alongside baytril or should they be given 1 hour apart like with a probiotic? Also should I still be giving probiotic if she's getting zantac?

I'm syringe feeding her and she is being very cooperative. I've given 8ml over around 20-30mins. Do I just keep giving until she refuses to take anymore?
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Tagging @Adelle @Wiebke and @furryfriends (TEAS) for you x
 
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