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Teeth issues

S

Sophie10

Junior Guinea Pig
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Our foster piggy is very sad... he has lost a tooth and there is some infection there too. He is on metacam, gabapentin and anti biotics but looks so so sad... he is finding eating tricky but I can't see how putting a syringe in his mouth to syringe feed will be comfortable for him.
Any thoughts?
 
I’m sorry to hear this.

If he is not eating hay for himself you simply must syringe feed him. As long as he is on a good amount of pain relief, he will be fine, but the bigger risk comes from not getting enough fibre.

Make sure you are weighing him each morning so you can be sure you are giving enough syringe feed each day to keep his weight stable.

I hope he is ok

Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
 
Hello. I’m sorry your piggy is so sad.

Which tooth has he lost? An incisor? I’ve had a piggy with a tooth root abscess and he lost an incisor afterwards.

If your piggy is looking sad I would check he’s on enough painkillers. Try cutting his peppers and cucumber into thin strips. My piggy didn’t eat by himself for 8 weeks during that time and I had to syringe fed him to keep his guts moving. He didn’t seem to mind being syringe fed. What antibiotics is he on?
 
Sophie10 said:
How often syringe feed?
Click to expand...

Around every two hours but it entirely depends on how much he will take at each sitting.
The less he takes each sitting; the more often you would need to feed him.
You need to aim for at least 60ml per day.
The minimum survivable amount for a total lack of appetite is 40ml.
Your daily weight checks are the guide as to whether you are feeding him enough - if his weight is stable day to day then you have it right; if he loses from day to day then you beee to feed him more.

The guides I linked in explain more
 
Sophie10 said:
How often syringe feed?
Click to expand...
I was needing to feed about every 2 hours and try and get 15-20 mls at each sitting. This was because he wasn’t eating for himself at all and was losing weight. The main purpose of syringe feeding is to keep weight stable until they can eat for themselves.
 
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