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Teeth problem!

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lynne.collins8

lynne.collins8

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Has anyone experienced problems with teeth. I think Bramble has knocked his front teeth a few days ago. He decided that he would jump from his hutch while I was filling his food bowl because he knew the girls were having floor time. He jumped from about a foot height. This was about 4 days ago. I didn't notice that he had damaged his teeth at the time but i'm presuming thats what happened because he has stopped eating for himself and when i checked his mouth his top front teeth are virtually non-existent. He also has some sore looking little lumps, one is inbetween his 2 teeth. I have spoken to a rodentologist and have been advised to get his bottom teeth trimmed so that they grow back at the right rate together with his top teeth. At the moment I am syringe feeding him and cubing up his veg. He has lost a little weight, 60g since last week. He seems to be as active and alert as usual. I was wondering if anyone has had a similar thing happen and can anyone offer any further advice. I'm taking him to the vets tomorrow morning and will only let them trin his teeth without a general aneasthetic. Thanks in advance for any advice :)
 
sorry to read sbout your pig, hope it isnt serious, maybe someone else can give advice it seems that a lot dependswhere you arein the country for best treatment choices.
f
 
Thanks fred, I do have the option of taking him to sheffield to a rodentologist if my own vet wont trim his teeth without a ga. Its a long way to go but i just lost one of my gps 3 weeks ago the day after a ga to check her teeth. it turned out she had "something neurological" and her teeth were fine. We would have lost her anyway but i think the ga helped her on her way.
 
Hi

If he has lost both top teeth then he will need the bottom two trimmed as well as they will over grow whilst waiting for the top two to re-grow, and the top two may need rasping as they grow if they have any charp ends to them.

If you are taking them to a vet make sure they are using the propper tool. Nail clippers can split the tooth. Bone Rongeurs is what they should be using.

Paul & Jeanette
 
Welcome to the forum Lynne. Losing one or more of the incisors after a fall is fairly 'common' for piggies, given that many will continue trying to jump from your hands as you are lifting them or placing them down somewhere!

The teeth grow in very quickly, incisors broken off at gum level should be full length within around 10-14 days. Incisor work is a lot easier than molar work so I sincerely hope your vets will do this without insisting on GA!

I am sorry you lost a guinea recently, it can be hard to determine the cause of a loss of appetite. I had a guinea two years ago who would not/could not swallow, he had been ill for a long while anyway and had his incisors trimmed a few weeks earlier (no GA), but his overall condition screamed that he had a stroke overnight and he was unable/unwilling to swallow anything put into his mouth.

There is a difference between refusal to eat and an inability to eat, can be hard to determine, but generally once they reach the stage of refusing/inability to swallow despite good attempts at syringe-feeding and all manner of food temptation then there's not usually much that can be done. :(
 
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Hi Lynne, hope you managed to get Brambles teeth done today without a GA. I am sure he will be eating fine again in no time. Barbara xx
 
Hi Barbara, I took Bramble on Wed and the vet refused to trim his teeth at all, he said to wait and see how they grow back and to come back in 2 weeks. So I kept a very close eye on how his teeth were doing and his weight. By Sat his bottom teeth had grown a lot so I took him back and he took a substantial amount off his bottom ones without a ga. His weight has been up and down depending on how he takes to the syringe feeding. Sometimes he's keen and other times he's refusing it. I haven't had to resort to towel wrapping yet. He's fluctauting from his normal weight of 1.38kg (yes he's a fatty) and 3kg. I'm not pushing the syringe feeding too hard, he takes it easy when he's hungry and doesn't get any choice if his weight nears 1.3kg. He's managing to eat grass, parsley and some chopped cucumber and carrot. He's hardly eating any hay and very little muesli. I'm sure he'll be fine with continued tlc and I can already see a difference in the length of his top teeth. He's eating like a little old man without any false teeth. Also his teeth look like they're coming back nice and straight so far. My concern at the moment is that since sat his poops smell a bit wierd, maybe its a lack of hay in his diet? Thanks for all your help, you're advice is invaluable. xx
 
The change in diet, given that it is more limited than usual i.e. not eating hay or muesli, can affect the smell of the poops as you suspect; this should correct itself when his diet returns to normal.

Great to hear his top teeth are growing in well, even better that the vets did trim those lower incisors without sedation!
 
Thanks for your advice, I have only recently found the guinea pig forum and find it a great help. I'm going to try and encourage Bramble to eat more hay etc today rather than filling him up with chopped/shredded veggies all the time. I'll obviously keep a very close eye on him but i figure if I keep giving him the easiest option i.e soft veggies and recovery mix then he won't have much of an appetite for anything else. I'm weighing him twice daily at the moment and monitoring his poops constantly. I've noticed that he can manage his hay if he gets it into his mouth from the end and can work it in with his back teeth. His weight is up to 1.4kg this morning so he must be getting enough food. His poops are stopping and starting though and he obviously weighs more when his poops stop for a while. I'll give him a few hours to see how he gets on without me syringing food in to him and hopefully his teeth will be grown back enough today to get more of his muesli and pellets in to him. He'll be getting his usual veggies but cut up/shredded. Thanks again for your advice :)
 
lynne.collins8 said:
Thanks for your advice, I have only recently found the guinea pig forum and find it a great help. I'm going to try and encourage Bramble to eat more hay etc today rather than filling him up with chopped/shredded veggies all the time. I'll obviously keep a very close eye on him but i figure if I keep giving him the easiest option i.e soft veggies and recovery mix then he won't have much of an appetite for anything else. I'm weighing him twice daily at the moment and monitoring his poops constantly. I've noticed that he can manage his hay if he gets it into his mouth from the end and can work it in with his back teeth. His weight is up to 1.4kg this morning so he must be getting enough food. His poops are stopping and starting though and he obviously weighs more when his poops stop for a while. I'll give him a few hours to see how he gets on without me syringing food in to him and hopefully his teeth will be grown back enough today to get more of his muesli and pellets in to him. He'll be getting his usual veggies but cut up/shredded. Thanks again for your advice :)
Click to expand...

Btw, I meant to say at the very first sign of him not eating for himself or any weight loss and he'll be back to syringe feeding immediately :)
 
Thank you Lynne, very kind of you to say so. :)

I think you're doing the right thing cutting down on the syringe-feeds and encouraging him to eat by himself, fingers crossed he picks up the hint!
 
Well today has been great for Bramble. He has started eating hay again, I got him a different type of timothy hay, it has longer strands and he found it easier to get it in to his mouth. He's managing more muesli too, his weight is stable and he's pooping for England again. It looks like he has turned a corner and is on the road to recovery. He's also been eating the little dried apple pieces from pets at home and some veggies(still chopped up small). If he carries on improving over the next couple of days he'll be able to go back with the others in the garage, he must be a bit lonely in the house on his own and missing the space to run around. I'm going to lower the legs on his hutch just in case he decides to take flight again. I'm considering getting him and Smudge neutered so that they can each have a girlfriend, they might not be so keen on trying to escape then. I think Smudge is missing rumbling up and down the dividing mesh at him, bless! :) Thanks again for all advice offered!
 
Today I have checked Brambles regrowth and one of his teeth is longer than the other. he is booked in to the vets for 2.50 for them to even them up. Am I doing the right thing? I'm not sure. Any help is appreciated.
 
I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for any advice and that Bramble has been back in his hutch now since wed. His weight has been a bit up and down and I'm still checking it twice a day. He has finally managed to start eating normally today. He can now bite through things with his front teeth. It's taken a fortnight to get to this stage. I will obviously be still watching him very carefully for any signs of his teeth not being right in the future but I think he's going to be fine. thanks again :) Btw Bramble is the guinea pig on the right of my picture ( the dark brown one) I think he's very handsome :)
 
I think he's very handsome too! :)

Glad to hear that he's doing better now. Even if it's slow progress it's still encouraging and I hope it continues.
 
It all sounds good Lynne, great that he's eating for himself. It may take a while for his weight to increase again; it's easy for them to lose weight, not always as easy for them to regain it.

And I agree with you, I think bramble is very handsome. :)
 
Thanks to everyone for all the advice and just to say that Bramble completely recovered from losing his teeth. He has recently been neutered and has had a few problems recovering from it but is now on the mend again and is going to be bonded with his new girlfriend in another couple of weeks, he always seems to be the poorly one out of my piggies, don't tell the others but he's my favourite!:))
 
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