Dental Teeth

[Love my pigs]

Hi
My wee pig Autumn has been losing weight and we went to the vet who says her teeth are overgrown. She is at around 665g right now and to get the operation the vet needs her up at 800g. The first vet wasn't hugely concerned when we first went so it's a relief we know what's wrong with her. I was wondering how to get her weight up as she only seems to like cucumber at present. The vet said to use baby food, oats, digestives and mush her nuggets down. However, she isn't very interested in any of this so does anyone have any idea of how to get her to eat it? Also I have lost a pig to surgery before so is there any way to make the operation easier on her? Thank you

 

[Critter]

Critical Care (Supreme Science Recover) is a good turn to when they're struggling with other food, and as long as they have an appetite they tend to love it. The instructions say to mix it and syringe it in but unless a piggy is really poorly it's generally easier to mix it fairly thickly and dip the syringe in and scoop out a lump on the end of it.

poor little love. I hope Autumn can be helped soon xx

 

[pig in the city]

Try mixing some other vegetables like tomato or baby food into the critical care to make it more tempting. She may be in pain so ask the vet for a painkiller. You need to get at least 50mls of critical care a day into her to prevent further weight loss, give her some vitamin c supplements as well. Have you tried giving her some fresh grass, she may manage that and it is usually their favorite food. Hope she does ok x

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

If your piggy is eating very little for herself, you are going to find it incredibly difficult to get the weight on. We are very lucky to have a vet who does dental work without the need for anaesthetic which makes the procedure far less risky, and we have had some amazing results. I am willing to offer your guinea pig a temporary place here at the sanctuary to enable her to get treatment from Simon Maddock. People travel to see him, from all over the UK, to get dental treatment for their guinea pigs. If you want to have a chat about what I could offer, please give me a call tomorrow on the number that is on the website www.teasnorthampton.co.uk

 

[Wiebke]

Please take @furryfriends Excellent Adventure Sanctuary's offer - it is the best place for guinea pigs with dental problems and it has saved the lives of not only several forum members' piggies but many others as well! If caught early, guinea pigs can return to a normal and healthy life in their home.

 

[Love my pigs]

I had her out in the grass for a while yesterday as the weather was good and she seemed to eat quite a bit. I have also ordered Critical Care so I hope it will be delivered soon. She has been eating some baby food if it's on cucumber and her weight has gone up a bit. Thank you @furryfriends Excellent Adventure Sanctuary for the offer I will consider it but we are over 5 hours away so i will have to see as travel may be an issue as we only have a small carry case at present for Autumn which probably wouldn't be fair on her for a huge journey. Thank you all x

 

[Alanaf]

My girl also loves it if I grate up carrot, and then put critical care and also probiotic powder all over it, add some pellets and bit if warm water - I then keep mixing unroll it forms a thick carroty past, after the initial mixing I then gently mix a tiny bit more carrot that's slightly less coated in the mixture.

She's then determined to get all of the carrot but is also munching away at the critical care/pellets and probiotic - great way to get more fibre and good stuff into her.

Do be careful with baby foods though, as a lot of them can be very high in sugar

 

[Alanaf]

And the good thing about grating the carrot is even one small baby carrot goes a long way - so not overloading on those sugars either!

 

[furryfriends (TEAS)]

I had her out in the grass for a while yesterday as the weather was good and she seemed to eat quite a bit. I have also ordered Critical Care so I hope it will be delivered soon. She has been eating some baby food if it's on cucumber and her weight has gone up a bit. Thank you @furryfriends Excellent Adventure Sanctuary for the offer I will consider it but we are over 5 hours away so i will have to see as travel may be an issue as we only have a small carry case at present for Autumn which probably wouldn't be fair on her for a huge journey. Thank you all x

With regard to carry case size, I always say the smaller the better. Having been in a car accident with a very poorly piggy on board, without doubt, the fact he was in a very small carrier saved his life. See how things go. Simon is on holiday this coming week anyway. There is a Piggy Train group on Facebook that can organise travel for poorly piggies. @Stewybus

 

[Stewybus]

If you need help with transport to get Autumn down to Northampton we have a team of volunteers at The Piggy Train who donate their time & fuel to helping piggies like yours. In the past we've helped get piggies from Dumbarton & Edinburgh get down to Debbie at TEAS. When putting your piggy in a carrying case it is best to put a towel or puppy pad in the bottom on top of some newspaper then lots of hay & a few chunks of cucumber for it's water content. You can join The Piggy Train on our facebook page & then just contact a member of admin when you are ready to send Autumn south. If you aren't on facebook then just send a pm to me. Hope Autumn manages to put a little more weight on but this is more essential if anaesthetic is used. A lot of the work that Simon does is with the piggy conscious xx

 

[Love my pigs]

Hey
Thank you for all your help and offers. Unfortunately Autumn peacefully passed away in her sleep. Very thankful for everything and she was an amazing wee piggy till the end xx