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Dental Tooth Spurs - Ways to help

Wiebke said:
Simon and Kim will use as little anaesthetic as possible; it depends on their findings and how bad the overgrowth is. Piggies treated by them are usually able to eat on their own straight after treatment - it is amazing considering how many threads we get from other members contacting us because their piggies are not eating after dentals from other vets. They also have great 'bedside' manners.
I go there even if I have to use the train and taxis at either end if necessary. They have saved several piggies of my own over the years that my local vets couldn't deal with.
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My vet said it was caught early, so I don't think that its too bad, but its proving that its not going to get better without proper treatment. I might see if its easier to get the train down there, rather than driving for 2 hours there and back, but it also depends if it'll be cheaper or not too. I'll do my best to help my little buddy out to get him back to normal as soon as possible
 
Dom R said:
My vet said it was caught early, so I don't think that its too bad, but its proving that its not going to get better without proper treatment. I might see if its easier to get the train down there, rather than driving for 2 hours there and back, but it also depends if it'll be cheaper or not too. I'll do my best to help my little buddy out to get him back to normal as soon as possible
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If it has been caught early, then things should be pretty straight forward with minimal intervention. :tu:

It can get very busy at this time of year with everybody wanting to have their piggies seen to before the holidays and just after, so best contact the clinic as soon as they answer the phone on Monday.

All the best!

PS: I have travelled with my Pili Pala and her cousin Papi all the way from Milhaven Guinea Pig Rescue in Keighley to Coventry by train to bring them home on a rather memorable if somewhat mad August bank holiday Sunday in 2013 (which was an over 3 hour journey) and brought my 5 year old new adopted Bryn home from Doncaster (he'd travelled there with his fosterer for the handover).
 
Wiebke said:
If it has been caught early, then things should be pretty straight forward with minimal intervention. :tu:

It can get very busy at this time of year with everybody wanting to have their piggies seen to before the holidays and just after, so best contact the clinic as soon as they answer the phone on Monday.

All the best!

PS: I have travelled with my Pili Pala and her cousin Papi all the way from Milhaven Guinea Pig Rescue in Keighley to Coventry by train to bring them home on a rather memorable if somewhat mad August bank holiday Sunday in 2013 (which was an over 3 hour journey) and brought my 5 year old new adopted Bryn home from Doncaster (he'd travelled there with his fosterer for the handover).
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Hopefully yeah, its the first time in all my years owning piggies that I've had a tooth problem, so this is all new to me. I just syringe fed him 15ml of food just now, so he's definitely still wanting to eat and what not, its just really uncomfortable for him, poor thing. On monday if I decide what I'm doing then I will update on what's happening and depending how soon I can get the procedure done, I will update on his recovery.
 
Dom R said:
My vet said it was caught early, so I don't think that its too bad, but its proving that its not going to get better without proper treatment. I might see if its easier to get the train down there, rather than driving for 2 hours there and back, but it also depends if it'll be cheaper or not too. I'll do my best to help my little buddy out to get him back to normal as soon as possible
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Simon is able to do dental work without anaesthetic in about 99% of cases. It is only where the teeth are so overgrown, that he can't get a file into the back of the mouth, when he needs to use the dental bur to remove all the excess tooth, that he needs to use anaesthetic the first time and then follow up with conscious dentals.

The fact that your piggy is still able to eat and that this has been caught early, will mean that a conscious dental will be possible.
 
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We travel from West Cornwall, I can definitely recommend this vets, they are wonderful!
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
Simon is able to do dental work without anaesthetic in about 99% of cases. It is only where the teeth are so overgrown, that he can't get a file into the back of the mouth, when he needs to use the dental bur to remove all the excess tooth, that he needs to use anaesthetic the first time and then follow up with conscious dentals.

The fact that your piggy is still able to eat and that this has been caught early, will mean that a conscious dental will be possible.
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That's relieving, I'll probably end up taking him down ASAP just to get him sorted. In other news, I got some grass from the back garden today, and he went straight into munching it, so he'll have grass in his diet now, too. He's even ignoring the carrot peelings in there too! I also got some rolled porridge oats, I'm not sure what he's like with them but I'll offer them anyway.

Bill & Ted said:
We travel from West Cornwall, I can definitely recommend this vets, they are wonderful!
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I'm glad to hear you can recommend it :)
 
Dom R said:
That's relieving, I'll probably end up taking him down ASAP just to get him sorted. In other news, I got some grass from the back garden today, and he went straight into munching it, so he'll have grass in his diet now, too. He's even ignoring the carrot peelings in there too! I also got some rolled porridge oats, I'm not sure what he's like with them but I'll offer them anyway.



I'm glad to hear you can recommend it :)
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Grass is as good as hay for wearing the teeth, so it's great that he's enjoying it! Give the practice a ring at 8 am in the morning, when they open, as appointments are likely to book up very quickly next week. You can mention that you've emailed, but I would get an appointment sorted asap, or they are going to be fully booked! Make sure you ask for an appointment with Simon!

Cat and Rabbit Care Clinic 01604 478888
 
Quick update,

Today I've noticed his front teeth have started to level out a little more, and he's been nibbling on his wooden hut. He's also still eating Grass like its nothing.

I got a call back from Simon and he said that it isn't impossible for teeth to sort themselves if its really early on. He recommended that I wait a few more days and see if Peanut keeps dropping weight consistently every day.

I didn't manage to weigh Peanut properly yesterday, I fed him before I remembered to do it, but going on his weight at the same time on Saturday, he's not lost anything, which Simon agreed was a good sign. I will update in a couple of days, but Peanut does seem much happier now he's getting some grass to munch on.
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
It sounds like he’s doing pretty well! I feed a huge amount of grass, here at TEAS and we’ve never had any bladder issues either, which seem to affect so many guinea pigs!
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Are bladder issues supposed to be common with grass, I've never seemed to have a problem with it if they are.

But he seems perkier anyway, which is definitely good.
 
Dom R said:
Are bladder issues supposed to be common with grass, I've never seemed to have a problem with it if they are.

But he seems perkier anyway, which is definitely good.
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No, not at all! Bladder issues seem to be very common in piggies though, but I have found by feeding a very wet diet, consisting of grass, veg, hay and a small amount of pellets, we haven't had the problems that so many others get.
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
No, not at all! Bladder issues seem to be very common in piggies though, but I have found by feeding a very wet diet, consisting of grass, veg, hay and a small amount of pellets, we haven't had the problems that so many others get.
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Oh right, I've only had it with one of my piggies, but his genetics don't seem very good unfortunately. He has issues every now and then, but I have some tablets to mix with some water to give him if he needs it, and that normally clears it up.
 
Figured I'd add an Update. Peanut is doing okay, he's not been losing weight since I started giving him grass, but because he seems to be having more issues I got him booked into the Cat and Rabbit Clinic to get it sorted. He's started to claw at his mouth when I gave him his pain meds, and he dropped around 10g today, so I thought I may as well get him sorted before its too late/will be difficult to fix.

Other than that, if you celebrate Christmas, I hope you all have a good one! :)
 
Peanut had his appointment today. Simon said that there were no obvious reasons why he should be losing weight, and that his teeth looked okay, he must have sorted them out himself. Now I just have to work out why he's losing weight/not eating pellets/hay. At least there's the comfort knowing that he's all healthy and there's nothing wrong with his teeth anymore.
 
Dom R said:
He's down from 1350g to just below 1100g.
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I do find that guinea pigs take forever to gain weight, whereas it just drops off them so quickly! I wish it was the same for humans ha ha! I feed porridge oats to the piggies here, as they are great for weight gain. Also corn on the cob is good too! Is his weight still dropping or have you reached a plateau, without any gain?
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
I do find that guinea pigs take forever to gain weight, whereas it just drops off them so quickly! I wish it was the same for humans ha ha! I feed porridge oats to the piggies here, as they are great for weight gain. Also corn on the cob is good too! Is his weight still dropping or have you reached a plateau, without any gain?
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I give him oats as a treat just to help his weight. I think I've tried corn before, and he wasn't too bothered by it. His weight did plateau for a week or so, then over the last week he's slowly lost around 30g~.

The only thing I can think of is trying different hay/pellets, which was recommended by Simon. Other than that there could be stress in his cage setup, despite there being plenty of room. He does have two male cagemates, but he seems happy around them, and same with them around everyone else. Is there a chance that there's stress involved having to keep two younger piggies in check? He's just over 3 Years and his cage mates were 1 in September.

I don't want to try separating them yet, but just try different pellets/hay and see if he prefers that, if that doesn't work then I'll have to try separating one of the piggies, which means I would have two on their own and no room for another friend for them. The current single piggy is a bully to every pig and he's happy and chatty by himself.
 
I think you’ve just hit the nail on the head! Two young boars, to keep in check, could definitely be the reason. I’m sure I shed pounds when I’m looking after the grandchildren! 😂 Maybe taking him out, for short periods, so he can have extra food away from them, could be the answer.
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
I think you’ve just hit the nail on the head! Two young boars, to keep in check, could definitely be the reason. I’m sure I shed pounds when I’m looking after the grandchildren! 😂 Maybe taking him out, for short periods, so he can have extra food away from them, could be the answer.
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I suppose I can give that a go once I try new pellets/hay, or I could try it at the same time. I've only just put the spare cage bars up in my loft haha. I'm currently looking through the pellet chart that's on here. He's on harringtons, which all of my boys love, but I'll probably pick up some different hay and see if he likes tougher hay rather than the softer stuff I have. If he doesn't like either then I'm sure my other boys wont say no.

Now that I think of it, all these issues started a few weeks after moving the third boy in with him, so it could definitely be that.
 
Dom R said:
I suppose I can give that a go once I try new pellets/hay, or I could try it at the same time. I've only just put the spare cage bars up in my loft haha. I'm currently looking through the pellet chart that's on here. He's on harringtons, which all of my boys love, but I'll probably pick up some different hay and see if he likes tougher hay rather than the softer stuff I have. If he doesn't like either then I'm sure my other boys wont say no.

Now that I think of it, all these issues started a few weeks after moving the third boy in with him, so it could definitely be that.
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It’s unusual to have three boys living in harmony, although I did have five living together at one point, who were great mates. Just make sure there is no subtle bullying going on.
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
It’s unusual to have three boys living in harmony, although I did have five living together at one point, who were great mates. Just make sure there is no subtle bullying going on.
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Their enclosure is right next to my enclosure, Peanut's the boss so he tells the others off if anything. They all sleep near each other/eat near each other, there's no aggression (Except one moment when Coco basically exploded with testosterone), and if there's any bickering its between the other two, but I suppose that could still cause stress. The other two haven't lost or gained weight and are perfectly healthy.

If I do have to remove one, it would probably be Oscar (The one recently introduced, and is the most laid back and chill piggy I've had). He seems to be okay on his own, he just likes to be left to do his own thing and not be disturbed.

What pellets would you recommend? I know there's the chart but it means basically nothing to me :)) They're currently on harringtons
 
I feed mainly the Burgess Blackcurrant and Oregano nuggets, as they're tiny and work well for our piggies with dental issues. I do feed a variety though, including Harringtons and the Science Selective Grainfree pellets. Flaked peas are also good for weight gain. You can normally buy them at animal feed places, or buy online.
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
I feed mainly the Burgess Blackcurrant and Oregano nuggets, as they're tiny and work well for our piggies with dental issues. I do feed a variety though, including Harringtons and the Science Selective Grainfree pellets. Flaked peas are also good for weight gain. You can normally buy them at animal feed places, or buy online.
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I found and got some Woodlands pellets, its made mostly of grasses/hay and has oats in it too, so good for weight gain as well as fibre. It has dandelion and stuff in it too. I also picked up a small back of softer timothy hay which he's had before I believe.
 
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