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Update on Henry...

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Jacques

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Hi

some of you will know Henry has been to the vets on thursday then i took him today. The vet i first saw didnt have a clue and sent me off with anitbotics. I came on here and we thought it maybe worms.

Well after studying him constantly i thought today it was teeth. I took him up to the emergency surgery this mornimg and another vet who i trust as he has treated my OAP piggies a few years back agreed with me. He gave him a little gas to xray him and basically found that the molars instead over growing inwards they had grown outwards. so he has fixed this problem and i'm now feeding critcal care 4 times a day and is on metacom for the pain. I have already noticed he is yaking the critical care really well and is eating normal food too which is a great start and seems to be doing really well. fingers crossed on a good weight gain.

Thanks to everyone who responsed and helped. CCC4 i will still use the pancur on both as well. any news on the ivermectin?

Michele
p.s just waiting to see the bill monday.
 
critical care going well but going to have to go back to vets. he's trying to eat hay back nothing happens just sticks outside his mouth even though his moving his mouth to gnaw it down. he's out in the garden at mo with his brother and seems alert and running around so will see what vets says.
 
So pleased the problem has been identified and corrected! He shouldn't need to be sedated for xray or dental work though; the right tools and the right skill by the pracitioner (vet or rodentologist) allows them to do these without any anesthetic.

You should only need to supplement with Critical Care until he is eating normally again and/or until his weight has picked right up. The Metacam is good and should ward off any soreness caused by the overgrown molars that were rubbing on his cheeks.

The Ivomec Super in the link on the Ivomec/Ivermectin thread is a good one, and is a very good price (not the £50 one, the one above it).
 
It's good that he's trying to eat hay but maybe his mouth is still sore from the dental work. It took my sow nearly 3 days to start eating properly after her dental work :)
 
Why did the vet take an xray? Adirect look into the mouth would have given the result, at no risk and cheaper.
 
the vet took an xray as they wanted a good look at his jaw it see how bad the disease was. I trust this vet totally. He sorted out both my girls who had ovarian cysts.

Today Henry is doing really well and is now up to 684g. which when this started went as low as 640g. i have increased the feeds to 5/6 times a day as well givng 10/12mls per feed plus water. Henry is so use to doing it now he asks for it when on my lap its so sweet and loves the water too. Spoke to vets as he has a clicking noise and waiting for a call back. Henry is eating alot more today too which i am pleased about. hopefully this is the start of improvement however i know how quick it can change.
 
CCC4 said:
So pleased the problem has been identified and corrected! He shouldn't need to be sedated for xray or dental work though; the right tools and the right skill by the pracitioner (vet or rodentologist) allows them to do these without any anesthetic.

You should only need to supplement with Critical Care until he is eating normally again and/or until his weight has picked right up. The Metacam is good and should ward off any soreness caused by the overgrown molars that were rubbing on his cheeks.

The Ivomec Super in the link on the Ivomec/Ivermectin thread is a good one, and is a very good price (not the £50 one, the one above it).
Click to expand...

It was only a whif of gas not a heavy sedation.
 
One thing I have found tends to go hand in hand with a dental problem is gut motility issues. Sounds like you're on the right track with him, but it's worth keeping an eye on what comes out of him, and how often just in case.

Captain Eyebrow (nickname for one of mine) had a dental problem this time last year, that was jumped on fairly quickly. But she was still quite ill afterwards, and I noticed through irregular food exit so to speak, and the fact although she wasn't really eating she wasn't losing weight in between feeds. Turned out her guts were moving totally out of rythm, so we believe instead of things passing through they were shuffling back and forth. A high fibre low energy diet (the fibre certainly helped, the low energy concners me a little even now as she was on a plain Timothy hay diet for 10 days) and daily jabs of metachlopromide for 4 or 5 days got things much closer to normal (coupled with probiotic in her water). I wouldn't go so far with yours as it sounds like he hasn't got much weight to lose, but pl;enty of fibre will help keep his teeth in check as well as help prevent any gut issues.

In my experience, a piggy will lose approx 10 grammes per hour if not taking anything on for themselves. If he is eating for himself I would look to weigh him regularly (particularly last thing at night and first thing in the morning). A few grammes loss (5 - 10ish) should be OK as he made simply have had a pee and poo, but a constant loss rather than gain means it's time to get the syringes out. They can become rather dependent on the syringe and he needs to be encouraged to eat for himself as much as possible, but obviously you don't want to be so strict he loses condition. The clicking noise is a concern, it could be his teeth aren't quite meshing properly and need examining again.

Good luck, sounds like overall he's doing OK :)
 
that sounds so terrible. Henry is pooing for britain. Whats going in is definietly coming out. lol......

i am weighing him every time i give him critical care so 5/6 times a day at mo....... I'm still giving critical and will do until he reach at least 900/1000gram. he was over 1200g at one stage and he takes other his brother.

Henry is such a character all told he's been playing tug of war with the towel on my lap in between each syringe feed which just makes my chuckle and he also goes mad when i syringe water to him. he's definitely improving.

I previously had a piggy suffer anoerixa(spelt wrong sorry) after a hysterectomy but after 3 weeks was nearly back to normal and lived a further 3.5 years and died at the ripe old age of 6 years.
 
I see where you're coming from with the syringe feeding, I've been there myself :(

But you do need to be careful you don't overdo it as he needs to be encouraged to eat for himself, and if you do everything he won't have that much appetite to munch on some hay. The long chain fibres are not only good for keeping the teeth worn down (the last thing you need is his teeth to overgrow so soon after) but also good gut motility. It's a very difficult balance, on the one hand you want them to gain overall condition, on the other hand you don't want to be causing more complications further down the line.

Tried to pm you - Out of interest, which vet do you use? I have a feeling I may need to rethink my trust in my usual vet, and Hampshire's a big place - If the vet is on the Dorset side they may be worth me thinknig about in future, although it sounds like the typical problem of one guinea wise vet and another guinea ignorant in the same practice :(
 
Stinklepig said:
the typical problem of one guinea wise vet and another guinea ignorant in the same practice :(
Click to expand...

i have the same thing. trust only 1 plus his wifes opinion. the others i dont anymore. Guinea pigs are like babies. the mother knows what the problem is . mothers knows, just depends who listens. :))
 
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