Hi! This is my first post here ever and I am at my wits end. I live in Finland and I have a 2 year old boar name Veeti. Veeti has had health problems since last October. It all started when he was showing some URI symptoms, temperature (40,1 celcius degrees) and sneezing and some wheezing noises when he ate and cleaned himself. So I took him to the vet and he got antibiotics (enrofloxacin). The URI symptoms stopped and he was not sneezing. However his stomach started acting up when the course of antibiotics was about to finish. No diarrhea but Veeti was sometimes complaining when he was pooping (the poops were normal looking). So he got some probiotics and Metacam but they did not take the occasional complaining noises away. The vet took X-rays for possible stones but the X-ray was clear. Then he was prescribed Tramadol drops, 3 drops per day and then Veeti was not showing any symptoms. Whenever we stopped giving Tramadol the occasional pain when pooping came back. Veeti was otherwise happy and active during this time and ate normally and did not lose any weight. The vet told us that we should monitor him and if the pain episodes would be really bad we could always give him Tramadol. She also said said that sometimes it takes a while for guinea pigs' stomachs to return to normal after antibiotics.
So fast forward to Chirstmas. The occasional pain had not left us so I decided that I wanted Veeti to be examined more. His stomach was examined with sonogram which came back clear. No tumors, blockade or bloat or anything unusual was found in the belly area. The sonogram was performed by a different vet since the original one did not have a sonogram machine yet. Both vets were exotic vets btw. So I decided to let the issue rest for a while and keep a close I to Veeti. We had a lovely Chirstmas holiday with the guinea pigs. They were roaming around in our apartment every day and Veeti was so happy about this since he has always been a crazy explorer piggie. He had a good appetite and the pooping pain episodes where happening maybe once every two or three days so I was not very worried at this time.
But early in January when I weighed Veeti I noticed that he had lost some weight from 1020-1030 grams to 980-990 grams. He had not weighed under 1000 grams for many months so I got concerned. I did not notice any remarkable change in his appetite at this time and thought that maybe he has had too much exercise during the holidays. But then his weight continued in the next few weeks to 965 grams and I decided that he needed to be seen by a vet. At this time the pooping pain had gone away almost completely but a week before the vet appointment I noticed that he was not eating enough hay and pellets so I gave him CC once a day. The original vet took blood tests, fecal analysis and checked his teeth (front and back). The vet said that teeth very okay. The same day when tests were taken in the evening I noticed that Veeti felt hot, he was breathing rapidly and was kinda flat so I tried to measure his temperature and got (40,4 degrees Celcius) so I called to the emergency vet and they said that I should give him Metacam and bring him to the emergency vet. At the emergency vet Veeti's temperature had returned to normal (38,5 degrees) because of the Metacam but they said that he his breathing speed was elevated (200 times per minute). Heart sounded normal. So they gave him antibiotics (combination of trimethoprim and sulfadiazine).
During the next week on the antibiotics Veeti's appetite was worse than before and I had to support feed him even more (his weight was around 945 grams). I also got the test results back and fecal analysis was clear: no bacterial infection or parasites. Blood tests showed that kidneys and liver values were within normal limits but there was some inflammation.
The antibiotics caused some deformed stools and Veeti was complaining more when pooping and he was still breathing rapidly. He still ate some hay and pellets and all veggies. I also decided that I wanted to do a CT-scan on his whole body since I started to suspect that Veeti may have a heart problem. And this was indeed the case. The CT-scan (performed by the same exotic vet tht did the belly sonogram at Chirstmas) showed an enlarged heart and a diffuse increase in the lungs but nothing else alarming. So Veeti was prescribed a diuretic Furosemide for a few days course and heart medicin Vetmedin (1/4 tablet per day) for indefinetely. His appetite increased and I gave him CC only once a day. His weight was hovering 935-945 grams. We had a control checkup with the original vet who also prescribed the Vetmedin and she looked Veeti's heart with a sonogram since she had acquired one. She said that Veeti's heart problem was minor and that the Vetmedin had helped: the heart was contracting better. His breathing speed had also decreased. But I complained that Veeti's appetite was still abnormal and his weight would drop if I stopped the CC completely (I had tried and Veeti wnt down to 920 grams). So the original vet said that they were at the end of their skills and said that if I was feeling that Veeti was not okay I could bring him to another exotic vet (a third one). So I decided that I wanted to do that since I was still worried and knew that I could not support feed him for the rest of his life.
So at 1st of March I took Veeti to the third exotic vet and explained him the situation. He also looked at the earlier papers written by the other vets. He took Veeti's temperature and it was elevated AGAIN (40,4 degrees Celcius). He also wanted to look at Veeti's teeth again since it was his experience that when there was problems with eating the teeth were a very common factor to that. And to my surprise he found some problems with his teeth. This is direct quote from the diagnosis paper I got: "The teeth were largely fine, but the upper cheek teeth were short and almost not extend above the gingiva (the gums). Also the first lower cheek teeth were a bit longer than normal, and on the left lower side there was signs of a minor diastema (a space between the teeth). Also the mucous membranes were a bit irritated and inflamed. All sides were smoothened." Veeti also got a injections of antibiotics, pain medication and fluids with multivitamins. He suspected that Veeti might still have some persistent pneumonia due to the heart problems. He also said that we should give Metacam 0.15 ml per day and come back a week later for a another antibiotic injection.
So this week has been weird. After the appointment Veeti's appetite has decreased even further and he barely eats on his own. Just some small bits of veggies. He also stopped drinking from the water bottle. So I have been syringe feeding him for every 3 hours and giving him water with syringe which he accpets sometimes very eagerly and sometimes not so eagerly. He is resisting the support food much more than before the Monday's appointment with the teeth smoothing but is not spitting it away when I get it into his mouth. And for a few times he even wanted the support food voluntarily. When he chews he is also struggling in a way I have not seen before and is also teeth chattering sometimes after he has chewed the support food and also chattering more just on random. Not seen before or at least not so consistently. So on Wednesday the 3rd of March I called to the third vet's office again and explained the new worsening situation and they said that I should bring him there again on Thursday the 4th. There was a different vet on duty on Thursday and she took Veeti's temperature and it was 40,9! degrees Celcius and she also analysed Veeti's urine with a pH-sort-of-paper which tells if there is white blood cells in the urine indicating inflammation. There was not and the paper showed also that Veeti had no keto-bodies in his urine so he was not in ketosis. The pH of the urine was also normal. The vet said that we should increase the Metacam dose to 0.3 ml a day and on top of that add 2 Tramadol drops and see how Veeti does. She also said that the temperature could lower his appetite of course.
During this week Veeti has been more slow and flat than before but I have also seen him popcorn and chase after his brother and he has been making happy noises and does not seem to be in pain when he is not eating or pooping. The poops have been somewhat odd looking sometimes and sometimes they are normal looking. He is also complaining very often when he poops. Today I gave him the first 2 drops of Tramadol and increased Metacam but did not see improvement in his appetite or appeareance. He does seem still interested at food in general and today came running from his hidey when he heard that I was chopping some veggies and then ate a few thin stripes of cucumber. He also wanted to leave his enclousure and explore the living room which I let him. And I forgot to mention earlier but he should not be vitamin C deficient since I give him drops of it mixed with his support food and should not have been before or during his problems since I give him bell pepper every day and also parsley quite often. He also has very good looking skin and fur.
So if you have read this far first of all thank you very much and I have a couple of questions.
Could even higher doses of pain medication improve him?
Also is it possible that the teeth smoothing is causing these new problems with eating? The vet at Thursday did not seem to think that.
Is there any hope for Veeti? I am very very tired since I have sleeped only 5 hours a night for 4 days now because of the constant feeding
and I am losing hope and am scared that this ends up to a situation where Veeti needs to be put down.
Has anyone else had experience with worn out cheek teeth and can a guinea pig recover from that by growing the worn out cheek teeth back under vet supervision? How long this would take? I am ready to continue support feeding him around the clock if his teeth could improve but of course this cannot go forever like this also for Veeti's sake.
So what should I do? At least I support feed him around the clock till next Monday's vet appointment.
Feel free to ask questions if I failed to mention something you think is important!
So fast forward to Chirstmas. The occasional pain had not left us so I decided that I wanted Veeti to be examined more. His stomach was examined with sonogram which came back clear. No tumors, blockade or bloat or anything unusual was found in the belly area. The sonogram was performed by a different vet since the original one did not have a sonogram machine yet. Both vets were exotic vets btw. So I decided to let the issue rest for a while and keep a close I to Veeti. We had a lovely Chirstmas holiday with the guinea pigs. They were roaming around in our apartment every day and Veeti was so happy about this since he has always been a crazy explorer piggie. He had a good appetite and the pooping pain episodes where happening maybe once every two or three days so I was not very worried at this time.
But early in January when I weighed Veeti I noticed that he had lost some weight from 1020-1030 grams to 980-990 grams. He had not weighed under 1000 grams for many months so I got concerned. I did not notice any remarkable change in his appetite at this time and thought that maybe he has had too much exercise during the holidays. But then his weight continued in the next few weeks to 965 grams and I decided that he needed to be seen by a vet. At this time the pooping pain had gone away almost completely but a week before the vet appointment I noticed that he was not eating enough hay and pellets so I gave him CC once a day. The original vet took blood tests, fecal analysis and checked his teeth (front and back). The vet said that teeth very okay. The same day when tests were taken in the evening I noticed that Veeti felt hot, he was breathing rapidly and was kinda flat so I tried to measure his temperature and got (40,4 degrees Celcius) so I called to the emergency vet and they said that I should give him Metacam and bring him to the emergency vet. At the emergency vet Veeti's temperature had returned to normal (38,5 degrees) because of the Metacam but they said that he his breathing speed was elevated (200 times per minute). Heart sounded normal. So they gave him antibiotics (combination of trimethoprim and sulfadiazine).
During the next week on the antibiotics Veeti's appetite was worse than before and I had to support feed him even more (his weight was around 945 grams). I also got the test results back and fecal analysis was clear: no bacterial infection or parasites. Blood tests showed that kidneys and liver values were within normal limits but there was some inflammation.
The antibiotics caused some deformed stools and Veeti was complaining more when pooping and he was still breathing rapidly. He still ate some hay and pellets and all veggies. I also decided that I wanted to do a CT-scan on his whole body since I started to suspect that Veeti may have a heart problem. And this was indeed the case. The CT-scan (performed by the same exotic vet tht did the belly sonogram at Chirstmas) showed an enlarged heart and a diffuse increase in the lungs but nothing else alarming. So Veeti was prescribed a diuretic Furosemide for a few days course and heart medicin Vetmedin (1/4 tablet per day) for indefinetely. His appetite increased and I gave him CC only once a day. His weight was hovering 935-945 grams. We had a control checkup with the original vet who also prescribed the Vetmedin and she looked Veeti's heart with a sonogram since she had acquired one. She said that Veeti's heart problem was minor and that the Vetmedin had helped: the heart was contracting better. His breathing speed had also decreased. But I complained that Veeti's appetite was still abnormal and his weight would drop if I stopped the CC completely (I had tried and Veeti wnt down to 920 grams). So the original vet said that they were at the end of their skills and said that if I was feeling that Veeti was not okay I could bring him to another exotic vet (a third one). So I decided that I wanted to do that since I was still worried and knew that I could not support feed him for the rest of his life.
So at 1st of March I took Veeti to the third exotic vet and explained him the situation. He also looked at the earlier papers written by the other vets. He took Veeti's temperature and it was elevated AGAIN (40,4 degrees Celcius). He also wanted to look at Veeti's teeth again since it was his experience that when there was problems with eating the teeth were a very common factor to that. And to my surprise he found some problems with his teeth. This is direct quote from the diagnosis paper I got: "The teeth were largely fine, but the upper cheek teeth were short and almost not extend above the gingiva (the gums). Also the first lower cheek teeth were a bit longer than normal, and on the left lower side there was signs of a minor diastema (a space between the teeth). Also the mucous membranes were a bit irritated and inflamed. All sides were smoothened." Veeti also got a injections of antibiotics, pain medication and fluids with multivitamins. He suspected that Veeti might still have some persistent pneumonia due to the heart problems. He also said that we should give Metacam 0.15 ml per day and come back a week later for a another antibiotic injection.
So this week has been weird. After the appointment Veeti's appetite has decreased even further and he barely eats on his own. Just some small bits of veggies. He also stopped drinking from the water bottle. So I have been syringe feeding him for every 3 hours and giving him water with syringe which he accpets sometimes very eagerly and sometimes not so eagerly. He is resisting the support food much more than before the Monday's appointment with the teeth smoothing but is not spitting it away when I get it into his mouth. And for a few times he even wanted the support food voluntarily. When he chews he is also struggling in a way I have not seen before and is also teeth chattering sometimes after he has chewed the support food and also chattering more just on random. Not seen before or at least not so consistently. So on Wednesday the 3rd of March I called to the third vet's office again and explained the new worsening situation and they said that I should bring him there again on Thursday the 4th. There was a different vet on duty on Thursday and she took Veeti's temperature and it was 40,9! degrees Celcius and she also analysed Veeti's urine with a pH-sort-of-paper which tells if there is white blood cells in the urine indicating inflammation. There was not and the paper showed also that Veeti had no keto-bodies in his urine so he was not in ketosis. The pH of the urine was also normal. The vet said that we should increase the Metacam dose to 0.3 ml a day and on top of that add 2 Tramadol drops and see how Veeti does. She also said that the temperature could lower his appetite of course.
During this week Veeti has been more slow and flat than before but I have also seen him popcorn and chase after his brother and he has been making happy noises and does not seem to be in pain when he is not eating or pooping. The poops have been somewhat odd looking sometimes and sometimes they are normal looking. He is also complaining very often when he poops. Today I gave him the first 2 drops of Tramadol and increased Metacam but did not see improvement in his appetite or appeareance. He does seem still interested at food in general and today came running from his hidey when he heard that I was chopping some veggies and then ate a few thin stripes of cucumber. He also wanted to leave his enclousure and explore the living room which I let him. And I forgot to mention earlier but he should not be vitamin C deficient since I give him drops of it mixed with his support food and should not have been before or during his problems since I give him bell pepper every day and also parsley quite often. He also has very good looking skin and fur.
So if you have read this far first of all thank you very much and I have a couple of questions.
Could even higher doses of pain medication improve him?
Also is it possible that the teeth smoothing is causing these new problems with eating? The vet at Thursday did not seem to think that.
Is there any hope for Veeti? I am very very tired since I have sleeped only 5 hours a night for 4 days now because of the constant feeding
and I am losing hope and am scared that this ends up to a situation where Veeti needs to be put down. Has anyone else had experience with worn out cheek teeth and can a guinea pig recover from that by growing the worn out cheek teeth back under vet supervision? How long this would take? I am ready to continue support feeding him around the clock if his teeth could improve but of course this cannot go forever like this also for Veeti's sake.
So what should I do? At least I support feed him around the clock till next Monday's vet appointment.
Feel free to ask questions if I failed to mention something you think is important!
I’ll tag 
In Finland most people have dogs and cats as pets and not so many rodents. There is not even a single rescue dedicated only to guinea pigs or other rodents.