No improvement after dental procedure.
Hello.
New member here.
One of our piggie (20 months old) was not eating and we took him to vet. Vet diagnosed dental issue ( overgrowth and tongue was getting stuck) and he underwent a surgery under anesthesia.
It's been a week now since surgery but he is still not eating. The vet said he is not responding to treatment and they have run outbof options. He is trying to eat but it seems he is having trouble getting the food inside his mouth. Going through this site the symptoms match with what are listed under malocclusion. We are feeding him critical care and veggies paste every 1-3 hours to maintain his weight.
We are taking him to a different vet tomorrow for second opinion. My question in the meantime is - does it take long for piggies to recover after surgery? What should be our expectations? Is it possible to have misdiagnosed ( and by extension wrong treatment)? He is otherwise very active.
Xray image :
https://ibb.co/f9G28nv
Link to images of his teeth below:
https://ibb.co/prW62R6
https://ibb.co/8zh8FcD
https://ibb.co/mqW473Z
Thanks
New member here.
One of our piggie (20 months old) was not eating and we took him to vet. Vet diagnosed dental issue ( overgrowth and tongue was getting stuck) and he underwent a surgery under anesthesia.
It's been a week now since surgery but he is still not eating. The vet said he is not responding to treatment and they have run outbof options. He is trying to eat but it seems he is having trouble getting the food inside his mouth. Going through this site the symptoms match with what are listed under malocclusion. We are feeding him critical care and veggies paste every 1-3 hours to maintain his weight.
We are taking him to a different vet tomorrow for second opinion. My question in the meantime is - does it take long for piggies to recover after surgery? What should be our expectations? Is it possible to have misdiagnosed ( and by extension wrong treatment)? He is otherwise very active.
Xray image :
https://ibb.co/f9G28nv
Link to images of his teeth below:
https://ibb.co/prW62R6
https://ibb.co/8zh8FcD
https://ibb.co/mqW473Z
Thanks
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- And got the T-shirt
It's very difficult to do a dental procedure on a guinea pig because their mouths are so small. It's not at all uncommon for a gum or a cheek to be nicked during the process, making it very difficult for them to eat afterwards.
It's also possible that your vet trimmed his front teeth, which should almost never be done. The grinding motion of the molars is what keeps the front teeth ground down. If the incisors are trimmed too short, the pig can't pick up the food. You can try cutting his food into matchstick-sized pieces and pushing them into his mouth back to his molars. If he can eat when you do that, he should be OK as soon as his incisors grow out.
Keep on feeding him -- it's the most important thing you can do. As a rule of thumb, a guinea pig that's eating nothing else needs at least 100 cc. of Critical Care or pellet mash for every 1000 grams it weighs. Adjust up or down according to the pig's weight, and down if he's eating some on his own.
It's also possible that your vet trimmed his front teeth, which should almost never be done. The grinding motion of the molars is what keeps the front teeth ground down. If the incisors are trimmed too short, the pig can't pick up the food. You can try cutting his food into matchstick-sized pieces and pushing them into his mouth back to his molars. If he can eat when you do that, he should be OK as soon as his incisors grow out.
Keep on feeding him -- it's the most important thing you can do. As a rule of thumb, a guinea pig that's eating nothing else needs at least 100 cc. of Critical Care or pellet mash for every 1000 grams it weighs. Adjust up or down according to the pig's weight, and down if he's eating some on his own.
- Lynx
- Celebrate!!!
By the way, the ibbd website has objectionable ads (I received a complaint). I edited your post to use the img tags (bb code) they provided for a full size image. Should you need to add more pictures, I encourage you to do the same or switch to a better web host for your images. Imgur.com is one host that does pretty well, as far as I can tell (I haven't gotten any complaints).
I am sorry your guinea pig is dealing with this.
I am sorry your guinea pig is dealing with this.
Sorry about the links, didn't know about their questionable ad policies.
So the new vet confirmed it to be malocclusion. He did some filing and alignment on the molars. He said this is what best could be done but he is hopeful that there is chance that he will start eating again normally. Now we are back to monitoring and syringe feeding him. Keeping our fingers crossed.
So the new vet confirmed it to be malocclusion. He did some filing and alignment on the molars. He said this is what best could be done but he is hopeful that there is chance that he will start eating again normally. Now we are back to monitoring and syringe feeding him. Keeping our fingers crossed.
- ItsaZoo
- Supporter in 2023
If you have a smoothie blender you could also try making smoothies by combining hay, fresh veggies, pellets, or critical care. He might be able to lick that up himself so he could eat in between syringe feedings. I did this for my previous pig when she couldn’t seem to eat on her own. I made a large batch, froze it in spoonfuls, and just put a spoonful on a little plate. It was mushy and she licked it up.
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- You can quote me
Ditto all the advice you have received.
Also ditto on the Metacam suggestion. Even the smoothest dental trim can cause some mild discomfort for a couple of days, which makes them even less likely to want to eat.
You're doing all the right things. Keep going. In my experience, once they do resume eating it's very abrupt and they normalize quickly.
Best wishes and good luck to you both. Please let us know how he's doing.
Also ditto on the Metacam suggestion. Even the smoothest dental trim can cause some mild discomfort for a couple of days, which makes them even less likely to want to eat.
You're doing all the right things. Keep going. In my experience, once they do resume eating it's very abrupt and they normalize quickly.
Best wishes and good luck to you both. Please let us know how he's doing.