Dental 2 year old guinea pig hasn't eaten by himself for almost 2 months!

[Maddii]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this forum and desperately need advice for my little Munji. This is quite a long journey we've been through.

Mid May 2021 we discovered over grown molars and a swollen left eye and runny left nostril. He then had a dental procedure done by our experienced vet. He was sent home with Metacam and Metomide (which he has been on through this whole period), and we were also able to come back for a few injections of these the week following.

Straight after the dental things were looking okay, he was eating veggies fairly well and taking his critical care however, he wasn't interested in hay or dry pellets. His weight also dropped to between 880g - 900g during this time (his usual weight is 1.1kg).

Then late May he developed slight pneumonia overnight and was rushed to our emergency vet for oxygen and antibiotics (Baytril). A few days had past and multiple visits to our regular vet showed no more pneumonia. However, a large mass of swelling occurred and over only a few days the abscess was so large it had to be drained by needle.

The following day it refilled with puss and when his cheek was shaved it revealed a section of flesh had died and scabbed over. In this case our vet was able to remove the scab exposing the abscess as a kind of naturally occurring marsupialization. This healed amazingly with regular cleaning and antibiotics (Baytril) in just 3 days!

Over this time his weight had dropped to between 800g - 750g. Due to him not eating any hay since the initial dental, he then required another dental filing under GA on the 18th of June. Thankfully, this was very successful and X-rays were also taken of his skull. An infection was found in one of his top left molars, pushing on his eye and sinuses. The vet flushed this out and prescribed another round of antibiotics (Baytril).

Since then he will not eat any dry food still. He will only eat syringed critical care, some pellets soaked in water and very few veggies. He is having a very hard time biting into and ripping his veggies to eat currently as well (we assume his incisors are too short for the time being).

Over this whole period we've have seen our vet over 20 times and in our most recent visit (29/06) he had a in-depth look and feel around his jar and molars; poking and prodding to find any signs of pain and infection. We are under the assumption this infection has gone as there was no pain, swelling or smell anymore. His eyes and nostril have returned to normal (his left eye is slightly permanently deformed due to the pressure caused by the abscess).

My issue is he is still not eating properly! We've tried to encourage hay eating by trying different varieties and putting them inside his mouth. He acts as though he's choking and will spit them out. Currently I'm feeding critical care 10 - 12ml 6 to 7 times a day, and when I have reduced it to see if he would eat alone his weight dropped dangerously to 730g. He's currently around 800g fluctuating throughout the day.

Throughout all of this he has stayed relatively happy and alert (after recovery from the 2x dentals), which has made it very difficult for my vet and I to make that difficult euthanasia decision. He has been such a strong piggie fighting through all of this and I don't want to give up until he has. Has anyone heard or experienced anything like this? I cannot believe he's made it this far and any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Attached are his 2 X-rays a photo of him from today. Thank you in advance for any assistance ~

 

[weepweeps]

I’m so sorry your piggy is having such a hard time at the moment. It sounds like you are doing all you can. It must be so exhausting for you. I don’t have any experience of dental pigs. I hope someone comes along soon with some advice for you. Take care of yourself too.

 

[PigglePuggle]

I've tagged your thread as dental, hopefully @furryfriends (TEAS) can advise as she has a huge amount of experience with dental issues and abscesses

 

[Maddii]

I've tagged your thread as dental, hopefully @furryfriends (TEAS) can advise as she has a huge amount of experience with dental issues and abscesses

Thank you so much for that ~

 

[Maddii]

I would like to also add the before and after images of the first dental here. You can see he had spurs and he couldn't move his poor little tongue. I've also added a photo of the location of the abscess the day before the draining occurred.

 

[Betsy]

Poor little Munji. He is such a cute piggy. It's hard having a piggy that doesn't want to eat. Have you tried him on grass to see if he will eat that? Meg had a tooth spur that had lacerated her cheek last year and it was a long time before she felt confident enough to eat hay again. She would eat grass though. I started her off on a small amount and increased it slowly so her stomach got used to it.

 

[Maddii]

Poor little Munji. He is such a cute piggy. It's hard having a piggy that doesn't want to eat. Have you tried him on grass to see if he will eat that? Meg had a tooth spur that had lacerated her cheek last year and it was a long time before she felt confident enough to eat hay again. She would eat grass though. I started her off on a small amount and increased it slowly so her stomach got used to it.

I've had him out a few times on our grassed area with his brothers and he'll only sniff around at it for a bit then give up ☹ I might try cutting some off and leaving it for him inside incase he wants it that way. Thank you for the advice!

 

[Betsy]

I've had him out a few times on our grassed area with his brothers and he'll only sniff around at it for a bit then give up ☹ I might try cutting some off and leaving it for him inside incase he wants it that way. Thank you for the advice!

Meg would only eat it if I cut it for her. I cut really long bits as she found those easier to pick up. I found it was a case of giving her the confidence that she could eat it and when she realised she could and it didn't hurt any more then she was well away! She ate grass only for about 3-4 months before she tried hay again. Be prepared for the long haul.

 

[Maddii]

Meg would only eat it if I cut it for her. I cut really long bits as she found those easier to pick up. I found it was a case of giving her the confidence that she could eat it and when she realised she could and it didn't hurt any more then she was well away! She ate grass only for about 3-4 months before she tried hay again. Be prepared for the long haul.

I'll keep that in mind! I didn't realise how much of a struggle the recovery would be and it feels like just one thing after another is going wrong. Thank again and I'll keep this thread posted as to how I go with him and the grass. Fingers crossed

 

[Bill & Ted]

So sorry your little Munji is having such a tough time and sending you hugs as I know how difficult it is looking after a dental piggie long term, a rollercoaster ride that’s quite exhausting.
Grass is a good substitute for hay, it’s the same plant basically and has the silica on the leaves just like hay, so offer that, increasing if tolerated. A small bowl of plain dry porridge oats is good for maintaining their weight too and is nutritious. Beetroot sticks out of salad bags are great for hand feeding, I spent hours feeding my dental piggie Ted these, he really enjoyed them. If he isn’t eating grass when he is outside, cut it and hand feed, the trouble is they loose confidence in eating after a while, so he needs to regain that ability to eat in his head not just physically.

Good luck I hope you can get him back on track x

 

[Maddii]

So sorry your little Munji is having such a tough time and sending you hugs as I know how difficult it is looking after a dental piggie long term, a rollercoaster ride that’s quite exhausting.
Grass is a good substitute for hay, it’s the same plant basically and has the silica on the leaves just like hay, so offer that, increasing if tolerated. A small bowl of plain dry porridge oats is good for maintaining their weight too and is nutritious. Beetroot sticks out of salad bags are great for hand feeding, I spent hours feeding my dental piggie Ted these, he really enjoyed them. If he isn’t eating grass when he is outside, cut it and hand feed, the trouble is they loose confidence in eating after a while, so he needs to regain that ability to eat in his head not just physically.

Good luck I hope you can get him back on track x

Thank you so much for all that advice! I'll try those things and see how we go.

 

[Maddii]

A little victory with the cut grass, he'll only chew and eat it if I put pieces in his mouth, but still won't grab it alone. He's also enjoying a bit of grated carrot, I've tried other veggies grated but carrot is the only one he'll eat alone. He'll only eat a little but it's much better than nothing! He's also still keen on his critical care as well.

His weight has been heading up and is now at 830g which is great. No swelling around his face or eye has come back but his eye is looking like the Ocuflux isn't beating the infection at the moment (still has white discharge and is crusty looking). I've gotten in contact with my vet to see if we should start the Baytril again until our next visit, just waiting on a response.

Our next vet appointment is Tuesday 06/07 so I'll update if anything changes. Thanks again to everyone that's given advice for my little Munji.

 

[Bill & Ted]

A little victory with the cut grass, he'll only chew and eat it if I put pieces in his mouth, but still won't grab it alone. He's also enjoying a bit of grated carrot, I've tried other veggies grated but carrot is the only one he'll eat alone. He'll only eat a little but it's much better than nothing! He's also still keen on his critical care as well.

His weight has been heading up and is now at 830g which is great. No swelling around his face or eye has come back but his eye is looking like the Ocuflux isn't beating the infection at the moment (still has white discharge and is crusty looking). I've gotten in contact with my vet to see if we should start the Baytril again until our next visit, just waiting on a response.

Our next vet appointment is Tuesday 06/07 so I'll update if anything changes. Thanks again to everyone that's given advice for my little Munji.

That’s great, hopefully as time goes on he will eat a little more each day. Glad his weight is heading in the right direction too x

 

[Maddii]

Unfortunately our little Munji has lost his fight and crossed the rainbow bridge. Our vet informed us at his appointment his infection had become too far gone for him to overcome, even with stronger antibiotics. His molars were also again overgrowing from not eating properly, which he would've required another dental surgery under GA asap.

We made the decision not to put his little, weak, fragile body through a 3rd dental within 2 months. He'd already fought so hard and I could see he had tried his best. Overnight he'd dropped in weight and became very lethargic, and all his symptoms were becoming worse. So we were able to get into our vet again this afternoon to say our last goodbyes and for him to be at peace.

He was such a sweet, cuddly little boy and will forever be remembered. Thank you again for everyone's advice and support.

 

[piggieminder]

I am so sorry to hear your sad news.
RIP little Munji

 

[Bill & Ted]

I am so sorry, you tried so hard with him, sending big hugs. Munji will have known just how much you love him and the care and happy times you’ve had together before he left for rainbow bridge x
Sleep tight little Munji