My guinea pig has serious dental problems, and has a lot of problems eating. The vet says it cannot be treated, all his teeth are bad some require to be pulled, but he cannot pull all of them of course. My guinea pig - Ed - has been at the vet's multiple days. Now he's home again since the day before yesterday, and I've been syringe feeding him. He's on Loxicom as a painkiller (the dose for an animal of 10 kg (the full syringe, I believe it's 1ml). He's only eating very little next to the syringe feeding. He seems to not be able to chew because he does want the food I believe - at least he is taking it in his mouth and tries to chew it, sometimes he manages to eat a little, but mostly he makes weird movements with his lips and he gives up after a while of trying. Is it dangerous to give more painkillers so he maybe will be able to chew without pain? It just breaks my heart to see him trying, but not managing to eat. I just wish he would eat something. I have also tried to cut up the food in tiny bits and put them in his mouth straight away. He'll take some of that, but most of it he'll try to chew a little and then spit out again.
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Dental Can I give my guinea pig more than the recommended dose of painkillers?
- Thread starter Anna12
- Start date
I would not recommend giving him more than has been prescribed by a vet. Please speak to your vet if you feel he is still in pain as it may be that he needs a different pain killer.
Even if all his pain is taken away, it will only take him so far though, the dental problems stopping him from eating and moving food around his mouth will still be there
Even if all his pain is taken away, it will only take him so far though, the dental problems stopping him from eating and moving food around his mouth will still be there
Thank you. I will first see how it goes with the current level of painkillers then to see if there's some improvement today.
amy104
Teenage Guinea Pig
Phone your vet and ask. There is usually a range of amount that can be given so the vet may well be able to increase it if they prescribed the lower end of the scale. It would be dangerous to just increase it without checking as they may already be on the top end of the scale.
Thanks! I will phone tomorrow. Today is a bank holiday, so the vet is not available.
Hi!
What dosage of metacam is your piggy on and have you been given cat or dog metacam.
Unlike dog and cat teeth rodent teeth are growing constantly and need to ground down by silica rich hay and grass fibre; for dental treatment they need filing down, not removing until there is a serious abscess right at the root of them or there is some serious malocclusion. If the teeth are not ground down evenly, it is usually the premolars that will grow spurs trapping the tongue or less often painfully growing into the flesh of the cheeks. Unfortunately, guinea pigs and capybaras have some of the fastest growing teeth of all rodents; it is over 1 mm per week to keep up with the abrasive silica in hay. Once that is not happening, they will overgrow very quickly and eventually make swallowing and eating impossible.
If the teeth are not being treated, then you may have to weigh up when the right time comes to have your boy euthanised as the problem will unfortunately only get worse rather quickly. It won't go away on its own.
Sadly guinea pigs don't feature much on most vets curricula and dentals not at all. Can you get to a more piggy savvy vet?
@furryfriends (TEAS)
I wish I had better news.
He's on Loxicom for dogs. The syringe is indicated in kg. He gets the dosage for a dog of 10kg. I think that's about 0,75 ml. The vet I have is the only one in the surroundings that solely specialises in rodents and exotic animals, all the others are mostly focused on cats and dogs, and I have less good experience with them I'm afraid. I've looked in the whole country, but it seems like he's the best there is here. It's possible that I remembered the info of pulling the teeth wrongly (the x-ray just showed that all the teeth are bad, and the vet says he cannot treat it).Hi!
What dosage of metacam is your piggy on and have you been given cat or dog metacam.
Unlike dog and cat teeth rodent teeth are growing constantly and need to ground down by silica rich hay and grass fibre; for dental treatment they need filing down, not removing until there is a serious abscess right at the root of them or there is some serious malocclusion. If the teeth are not ground down evenly, it is usually the premolars that will grow spurs trapping the tongue or less often painfully growing into the flesh of the cheeks. Unfortunately, guinea pigs and capybaras have some of the fastest growing teeth of all rodents; it is over 1 mm per week to keep up with the abrasive silica in hay. Once that is not happening, they will overgrow very quickly and eventually make swallowing and eating impossible.
If the teeth are not being treated, then you may have to weigh up when the right time comes to have your boy euthanised as the problem will unfortunately only get worse rather quickly. It won't go away on its own.
Sadly guinea pigs don't feature much on most vets curricula and dentals not at all. Can you get to a more piggy savvy vet?
@furryfriends (TEAS)
I wish I had better news.
Since he's been eating very very little in at least the past 1,5 weeks I'm afraid I will eventually have to make the choice to have him euthanised, but I'm finding it really hard. If there's no improvement by tomorrow I will contact my vet again.
I am very sorry. Make sure that you give the loxicom every 12 hours and split the dosage; a guinea pig metabolism is much quicker than a dog's or cat's; the metacam will start to wear off 10 hours.
Thank you for the clarification; that helps making sense.
The decision to euthanise is the most heart-breaking decision, but letting a piggy in pain go when there is nothing more you can do is also the most kind and loving and selfless gift you can ever make them. When the chips are down, if you love somebody of any species, you'd rather bear the extra emotional pain yourself when the chips are down - by acknowledging that, you make it easier to face your natural fear of loss and emotional pain that comes with grieving.
You may find this guide here helpful that I have written recently; it takes a closer look at exactly this kind of situation and also contains lots of practical advice on how to work out your decision and get through it as best as you can to make it easier on yourself as well: A Practical and Sensitive Guide to Dying, Terminal Illness and Euthanasia in Guinea Pigs
Thank you very much for your answer. The guide is very helpful. I will discuss with the vet tomorrow. I do not think things will get any better if he does not start eating today.