Dilly's Piggies
Teenage Guinea Pig
I've just got back from the vets with my girl Lottie, for the past two days she has been responding painfully to ear scratches which she usually loves, she would tilt her head and shy/jerk away in pain. I suspected an ear infection but two vets looked at her today and couldn't see anything in the ear, there's no infection or debris stuck, so now we're looking at a dental issue. They looked in her mouth with the special tool but as she had food stuck in there they couldn't see well enough, her front teeth are perfectly straight and in perfect condition though, no lumps or bumps either.
Lottie does have some symptoms that are caused by dental issues, she's struggling to maintain her weight without help for one. She began losing weight 5 months ago, but she had hormonal problems which as a result led to her having a spay surgery 2 months ago by Simon, he looked at her teeth and said they were fine, but things can change so quickly with piggies. I pieced together that the constant chasing/mounting and hyperactivity caused by the hormones made her lose weight, and with having surgery 2 months ago she's still recovering and it'll take some time to get her back to full fitness. It was just this new symptom, the ear pain that made me take her in today.
The pain she's having makes it hard to tell whether it's her inner ear or her jaw, it's right behind her ear/along the jaw line, where they connect. I have an ear infection too at the moment and it does make eating very painful and my pain is in the same place as hers around the jaw, (funnily enough it's actually the same ear we both have affected!) so I understand why she is pickier with her food and struggling to eat normal chunks of vegetables, pellets and even fluffy tops from hay, she tends to hesitate with these and eat slower, like it hurts to open her mouth, I have the same thing.
My vet has given her two days of sulfatrim and loxicom but this was only because I asked to try it first, they want to sedate her and take an xray of her teeth. Obviously I am absolutely terrified of my guinea pigs having any kind of sedation, but the vet assured me it would only be for a short time and she'd only be sedated enough to lay still on her side for the xray and she'd be woken up again straight away, it's not a full anaesthetic with tubes etc.
I am just seriously scared about this procedure and my vet wants to do it on Monday, I haven't booked it yet as I wanted some advice from others first.
I really do still think it's an issue with her ear, I sincerely hope it's not her teeth, that would absolutely kill me for her to be a dental pig, she's incredibly special to me, not like any other pig. I'm very protective of her and if I lost her by agreeing to sedation it would destroy me and 20k other fans of her on Facebook, putting her through it isn't something I can take lightly.
I lost Lottie's mother 2 months ago, she was also spayed (ovarian cysts) but died the next day, I do not want to lose my pride and joy, the sole reason for my success, the love of my life and the only thing I have to remember my sweet Tizzie. I am so bloody torn.
Please can someone weigh in on this situation, should I opt for sedation/xray? I would love her to have an xray, it's purely the sedation part that is worrying me. I went in thinking she just had an ear infection and antibiotics will cure her, but now with it being a likely dental problem I just feel heartbroken.
Lottie does have some symptoms that are caused by dental issues, she's struggling to maintain her weight without help for one. She began losing weight 5 months ago, but she had hormonal problems which as a result led to her having a spay surgery 2 months ago by Simon, he looked at her teeth and said they were fine, but things can change so quickly with piggies. I pieced together that the constant chasing/mounting and hyperactivity caused by the hormones made her lose weight, and with having surgery 2 months ago she's still recovering and it'll take some time to get her back to full fitness. It was just this new symptom, the ear pain that made me take her in today.
The pain she's having makes it hard to tell whether it's her inner ear or her jaw, it's right behind her ear/along the jaw line, where they connect. I have an ear infection too at the moment and it does make eating very painful and my pain is in the same place as hers around the jaw, (funnily enough it's actually the same ear we both have affected!) so I understand why she is pickier with her food and struggling to eat normal chunks of vegetables, pellets and even fluffy tops from hay, she tends to hesitate with these and eat slower, like it hurts to open her mouth, I have the same thing.
My vet has given her two days of sulfatrim and loxicom but this was only because I asked to try it first, they want to sedate her and take an xray of her teeth. Obviously I am absolutely terrified of my guinea pigs having any kind of sedation, but the vet assured me it would only be for a short time and she'd only be sedated enough to lay still on her side for the xray and she'd be woken up again straight away, it's not a full anaesthetic with tubes etc.
I am just seriously scared about this procedure and my vet wants to do it on Monday, I haven't booked it yet as I wanted some advice from others first.
I really do still think it's an issue with her ear, I sincerely hope it's not her teeth, that would absolutely kill me for her to be a dental pig, she's incredibly special to me, not like any other pig. I'm very protective of her and if I lost her by agreeing to sedation it would destroy me and 20k other fans of her on Facebook, putting her through it isn't something I can take lightly.
I lost Lottie's mother 2 months ago, she was also spayed (ovarian cysts) but died the next day, I do not want to lose my pride and joy, the sole reason for my success, the love of my life and the only thing I have to remember my sweet Tizzie. I am so bloody torn.
Please can someone weigh in on this situation, should I opt for sedation/xray? I would love her to have an xray, it's purely the sedation part that is worrying me. I went in thinking she just had an ear infection and antibiotics will cure her, but now with it being a likely dental problem I just feel heartbroken.
