• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Dental? Pepper is off to the vets tomorrow

weepweeps

weepweeps

Senior Guinea Pig
Forum Buddy
Joined
Nov 22, 2020
Messages
16,891
Reaction score
27,563
Points
2,125
Location
Wiltshire
I’ve been away this week and came back early so I could get Pepper checked out at the vets. He’s not eating very well. I couldn’t get him in at the vets before
I went away as it was the long 4 day bank holiday and our vets were not making any appointments. Anyway I’ve got back early and looked at his teeth. They look wonky so hopefully they will just need a little straightening up tomorrow. 🤞

D2B3C489-7DE7-4509-B51D-511B586BACC2.webp
 
I hope your vet is good with piggy gnashers! Hopefully it is just something small causing discomfort and lopsided munching which can be sorted easily. 🤞🙏
 
I hope they are good too. They are on our approved list and they are an animal hospital. Other vets refer to ours. I’ve heard a lot of negative comments about dental issues on here I’m worried.
 
weepweeps said:
I hope they are good too. They are on our approved list and they are an animal hospital. Other vets refer to ours. I’ve heard a lot of negative comments about dental issues on here I’m worried.
Click to expand...
That's understandable, I was too when Squeaks' incisors starting being slanted. I thought I was probably going to be taking him for regular molar filing ... but it was diagnosed as pulpitis, which isn't great as it's painful for him and not curable as such, but it can be managed with daily Metacam.
Good luck for Pepper's appointment today x
 
Pepper is booked in for a dental on Monday at 8.15. It’s the soonest appointment they had. Vet checked him over and couldn’t find anything else wrong. Looked in his mouth, but if course if was full and she couldn’t see much. He’s got pain meds. Cat one, once a day. 😔

I’ve got some critical care and will be support feeling until Monday. Thanks for all your kind wishes. ❤️
 
weepweeps said:
Pepper is booked in for a dental on Monday at 8.15. It’s the soonest appointment they had. Vet checked him over and couldn’t find anything else wrong. Looked in his mouth, but if course if was full and she couldn’t see much. He’s got pain meds. Cat one, once a day. 😔

I’ve got some critical care and will be support feeling until Monday. Thanks for all your kind wishes. ❤️
Click to expand...
It's great he has been seen, and Monday isn't far away so fingers crossed he is fine until then.

The one thing I would question is the Metacam.
Cat much lower does to start with and once a day is just not often enough to keep on top of pain in guinea pigs due to their fast metabolism.
How much is he on, and is it possible to split the does into 2?
 
Swissgreys said:
It's great he has been seen, and Monday isn't far away so fingers crossed he is fine until then.

The one thing I would question is the Metacam.
Cat much lower does to start with and once a day is just not often enough to keep on top of pain in guinea pigs due to their fast metabolism.
How much is he on, and is it possible to split the does into 2?
Click to expand...

Yes that’s what I thought. Percy was given the dog version once so I assumed she’d give that one again 🤦🏻‍♀️

He’s on 0.23 ml. He weighs 1160g. ?
 
weepweeps said:
Yes that’s what I thought. Percy was given the dog version once so I assumed she’d give that one again 🤦🏻‍♀️

He’s on 0.23 ml. He weighs 1160g. ?
Click to expand...
When Pepper was on pain meds for his teeth he was on dog 0.4ml twice a day and he weighs 1125g
 
Cat Metacam contains 0.5mg/ml meloxicam
Dog Metacam contains 1.5mg/ml meloxicam

A guinea pig can have 'up to' 1mg per kilo of bodyweight twice a day.
Note that this is the absolute maximum recommended dose, and would only be used isn extreme circumstances, which this clearly is not.

Most vets like to start with a safe dose that is much lower than this.
0.23ml of cat metacam puts him at a dose of around 0.1mg per kilo of bodyweight, which even if you increase this to twice a day, is still only a tenth of the possible maximum dose.
I am absolutely not saying he should be anywhere near the maximum dose, but I would seriously question if such a low dose given only once a day would have any effect at all. Think about how useful it would be if you took a tenth of a paracetamol tablet when you have a headache.
I would call the vet back and ask if you can at least give this twice a day, and consider increasing it slightly.
It's only a few days until his dental, and anything you can do to keep him as pain free as possible over the weekend will help with him eating and holding his weight.

But I am not a vet or a medical expert (although I do have a scientific background and always ask my vet for links to research papers when they quote things, as well as having access to a range of scientific journals as part of my job), so please do check with your vet first.
 
Hope it easily sorted, 🤞poor Pepper x
Slanting incisors can be a sign that he is using one side to eat more than the other.
 
Hope he’ll be sorted and start feeling better soon. Lots of healing wheeks Pepper. And keep downing your critical care.
 
So Pepper has only lost 10g since yesterday morning so I’m feel I’m doing something right. I fed him three times yesterday and can do four today. I’ve seen him eat a little sweet corn, one sprig of basil and coriander and some hay and grass. Percy seems to be guarding him. I think he’s being nice. Lol.
 
weepweeps said:
So Pepper has only lost 10g since yesterday morning so I’m feel I’m doing something right. I fed him three times yesterday and can do four today. I’ve seen him eat a little sweet corn, one sprig of basil and coriander and some hay and grass. Percy seems to be guarding him. I think he’s being nice. Lol.
Click to expand...
That’s a good loss, if that makes sense. As in not too much. I’d definitely up how much you’re topping him up. It’ll be Monday soon 🙂
 
The vet just called. They think Pepper may have a tooth root abscess ☹️.

She said his teeth weren’t too bad but she’s taken a tiny bit off just in case. Also he had a lot of food still in his mouth. She said that is unusual so maybe he’s got a problem with swallowing. Then when she was straightening his front teeth she saw some white fluid which could be puss from an abscess. She felt his jaw and could feel “a thickening”. So he’s on AB and pain relief. She said sometimes AB can’t get to the heart of an abscess but we will try them first.
 
Last edited:
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
It’s completely normal for them to have food in their mouth!

Which antibiotic is she prescribing? With appropriate antibiotics an abscess can be very successfully sorted x
Click to expand...

She didn’t say which one he will have yet. I’ll let you know once I’ve picked him up.

She thought there was a lot more food in there than there should be. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Thanks.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top