Dental Drooling

[pigpigpiggies]

Hi!
My 5 year old sow has been constantly dribbling. I took her to the vet and they had a good look in her mouth and couldn’t see anything that immediately stood out. She has been eating and drinking fine and seems perfectly happy otherwise. I was given metacam to provide daily and told to see how she goes. If nothing changes the vet said to take her back in and he will do an x-ray. She has still been drooling so I will be phoning first thing Monday morning to book her in. I just wanted to see if anyone has experienced anything like this before or has any idea what it might be? As I said she is perfectly fine other than the drooling and as the vet couldn’t spot any issues straight away I’m quite baffled by it.
Thanks in advance!

 

[Swissgreys]

It sounds like it might be a dental issue, and these are usually only detected when the vet examines both the front and back teeth under a very light anesthetic.
The back teeth are notoriously hard to check.
Did your vet just perform a quick visual check or was your guinea pig given a short anesthetic to allow for a full examination?
It could also be an abscess or fungal infection - did the vet take swabs to check for infection?

Has your girls lost any weight?
Often this is the first sign that something is not right, and weekly weighing is critical to detect problems early on.

 

[pigpigpiggies]

Thanks for your reply! It was just a visual check, he said he was able to get a pretty good look but did say the issues can be difficult to spot so recommended an x ray be the next step. He just seemed baffled that she hadn’t been showing signs of discomfort as these issues are usually pretty painful.
She hasn’t lost any weight and is eating as normal. Enjoying her veggies and still eating her nuggets without any issues too.

 

[rudent]

Yeah, unfortunately this is usually a sign of dental issues. I took a pig in who had extremely severe dental issues & drooling was a key sign for me that she needed to go back to the vets for her teeth to be ground down. A bit gross, but does the drool smell at all? If it smells sort of fishy that can be a sign of an abscess in the mouth or gums.

 

[pigpigpiggies]

Yeah, unfortunately this is usually a sign of dental issues. I took a pig in who had extremely severe dental issues & drooling was a key sign for me that she needed to go back to the vets for her teeth to be ground down. A bit gross, but does the drool smell at all? If it smells sort of fishy that can be a sign of an abscess in the mouth or gums.

Yeah most of my research seemed to suggest a dental issue too, I just wondered if it could be a sign of anything else as the vet seemed pretty convinced the teeth were fine. Hopefully the x ray will shed some light!

No, I guess the drool has a slight smell but not a horrible one - nothing that strikes me as concerning at all.

Hopefully whatever it is is an easy fix. It’s so worrying :/

 

[rudent]

I do hope it's not dental issues as they can be very hard to get rid of once teeth start growing at weird angles, and vets are reluctant to remove abscessed teeth. The only other thing I've had personal experience with in terms of drooling is enlarged salivary glands due to a virus. That would be quite obvious though, as the glands on the cheeks (between the upper/lower jaw) are hard and quite large. You'd be able to feel them.

 

[Wiebke]

Yeah most of my research seemed to suggest a dental issue too, I just wondered if it could be a sign of anything else as the vet seemed pretty convinced the teeth were fine. Hopefully the x ray will shed some light!

No, I guess the drool has a slight smell but not a horrible one - nothing that strikes me as concerning at all.

Hopefully whatever it is is an easy fix. It’s so worrying :/

Drooling can also be a sign of a fungal mouth infection (oral thrush, which can be cured with an oral cat fungical medication like itrafungol (UK) or ketaconazole (US) or a of a blockage somewhere in the digestive system when saliva can no longer pass and builds up; the latter is usually connected with a piggy stopping to eat very quickly and looking very ill.

How well is your piggy eating and how is the weight? Are you seeing signs of slower eating, being picky and letting morsels drop?
Is the weight still stable (i.e. is your piggy still eating hay normally, which is making 80% of the daily food intake) or any harder veg?
Please switch from weighing once weekly as part of the normal life long health monitoring to weighing daily at the same time; since you cannot monitor hay intake by eye, the scales will tell you the truth. Normal kitchen scales from the supermarket will do.

 

[pigpigpiggies]

Drooling can also be a sign of a fungal mouth infection (oral thrush, which can be cured with an oral cat fungical medication like itrafungol (UK) or ketaconazole (US) or a of a blockage somewhere in the digestive system when saliva can no longer pass and builds up; the latter is usually connected with a piggy stopping to eat very quickly and looking very ill.

How well is your piggy eating and how is the weight? Are you seeing signs of slower eating, being picky and letting morsels drop?
Is the weight still stable (i.e. is your piggy still eating hay normally, which is making 80% of the daily food intake) or any harder veg?
Please switch from weighing once weekly as part of the normal life long health monitoring to weighing daily at the same time; since you cannot monitor hay intake by eye, the scales will tell you the truth. Normal kitchen scales from the supermarket will do.

In the case of a fungal infection of the mouth would there be other noticeable symptoms? She doesn’t have any scabs or anything around the mouth, other than the drool everything looks normal.

She is eating well and her weight appears to be stable at the moment - she hadn’t lost any when the vet weighed her either. I will start to weigh more regularly though, I’ll pop her on the scales tomorrow. Unfortunately she has never been as much of a hay eater as my other pigs so it’s difficult to go by that. In terms of veggies and nuggets she is eating as normal. She is a very shy pig (she was a rescue) but she is out waiting for her veggies when she knows it’s time! Her poops also seem normal - there is plenty of them and they look as they should!

 

[Wiebke]

In the case of a fungal infection of the mouth would there be other noticeable symptoms? She doesn’t have any scabs or anything around the mouth, other than the drool everything looks normal.

She is eating well and her weight appears to be stable at the moment - she hadn’t lost any when the vet weighed her either. I will start to weigh more regularly though, I’ll pop her on the scales tomorrow. Unfortunately she has never been as much of a hay eater as my other pigs so it’s difficult to go by that. In terms of veggies and nuggets she is eating as normal. She is a very shy pig (she was a rescue) but she is out waiting for her veggies when she knows it’s time! Her poops also seem normal - there is plenty of them and they look as they should!

I am linking in @furryfriends (TEAS) , who is our most experienced member when it comes to dental issues or oral thrush; but it doesn't sound a major oral thrush or dental issue to me because my previous questions were about telltale symptoms.

 

[pigpigpiggies]

I do hope it's not dental issues as they can be very hard to get rid of once teeth start growing at weird angles, and vets are reluctant to remove abscessed teeth. The only other thing I've had personal experience with in terms of drooling is enlarged salivary glands due to a virus. That would be quite obvious though, as the glands on the cheeks (between the upper/lower jaw) are hard and quite large. You'd be able to feel them.

That’s interesting, I haven’t noticed any enlarged glands and I’m sure that’s something the vet would have spotted but I will definitely double check that tomorrow! Thankyou!
Fingers crossed it’s not dental issues. Not serious ones anyway. It’s such a worry, especially as she’s getting older now too.

 

[pigpigpiggies]

Just wanted to post an update on here. She went in for her X-ray today (earliest they could fit her in) and they have apparently found... NOTHING. I’m obviously relieved that nothing horrible has been found but also feeling slightly frustrated that I still have no answers.

She is doing fine, just a little sleepy as she had to be sedated. I can go and collect her in an hour or so and have been told to just monitor her and keep an eye out for any other symptoms. GAAAAAH, how do such small little animals cause such a huge amount of stress!

 

[Bill & Ted]

Just wanted to post an update on here. She went in for her X-ray today (earliest they could fit her in) and they have apparently found... NOTHING. I’m obviously relieved that nothing horrible has been found but also feeling slightly frustrated that I still have no answers.

She is doing fine, just a little sleepy as she had to be sedated. I can go and collect her in an hour or so and have been told to just monitor her and keep an eye out for any other symptoms. GAAAAAH, how do such small little animals cause such a huge amount of stress!

They do cause us sleepless nights don’t they, I have a dental piggie and sometimes he’s a major worry, I feel for you x

 

[Little Ones]

X-rays are quite useless when it comes to dental problems unfortunately. They just show certain angles that the teeth grow at but nothing more, so are virtually useless in most cases (Kim maddock, Simons wife, told me this). I, too, spent money on an X-ray when my pig first had dental problems. She could still have a dental problem with the back teeth. If you’re in the UK, I’d try and get her to be seen by Simon in Northampton. He’s the best person for anything dental related and will sort her out if that’s definitely the problem.

I’m not sure how much you know about Simon. However, he (and his wife) are the only guinea pig dentists around and do dentals conscious. This eliminates a need for anaesthetic, it doesn’t cost anywhere near as much, and it means the pig can start eating straight away which is vital for dental problems

 

[Little Ones]

Also: even if the problem isn’t dental related, at least it would 100% rule it out. He also may be able to tell you what’s going on, he’s very skilled. I wish he were closer to me! He spotted my pigs burst abscess straight away and gave him surgery then and there which potentially saved his life. We had thought it was a back teeth issue, but really was an incisor infection and abscess issue!
It’s strange how the only issue is drooling, there has to be something else going on!

 

[Bill & Ted]

Can I ask are you based in the UK? If you are then I would recommend that you contact Simon Maddock at thr Cat and Rabbit Clinic in Northampton, he is the most experienced piggie vet when it cones to dentals. You don’t need a referral and he is very reasonably priced because he does conscious dentals, he will be able to tell you if the problem is dental related or not x