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Edward: dental problems

Wiebke said:
I'll get it sorted when I finally have time. It's been rather hectic here getting everything ready for four more piggies and catching up with my own late cage clean due to me not being all that well over the weekend.

PS: I did include the link to the new syringe feeding guide at the time, @furryfriends (TEAS), as I always do with thrid party content in one of my guides.
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I have now added @furryfriends (TEAS) video to our syringe feeding guide @Wiebke.
 
Wiebke said:
Please take a deep breath. Simon won't find any horrors. Edward has got one bad tooth and that will be dealt with. ;)
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Thank you, I will do. I can cope with one bad tooth 😉 Hopefully I can have a good nights sleep tonight and hopefully so can you!
 
Claire W said:
Thank you, I will do. I can cope with one bad tooth 😉 Hopefully I can have a good nights sleep tonight and hopefully so can you!
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I will be having a good night, especially as Edward is currently happily tucking into my much softer meadow hay; so he will hopefully need less top feed for the time being.
 
Wiebke said:
I will be having a good night, especially as Edward is currently happily tucking into my much softer meadow hay; so he will hopefully need less top feed for the time being.
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Good! Aw bless him. He’ll enjoy that. I’m so glad he’s eating hay again. He hasn’t been eating his hay here. It must be too hard for him :(
 
Claire W said:
Good! Aw bless him. He’ll enjoy that. I’m so glad he’s eating hay again. He hasn’t been eating his hay here. It must be too hard for him :(
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He keeps eating my softer meadow hay and is also happily munching my smaller Harringtons pellets (he seems to really love them) - so definitely nothing wrong with his back teeth. It's just the pick up and cutting from the incisors that is the uncomfortable bit. ;)
 
Wiebke said:
He keeps eating my softer meadow hay and is also happily munching my smaller Harringtons pellets (he seems to really love them) - so definitely nothing wrong with his back teeth. It's just the pick up and cutting from the incisors that is the uncomfortable bit. ;)
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I am pleased :) To be fair on my vet, she was pretty confident that it wasn't his back teeth as she said his bite was good but I didn't understand what she meant. I was just so upset at the time. May be I shouldn't have been so quick to judge even though she has made him worse?
 
Claire W said:
I am pleased :) To be fair on my vet, she was pretty confident that it wasn't his back teeth as she said his bite was good but I didn't understand what she meant. I was just so upset at the time. May be I shouldn't have been so quick to judge even though she has made him worse?
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Your vets were by no means as bad as you have made them out to be.
Edward is still perfectly able to pick up food on his own. In all honesty, there was not much they could do because there was heartily little showing in terms of working out what the problem is but tidying up his incisors a little.
 
Great to hear Edward is doing ok!

Ps sorry to hear you were not well last weekend Wiebke, hope you’re feeling better now.
 
Wiebke said:
Your vets were by no means as bad as you have made them out to be.
Edward is still perfectly able to pick up food on his own. In all honesty, there was not much they could do because there was heartily little showing in terms of working out what the problem is but tidying up his incisors a little.
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Now I do feel guilty to my vets :( I was just horrified when she cut his incisors. I’m glad he’s able to pick up food again
 
Qualcast&Flymo said:
Perhaps he was still suffering discomfort after the trimming earlier in the week, but feels better now. Squeaks was like that, and he's only just started taking nuggets from my hand.
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Thank you, that’s what Wiebke thinks too. I’m glad that Squeaks is taking nuggets from your hand and I hope his incisors grow back soon x
 
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It has taken three sessions to get Edward to feed from a bowl by himself but he is now doing it and is currently maintaining his weight under his own steam with mush, fresh grass and cut up veg fed out of the cage in addition to what he is eating back in the cage. I will step in with extra syringe feeds when it becomes necessary of course.
But he is making some perfectly healthy and well-formed poos again. And his ladies are getting the remainders of the bowl contents in the cage afterwards with a little grass so they have exactly the same smell on breath as Edward.

I have used old lady Hapus with her three incisors as his teacher in a joint feeding session on the chair, going back to the pattern that babies and new companions learn from others what is safe to eat and what not.
Hapus went 'eeuw' at any syringe and Edward went 'yuck' at the contents of the bowl but was watching her closely and not just sniffing her bum but also her mouth very carefully more than once; he also managed to stand in his bowl in the process - boys!
Crucially, he did realise that the bowl contents contained the same thing as his syringe feed. They parted with a mutual 'I want to be friends with you' piggy wash after quite a bit of snuggling up and low key friendly interaction. It also helped to de-stress Edward further.

In the following session I got Edwards used to the feel of mush on his lips by increasingly loading the syringe tip with extra feed on the outside and increasingly spooning the feed into his mouth with the familiar syringe rather than pushing the plunger.
Then yesterday evening he got too bored sitting next to the filled bowl waiting for me to come after he'd worked his way through his evening veg and finally decided that he could take matters into his own paws, or rather mouth...

@Claire W
 
Wiebke said:
View attachment 206962

It has taken three sessions to get Edward to feed from a bowl by himself but he is now doing it and is currently maintaining his weight under his own steam with mush, fresh grass and cut up veg fed out of the cage in addition to what he is eating back in the cage. I will step in with extra syringe feeds when it becomes necessary of course.
But he is making some perfectly healthy and well-formed poos again. And his ladies are getting the remainders of the bowl contents in the cage afterwards with a little grass so they have exactly the same smell on breath as Edward.

I have used old lady Hapus with her three incisors as his teacher in a joint feeding session on the chair, going back to the pattern that babies and new companions learn from others what is safe to eat and what not.
Hapus went 'eeuw' at any syringe and Edward went 'yuck' at the contents of the bowl but was watching her closely and not just sniffing her bum but also her mouth very carefully more than once; he also managed to stand in his bowl. Crucially, he did realise that the bowl contents contained the same thing as his pellets. They parted with a mutual 'I want to be friends with you' piggy wash after quite a bit of snuggling up and low key friendly interaction. It also helped to de-stress Edward further.

In the following session I got Edwards used to the feel of mush on his lips by increasingly loading the syringe tip with extra feed on the outside and increasingly spooning the feed into his mouth with the familiar syringe rather than pushing the plunger.
Then yesterday evening he got too bored sitting next to the filled bowl waiting for me to come after he'd worked his way through his evening veg and finally decided that he could take matters into his own paws, or rather mouth...

@Claire W
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Thank you so much. I’m so glad he’s able to maintain his weight and has mastered the bowl of mush 😍
 
Edward is still doing good although he’s not eating so many pellets and hard veg and his teeth are growing back slanted so he’s definitely favouring to eat on the right side of his mouth.

Wiebke has informed me that his incisors actually wasn’t cut too short and him not being able to eat last Monday / Tuesday was due to his mouth being sore and his dodgy tooth so I owe my vet a huge apology now 😞
 
Well I’m glad Edward is maintaining his weight and has learned a new trick of eating mush from the bowl. Once Simon has had a look I’m sure you will know more of what’s bothering him and treatment can be even to get him back to eating properly
 
I’m sure all will go well for Edward at the appointment with Simon, sending lots of healing and good luck wheeeeeeks.

On a side note..
I totally understand your anxiety and guilt you are feeling about how it went with the original vet that trimmed his teeth and you feel that you was unfair in judging that they did wrong instantly. But Clare, don’t forget your gut instincts are usually right. Yes perhaps they did trim his teeth correctly but at the time you was stressed, and you was unhappy with previous comments they’d made about his penis and clearly they didn’t really know what they was looking at with his mouth as your having to pay another vet to investigate further. I’m sure you wasn’t really as rude as you feel you was at the time. I often go away from situations cringing at myself. But in reality, that person actually probably didn’t even notice..or even care much. Of course when you return to that vet you can let them know you are feeling guilty, it will make you feel better. But you probably have nothing to apologise for. You’re a great pig mum who was scared for her little Edward xx
 
Claire W said:
Wiebke has very kindly managed to get Edward an appointment with Simon at Cat and Rabbit for tonight so we will know once and for all what’s wrong with his teeth. I feel sick with worry but will feel better once he’s been seen. Please send him lots of vibes
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Great news. Keep us posted. ❤️
 
I have just heard from Wiebke. Edward has a lower thicker incisor that isn’t wearing down properly and the root is infected. He has strong painkillers and antibiotics and a check up in two weeks time. Simon has filed the tooth. Please keep everything crossed that the antibiotics do the trick otherwise I assume he’ll have to have the tooth out but I’m not sure
 
Claire W said:
I have just heard from Wiebke. Edward has a lower thicker incisor that isn’t wearing down properly and the root is infected. He has strong painkillers and antibiotics and a check up in two weeks time. Simon has filed the tooth. Please keep everything crossed that the antibiotics do the trick otherwise I assume he’ll have to have the tooth out but I’m not sure
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Simon will not operate on these massive teeth, which are not all that uncommon in older piggies since the damage to the jawbone could be considerable and make it very fragile.

If Edward is not reacting well to the zithromax in combination with both dog loxicom/metacam (same dosage as I have recommended to Claire) as well as tramadol for the mother of all toothaches, Simon will go in and marsupialise the infected root; there is a small abscess in its early stages.

Edward will have to live with his thickened tooth and will need to have it filed back regularly before it is the same length as the other lower incisor in order to keep the pressure off the tooth as that is what is causing the pain, inflammation and infection. Because of its thickness, it doesn't wear down as much as the other incisors and there is therefore much more pressure on it whenever he chews. But that is a very minor job that can be done locally by any vet who is willing to burr or file; it doesn't have to be a precise job unlike correcting any overgrowth at the back.

Edward will remain here until his dodgy tooth is sorted one way or other, so he and his ladies may have a somewhat extended holiday.

With my husband coming down with Covid just after Claire's piggies had arrived, we unfortunately had to postpone having Edward seen a week before his booked appointment until my hub was both safe again and had recovered enough to drive Edward and me to Northampton.
Thankfully I haven't caught it and neither have Claire's parents but it has been yet another very stressful and worrying week for me - especially in view of my currently looking after 27 piggies again, of which more than just Edward need regular meds and topping up. You really don't want to be both ill at the same time! :(

Edward has stopped eating much on his own over the last couple of days once his big tooth had grown back and was abrading very painfully again against the upper incisors so I wanted to have him seen as soon as possible under the circumstances. He still was 840g on the vet scales, which Simon was very happy with.

Claire's local vets did actually the best thing they could under the circumstances by shortening in the thick tooth to the same length as its mate even if it felt far too short for Claire; it has helped to reduced the pressure pain (as soon as the initial soreness had gone and in combination with Claire upping the metacam massively), and it has incidentally bought me some crucial and much needed waiting time.
 
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