Cain Piggies
New Born Pup
Hi, I have a 7 year old boar who needs a dental procedure. He chipped his tooth in March and our cavy savvy vet recommended that we wait and see how it grew back as my guinea pig was eating, drinking, pottying, and acting normally. It initially grew back fine and he didn't lose any weight or have a change in habits. Unfortunately it now looks overgrown and his other incisors are uneven. I took him to a different vet this week who also sees exotics and found that his back molars also need to be filed (our normal cavy savvy vet is opening their own practice dedicated to small mammals and is only providing house calls at the moment while the new practice is being opened). They recommended scheduling a procedure soon where my guinea pig will be under general anesthesia.
I scheduled the procedure with the new vet for next week but am feeling nervous. First, I am worried about the anesthesia because of his age. They said his lungs and heart sound good but he does have a tendency to become gassy or bloat easily. I'm located in the northeast of the United States and haven't been able to find anywhere that does conscious dental procedures in the area (although I could look more).
I also keep questioning if this is the right vet to go with. They are definitely specialized in exotics and are aware of the needs that guinea pigs have during anesthesia, but when I asked if they had done this specific procedure on guinea pigs before they responded that they had done dental procedures on rabbits and rodents and much more complicated surgeries on other exotic animals. While this is good to know, I worry that this vet doesn't have much experience with guinea pig teeth particularly and that my guinea pig will have a difficult time recovering if his teeth are filed incorrectly.
Meanwhile, our normal vet will be opening their new practice in a few months and said we could hopefully schedule a procedure in September. I would ideally have the procedure with this vet because they are more specialized with rabbits and rodents and we have never had a bad experience with them in the past. My guinea pig is still eating and acting normally and has not lost any weight. He still zooms around, popcorns, and wheeks, and is doing well for his age, so I would hate for this procedure to go wrong. However, I don't want to chance his molars overgrowing in the next few months and making him uncomfortable, preventing him from eating, or entrapping his tongue and then not having a surgery lined up.
TL;DR: I wonder if I should call the new vet and ask for even more details on their experience to inform my decision or wait until September to schedule something with the vet I know. Alternatively, I could research other vets in the area more and try to schedule something with someone else this summer. Or maybe I am overthinking everything and should just go with the soonest appointment. Does anyone have any thoughts, know of any vets in the Northeastern United States who provide good dental care for guinea pigs, or have any experience with senior pigs and dental procedures/anesthesia?
Thanks for reading this long post!
I scheduled the procedure with the new vet for next week but am feeling nervous. First, I am worried about the anesthesia because of his age. They said his lungs and heart sound good but he does have a tendency to become gassy or bloat easily. I'm located in the northeast of the United States and haven't been able to find anywhere that does conscious dental procedures in the area (although I could look more).
I also keep questioning if this is the right vet to go with. They are definitely specialized in exotics and are aware of the needs that guinea pigs have during anesthesia, but when I asked if they had done this specific procedure on guinea pigs before they responded that they had done dental procedures on rabbits and rodents and much more complicated surgeries on other exotic animals. While this is good to know, I worry that this vet doesn't have much experience with guinea pig teeth particularly and that my guinea pig will have a difficult time recovering if his teeth are filed incorrectly.
Meanwhile, our normal vet will be opening their new practice in a few months and said we could hopefully schedule a procedure in September. I would ideally have the procedure with this vet because they are more specialized with rabbits and rodents and we have never had a bad experience with them in the past. My guinea pig is still eating and acting normally and has not lost any weight. He still zooms around, popcorns, and wheeks, and is doing well for his age, so I would hate for this procedure to go wrong. However, I don't want to chance his molars overgrowing in the next few months and making him uncomfortable, preventing him from eating, or entrapping his tongue and then not having a surgery lined up.
TL;DR: I wonder if I should call the new vet and ask for even more details on their experience to inform my decision or wait until September to schedule something with the vet I know. Alternatively, I could research other vets in the area more and try to schedule something with someone else this summer. Or maybe I am overthinking everything and should just go with the soonest appointment. Does anyone have any thoughts, know of any vets in the Northeastern United States who provide good dental care for guinea pigs, or have any experience with senior pigs and dental procedures/anesthesia?
Thanks for reading this long post!
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