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Eyes first time vet appointment

Ginger8587

Ginger8587

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi I am taking Charlie to his first vet visit today and I am wondering what questions should I ask the vet.? He has a little bit of crusty stuff around his eyes and he drools a lot does anyone know if that could be related to his teeth?
 
I think starting with his symptoms and your concerns is a great way to begin a consultation.

Drooling is a pretty big potential sign of dental issues, so I would state your concerns. Hopefully your vet is somewhat piggie savvy and will be able to help you with such.
Dental issues can be very painful so I would recommend asking about painkillers if you think needed.

I think you will find this guide helpful - Tips For Vet Visits
Good luck at your visit Charlie x
 
I can’t answer the question but just tell your vet what you have noticed and what your concern is.
Hope all goes well.
Will be thinking of you.
 
Good luck for your appointment! Let the vet know what you are concerned about, and ask for a full check over too 😊
 
They couldn't check his back teeth bit his front ones are not right so he may have to have surgery and put under aesthetic. I have heard bad things about that.
 
HUGS

It very much depends on what is exactly wrong with the teeth and how experienced with guinea pig dentals and operations your vet is.
Unfortunately, if left untreated, Charlie would slowly but surely starve to death; cavy teeth that are no longer ground down properly by the silica in the hay/grass fibre against which they have evolved will simply continue to crow unchecked with their sharp edges (spurs) until the jaw dislocates. The fact that he is salivating is a sign that he is already struggling to swallow as his tongue is increasingly trapped by bridging spurs. :(
Try to see it as giving Charlie a chance to live that he would otherwise not have. Any operation or procedure is always a leap of faith but if it is made with love and the wish to give your beloved one the a chance at the life you wish them to have, then it is a leap worthwhile. ;)

Generally, the mouth is very sore and painful from any overgrowth and the operation to remove it and the bite may not be quite correct so you are likely to have to step in with feeding support post-op.

Please also be aware that what you will find online are mostly all the bad outcomes and horror stories plus the miracle cures but what you do not get is the uneventful positive outcomes because they are expected and not considered worth posting about so you have to always make allowance that you are in most cases actually missing the largest part of the picture. It can really throw you if you are not aware of it.
You can find lots of very practical care tips about things you can do constructively for Charlie if needed in these links here. Please step in with weighing him daily on your normal kitchen scales first thing in the morning and start syringe feeding as soon as possible to help him keep up his weight as much as possible - this will help him to get through the op.
Tips For Post-operative Care
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

All the best.
 
Yah I definitely don't want him to starve to death I'm just trying to get the rest of. The money for the operation yes I know I should have been prepared but, just got let go and looking for work.
 
Thank you for your support and words of advice it's appreciated, do you happen to know about sulfatrim antibiotic?
 
Ginger8587 said:
Thank you for your support and words of advice it's appreciated, do you happen to know about sulfatrim antibiotic?
Click to expand...
Sulfatram is a good antibiotic for guinea pigs. Is this what he is on?
Does the vet think he has an infection?

And please try not to worry - I have had multiple guinea pigs undergo anaesthesia for dental problems and they have all recovered well.
Just make sure he has plenty of pain relief and stock up on supplies for syringe feeding for a few days too.
You are doing everything possible for him.
 
Sulfatrim is basically the adult version of Septrin, that is banana flavoured and used in paediatrics.
It is double the strength of Septrin, unflavoured and is an antibiotic prescribed for a range of different bacterial infections.
What was this prescribed for, if at all?

As for the dental, you can ask your vet more about the procedure, yes as they are small animals they can be more susceptible to things going wrong than say a 30lbs dog but many vets use a reversible sedative which means if your boy starts to not cope they can reverse what they have done.

My granny owned pigs for as long as I can remember and many of them came to her with dental issues which were sorted by the vet again and again.
The fatality’s although far and few, will be more post-able than the many stories of things going fine, as wiebke said above.

Wishing you and charlie all the best x
 
Thank you, he has a little bit of eye crustys and a little bit of. Boogery stuff from his nose that was my main concern thinking that he has a respiratory infection but, his lungs sounded good but as a precaution to his eyes the terrramycin is helping them already they weren't really bad but I felt needed to be seen and good thing to that I brought him in.
 
Hi again everyone so I brought Charlie to a different vet and they said his weight and everything is good and he checked out Charlie's teeth and said the back ones are ok but the front ones needing trimming so he trimmed those and trimmed his toenails. Now because the first vet said he had to be under aesthetic to look at his back teeth I'm a little worried still.and I found that funny because the lady from the la guinea pig Saskia I think that's how you spell her name. looks at IMG_20230517_181511841.webpIMG_20230517_181547239.webpguineapigs teeth without putting them under which I hear is a risk. Plus the first vet she said his lungs were good (sounded good?) But because of his eyes being a little bit crusty insisted on giving him sulfatrim to get more money outta me and I noticed that they only gave me half of what I paid for so I called them they said it was sent to Walgreens but I go there nothing. Twice now this has happened. But they may have been trying to just get more money outta me cause why did she need to risk my guineapigs life because she wasn't smart enough to rinse his mouth out before she looked so what do you guys think do you think she was just wanting more money by having to out him under with aesthetic just to check his mouth? When she could of busted rinsed the food out cause that is the reason she stated for not being able to see the back ones. Charlie is 3lbs is that a good weight? Thank you for reading this and your input.
 
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