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Guinea pig teeth not right after dental work

K

ktbellers

New Born Pup
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Location
Manchester
Hi there
I’m hoping for some advice please. My guinea pig Olive had dental treatment under sedation two weeks ago due to over grown teeth which was causing eating problems. Two weeks later and she is still struggling to eat, so we’ve been supplementing with critical care. The vet who did the surgery (an exotics vet) says there shouldn’t be an issue, but I don’t think her teeth look right. I can only really see the front, but for me this looks like malocclusion. Would welcome any advice, please.
Thank you
Screenshot_2023-05-13-18-33-51-82_40deb401b9ffe8e1df2f1cc5ba480b12.webp
 
I've downloaded the photo and attached it to your post, removing the link.
 
I am very sorry but it looks like the jaw is misaligned and the fact the incisors are slanting means there’s probably still something wrong with her back teeth 😞 Sadly, there are very few vets who can carry out dental treatment and it often means a botched job. Can you get to Northampton at all? Simon and Kim Maddock at the Cat and Rabbit care clinic are excellent at piggy dentistry and carry out dentals consciously so there’s no need for a GA @furryfriends (TEAS) runs a sanctuary for guinea pigs with dental issues and often boards piggies who live far away and are in need of dental treatment if she has the time and the space

I too am near Manchester and would be interested to know which vet you used? Feel free to PM me if you’d rather not say publicly
 
Hello and welcome to the forum. I agree there’s obviously something still not right. Have you gone back to the vets yet? Piggy teeth are quite tricky to get right.

If you can get to the Cat and Rabbit clinic in Northampton then that would be your best option. I’ve been there with my piggy and they are amazing. They do conscious dentals so they are much cheaper than other vets too.

Good luck
 
Thank you very much for the advice. Olive had a second surgery at our vets today but there has been no improvement in her eating. I have just emailed the Cat and Rabbit clinic to ask if they may be able to help. We’re very worried at this stage as the only thing keeping her eating is our syringe feeding.
 
I really hope they can help Olive. You are doing great with the syringe feeding. It can be so tiring and stressful. I had to syringe feed my piggy Pepper for 8 weeks last year due to antibiotics knocking out his appetite. So I understand what you are going through. Good luck.
 
ktbellers said:
Thank you very much for the advice. Olive had a second surgery at our vets today but there has been no improvement in her eating. I have just emailed the Cat and Rabbit clinic to ask if they may be able to help. We’re very worried at this stage as the only thing keeping her eating is our syringe feeding.
Click to expand...
Cat and Rabbit Clinic are moving premises over the next few days. They re-open on Monday. Maybe give them a ring at the start of next week, just to make sure they got the email. Will your piggy eat softened nuggets off a plate, or maybe a few porridge oats. Just trying to think of ways to ease the amount of feeding you’re needing to do xx
 
What we see quite regularly cropping up on here is piggies with an underlying issue such as a gum abscess which makes them chew to one side to avoid putting pressure on the painful bit... and this makes the front teeth slant and the back ones go wonky as they have a lopsided chewing action. Cat&Rabbit are very experienced in this. Your own vet should be able to give you a good dose of metacam/loxicom painkiller for twice a day use until you can follow up?
 
I am very sorry Cat and Rabbit can’t help you 😞 You could try Ellie Whitehead in Matlock. She also carries out conscious dentals. Just type ‘Ellie Whitehead, Matlock’ in to google and her details should pop up. I think the name of the vets is Derwent Vets
 
@furryfriends (TEAS) are the Cat and Rabbit clinic taking referrals? I remember that previously when they have closed to new clients they have still taken referrals from other vets.😃
 
Hello
A bit of an update on Olive. We couldn’t get her in at the Cat and Rabbit Clinic but Ellie Whitehead saw her and did a dental treatment on her. Unfortunately she still struggled to eat hay (she managed small chopped veggies and we supplemented with critical care) and her teeth have grown back. Back with Ellie today, she said another dental was unlikely to help and the same thing would likely happen again, and recommended we didn’t go ahead. However, we decided to have one more try and had Olive’s teeth completely filed. I’m hoping for support and advice on encouraging a recovery, otherwise I think we are going to have to make a difficult decision. Olive’s jaw seems to be slightly misaligned and I wonder if this is causing the ongoing eating issues. i’m open to all and any suggestions or advice, please. I’ve tried making a chin strap but I’m really not sure this is helping her, although am willing to accept I may have made this wrong.
Hope you can help, Guinea Pig Forum.
Thank you
K x
 
I am so sorry Olive is struggling. i would have suggested Simon Maddock at the Cat and Rabbit Clinic in Northampton. I think they are doing dentals with GA but not consciously at the moment. Simon and Kim are brilliant at diagnosing what is actually the matter so it might be worth your while getting a second opinion anyway to put your mind at rest. It could be a number of things, but they really are the best people to give you an accurate diagnosis.
I’ve experienced how sad and difficult dental problems are, I feel for you, my old boy Ted needed conscious dentals every 6 weeks as he developed a molar spur which grew into his cheek.

I hope you can get some answers, good luck 🤞
 
Thanks very much. Unfortunately they were not taking on new clients so were unable to see her.
 
@furryfriends (TEAS) is it worth trying again to get in again at Cat&Rabbit?

@ktbellers I don't think a chinstrap is going to help. Sometimes people speculate about jaw misalignment and it always makes me wonder how piggy managed to get this far in their life with a cronky jaw. I'm looking at your lovely pic of Olive at the top of this thread and seeing the sturdy toenails of an older girl so am I right in thinking that for most of her life she's been eating just fine? I can't imagine why the jaw would suddenly be out of alignment unless there was an underlying reason she was holding it thus to eat.

That's why I was musing about a hidden abscess in the earlier post... that's something that does come up quite regularly on here. The problem can't always be felt... I recall one poster who had a piggy with a large open ulcer right at the back corner of the mouth - it took a few vets (and a really good spotlight) before it was found. I can't actually remember ever seeing a post on here where a chin strap 'cured' anything. The reason behind them was - if I'm getting it right - because neglected piggies whose incisors have been so overgrown they actually held the mouth open and stretched all the tissues needed some help closing the mouth again in the short term. But I can't even tell you if they're still used for that.

If there's an underlying issue filing her teeth won't solve it - I think that's what Ellie meant. She does have a very good reputation - I'm not sure she'll have seen as many tricky dental piggies as the C&R though. If Olive is eating on one side because of pain a chinstrap may well cause her more discomfort. Any pig will be tender straight after a dental op - my vet gives painkiller for a week (and also an antibiotic actually). But it seems like Olive's teeth are the outward sign of an underlying problem. Hmmm... :hmm:
 
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