Guinea pig with jaw problem/malocclusion

[Piggie Sue]

Hi. This is my first post on the forum although I’ve read lots of useful posts on here since we got two gorgeous piggies in June 2020. So thank you. We’ve had a bit of a rollercoaster ride since first bringing our Guinea pigs home. Firstly an unsuspected pregnancy which resulted in Nibbles having three beautiful babies. Two girls and one boy. We kept the boy, Fluffy and gave the two girls to my sister-in-law and family, who were delighted. We eventually had Fluffy neutered and he was living happily with the ladies until December/January this year. We noticed Nibbles was losing weight gradually but consistently. We took her to the vets who couldn’t see a problem with her but gave her some pain relief and medicine to aid digestion. This seemed to work for a while but soon after the weight started to drop again. Meanwhile her son Fluffy, quite dramatically started to lose weight and then choked on a broccoli leaf causing a trip to the emergency vets. He advised that Fluffy’s back teeth had overgrown and were catching his tongue So he was booked in and had them burred under GA. However, despite several more trips to the vets and syringe feeding, he never really picked up after this and sadly we had to make the devastating decision to have him put to sleep last week. The vet said that he had a congenital jaw problem that was causing the malocclusion. We noticed that Nibbles front teeth had also overgrown and she also had the same jaw issue and now problems with her back teeth. Following a visit to the vets yesterday, where Nibbles back teeth had to be burred again. They advised that it probably is not sustainable to keep doing this and it will recur and advised we also let her go. However I’ve read on the forum about a vet in Northampton and wondered if there might be a similar vet nearer to us. We live in Preston, Lancashire. Also if people would advise us to keep trying with treatment or if it is kinder to let her go. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks Sue.

 

[Bill & Ted]

So sorry you lost Fluffy, sending hugs x
Simon and Kim Maddock at The Cat and Rabbit Clinic in Northampton are pretty unique in that they are experts when it comes to treating guinea pigs with dental problems. They see around 30 plus GP’s with dental problems per week and have the most experience and do conscious dentals. It takes about 5-10 minutes using tiny files and the piggie is none the worse for it, no nasty side effects from General Anaesthetic and cheaper too
You would need a referral from your vets if you can get there. They are truly miracle workers. I had a dental piggies called Ted, he lived an extra 2.5 years after being told by local vet he needed to be put to sleep after a poor GA dental was performed. Ted was eating hay within 10 minutes after his first conscious dental done by Simon, something he had not done for 4 months. We travelled from Cornwall which was a 600 mile round trip but it was worth every single mile to see my boy eating well

Do give it a try if you can. As for other vets with huge success, I know of none

 

[Piggie Sue]

So sorry you lost Fluffy, sending hugs x
Simon and Kim Maddock at The Cat and Rabbit Clinic in Northampton are pretty unique in that they are experts when it comes to treating guinea pigs with dental problems. They see around 30 plus GP’s with dental problems per week and have the most experience and do conscious dentals. It takes about 5-10 minutes using tiny files and the piggie is none the worse for it, no nasty side effects from General Anaesthetic and cheaper too
You would need a referral from your vets if you can get there. They are truly miracle workers. I had a dental piggies called Ted, he lived an extra 2.5 years after being told by local vet he needed to be put to sleep after a poor GA dental was performed. Ted was eating hay within 10 minutes after his first conscious dental done by Simon, something he had not done for 4 months. We travelled from Cornwall which was a 600 mile round trip but it was worth every single mile to see my boy eating well

Do give it a try if you can. As for other vets with huge success, I know of none

Thanks so much for your reply. It was so hard to lose Fluffy but he was so weak that it felt like the only option as I don’t think he would have survived another sedation and his back teeth were really bad. He seemed to go downhill after each teeth trim for some reason, whereas Nibbles seems much better today thankfully. She has been eating hay, veg and pellets today which she has been struggling to do recently. I think long-term though a trip to see Simon and Kim at The Cat and Rabbit clinic would be well worth doing, if we can. Did you have to take Ted regularly to the clinic as Nibbles’ front teeth are needing burring every two weeks at the moment, or can they help correct the jaw alignment? Thanks again.

 

[Bill & Ted]

Thanks so much for your reply. It was so hard to lose Fluffy but he was so weak that it felt like the only option as I don’t think he would have survived another sedation and his back teeth were really bad. He seemed to go downhill after each teeth trim for some reason, whereas Nibbles seems much better today thankfully. She has been eating hay, veg and pellets today which she has been struggling to do recently. I think long-term though a trip to see Simon and Kim at The Cat and Rabbit clinic would be well worth doing, if we can. Did you have to take Ted regularly to the clinic as Nibbles’ front teeth are needing burring every two weeks at the moment, or can they help correct the jaw alignment? Thanks again.

Yes, we took Ted every 6 weeks. In lockdown I made a BIG mistake of going to a local exotic vet for a GA dental (due to travel rules) which was a total distasteful and after that he ended up boarding with a Guinea pig sanctuary in Northampton for 3 months which specialises in looking after long term dental piggies until Simon could get his teeth into s9me thing back where they were before.
We lost Ted in December 2020 as he was diagnosed with a large kidney stone or cancer. He’d had a UTI a couple of weeks before but basically it was his kidney and he started to suffer again so we took the decision to PTS, but he was still eating great the day we said goodbye and by then was almost 6 years old

Simon or Kim will give you a full assessment of Nibbles’s teeth and what is causing her incisors to grow so long, they will also burr the incisors there and then and have a good look around at the molars for any spurs etc. So I would say it would be worth the visit. Sometimes dental problems can be completely cured, I know of several who spent time at The Excellent Adventure Sanctuary while their teeth have been corrected go on to lead a normal life with no more problems, so definitely worth seeing either Simon or Kim

Good luck, let us all know how you get on

https://www.teasnorthampton.co.uk/

 

[Claire W]

My late Enoch developed dental problems where his teeth were growing at an angle and trapping his tongue. The vet advised that due to his young age, it was genetic and would keep happening sadly, like Fluffy, we had to make the heartbreaking decision to send him to the rainbow bridge

Due to the fact that both Fluffy and Nibbles have dental problems and were related, it sadly points to genetics but if you are prepared to travel to Northampton to see Simon or Kim for regular dentals, it’ll be worth it. It just wasn’t feasible for us and our situation at the time x

 

[Piggie Sue]

So sorry to hear that you lost Ted and Enoch. It is really hard to make that decision but sometimes I suppose it is the kindest option. Hopefully we can avoid that with Nibbles at this time, but I do think she must have the same congenital problem as Fluffy.

I’ve not contacted The cat and rabbit clinic as yet but will do soon. I’ll also look into the excellent adventure sanctuary too.

Thanks again for your advice and understanding, it is much appreciated