Guinea pig won't eat after dental work

[mexiguineapigmother]

Hi, my name is Jocelyn. I have a 5-year-old guinea pig who recently got his teeth trimmed because he broke one of his incisors. They trimmed the one next to it to make it even so he could eat better. the vet also did the incisors at the top because she said they were getting curled. A couple of things to mention. My piggy has a bladder stone and is currently on Metacam and Trimeth. For years after he got the stone we feed him Oxbow orchard hay because is the only one that wouldn't cause him issues with his stone. But after his dental work, he won't eat it. he has lost weight. He is supposed to be at 1000 grams but is at around 910. Now we are forced to give him Oxbow Timothy hay which has been causing him to squeak more when peeing and on top of that he hardly even eats it. he seems to only want veggies and doesn't even drink enough water so we have to syringe him water which he doesn't want so we have to drink him by dipping it into a bell-pepper-water blend I made.
Another thing is that we are giving him Meta came ONCE a day for pain and it's not helping. he still gets puffy and is in pain. we were told it takes a couple of days to work but it's been three already. I'm so stressed and don't know what to do to make him feel better and eat. when we spoke about this concern to our vet they prescribed him TArimeth just in case he has a UTI even though I want something to ease his pain. I just feel very ignored by them while my piggy is suffering...I'm so unsure what to do. We are struggling.

 

[mexiguineapigmother]

His tummy also keeps making noises.

 

[muchochico]

Hello, I can imagine how distressing this must be for you! I’d advise you to go back to your vet as hay is really important for their gut to function properly. It’s urgent to go back if he’s bloated as it could be gut stasis which can become life threatening. Please post updates!

 

[muchochico]

OR try and see a different vet for a second opinion!

 

[Piggies&buns]

Please step in and syringe feed him a recovery feed or mush his normal pellets with water and syringe that paste to him.
A blend of bell pepper is not sufficient. It, and any veg blends, does t contain the essential fibre needed to keep the gut functioning - a piggy who is not eating hay needs their hay fibre intake replaced and this is why you use something like Oxbow Critical Care or mush their normal pellets.
He is losing weight because he isn’t eating enough fibre and you need to combat that with syringe feeding him.

Please make sure you weigh him every day so you can monitor that he is getting enough syringe feed in each 24 hour period.

If he has a bladder stone, then it’s possibly that which is now causing him problems.
He sounds as if he is in pain and his metacam may need to be increased in dose and in frequency (piggies normally takes their pain meds twice a day). Painkillers don’t take days to work.

How long has he had the stone?
You mention ‘ for years after he got the stone‘ Is there a reason the vet did not want to remove the stone? (This is the normal course of action ).

Dental work done by an inexperienced vet (and most piggies do not have sufficient experience of piggy dental work), can make things worse

I would suggest you also see another vet

Please read the guides below as they detail urgent care measures you need to take further

Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Weight - Monitoring and Management

 

[Bill & Ted]

Hope this helps too Today's instructional video on our Facebook page - Syringe feeding

 

[mexiguineapigmother]

Please step in and syringe feed him a recovery feed or mush his normal pellets with water and syringe that paste to him.
A blend of bell pepper is not sufficient. It, and any veg blends, does t contain the essential fibre needed to keep the gut functioning - a piggy who is not eating hay needs their hay fibre intake replaced and this is why you use something like Oxbow Critical Care or mush their normal pellets.
He is losing weight because he isn’t eating enough fibre and you need to combat that with syringe feeding him.

Please make sure you weigh him every day so you can monitor that he is getting enough syringe feed in each 24 hour period.

If he has a bladder stone, then it’s possibly that which is now causing him problems.
He sounds as if he is in pain and his metacam may need to be increased in dose and in frequency (piggies normally takes their pain meds twice a day). Painkillers don’t take days to work.

How long has he had the stone?
You mention ‘ for years after he got the stone‘ Is there a reason the vet did not want to remove the stone? (This is the normal course of action ).

Dental work done by an inexperienced vet (and most piggies do not have sufficient experience of piggy dental work), can make things worse

I would suggest you also see another vet

Please read the guides below as they detail urgent care measures you need to take further

Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Weight - Monitoring and Management

I am already syringe feeding him critical care as of yesterday. He isn't a fan but patiently were are making him eat it. It's very hard to feed him, especially because it's just me on my own. I have done this before with my other piggies though.

The reason the vet didn't want to give him a higher dose is that they said it can cause problems. I can't remember if it was liver or kidney issues, which I heard was untrue by others on this page, but I am unsure. Our usual vet was Dr. Nakamura from Adobe animal hospital who is always said to be cavy savvy, but he has been unreachable ever since covid hit, leaving us with these vets who we don't fully trust and unable to get a fast enough appointment. not to mention the cost. Dr. Nakamura was the one who said it was best to avoid removing it because at the time my piggy was doing fine and he said that the piggies he has done surgery on for it did not make it through recovery.

He has had the stone since about late 2017, I believe. It only really began causing issues recently.

One issue I am having is HOW much critical care I should give him and how OFTEN. I haven't done this in a long time so I am honestly unsure. I know it has instructions on the back of the critical care, but honestly, I am not great at understanding directions and also bad at math. He weighs 910 grams and it says "Mix 3 Tbsp per kg of body weight daily." and honestly it goes in one ear and out the other. I also haven't been getting much sleep due to taking care of him so my brain is a little slow. Could you please help me understand how much I should give and how often? that would really really help. I am using 1 ML syringe because it's the one that works well for him since it can get very messy with bigger ones and it just does not work well with him. S

 

[Piggies&buns]

I am already syringe feeding him critical care as of yesterday. He isn't a fan but patiently were are making him eat it. It's very hard to feed him, especially because it's just me on my own. I have done this before with my other piggies though.

The reason the vet didn't want to give him a higher dose is that they said it can cause problems. I can't remember if it was liver or kidney issues, which I heard was untrue by others on this page, but I am unsure. Our usual vet was Dr. Nakamura from Adobe animal hospital who is always said to be cavy savvy, but he has been unreachable ever since covid hit, leaving us with these vets who we don't fully trust and unable to get a fast enough appointment. not to mention the cost. Dr. Nakamura was the one who said it was best to avoid removing it because at the time my piggy was doing fine and he said that the piggies he has done surgery on for it did not make it through recovery.

He has had the stone since about late 2017, I believe. It only really began causing issues recently.

One issue I am having is HOW much critical care I should give him and how OFTEN. I haven't done this in a long time so I am honestly unsure. I know it has instructions on the back of the critical care, but honestly, I am not great at understanding directions and also bad at math. He weighs 910 grams and it says "Mix 3 Tbsp per kg of body weight daily." and honestly it goes in one ear and out the other. I also haven't been getting much sleep due to taking care of him so my brain is a little slow. Could you please help me understand how much I should give and how often? that would really really help. I am using 1 ML syringe because it's the one that works well for him since it can get very messy with bigger ones and it just does not work well with him. S

There is no exact since when it comes to how much and how often to give critical care - it depends entirely on what the daily checks are telling you. Please do weigh him at the same time each day. If he loses weight at each daily weight check, then he isn’t eating enough. If his weight remains stable from one day to the next, then he is getting enough.
The guides I linked in explain further but you should be aiming to feed every two hours and give in excess of 60ml of syringe feed per day, as I say though weighing him daily and using those weight checks to guide you is the only way to know he is getting enough.