Dental Help, guineapig with teeth problems.

[Natalia_W_500]

My Ted was often prescribed dog metacam (meloxicam) twice a day at 0.4 ml for dental problems he weighed 1100 - 1200 gms at the time. A dose twice a day is enough to cover their 24 hour pain relief.

My pig is about 900g right now, I don’t think I will up the dosage. Thank you everyone!

 

[Natalia_W_500]

Hello everyone! Update on Dianna she is not chewing as long as she was before( on the critical care) and she also tried to eat a tomato! But she refused one this morning I am very proud of myself as she has not lost any weight in the past 24 hrs! She is at 900g. I feel like a syringe feeding professional master, I have gotten pretty good haha. She really tried to eat some grass and veg yesterday but she couldn’t bite anything, she licked up the seeds/ watery part of the tomato tho. Thank you everyone! Have a great day

 

[Black piggies]

Hello everyone! Update on Dianna she is not chewing as long as she was before( on the critical care) and she also tried to eat a tomato! But she refused one this morning I am very proud of myself as she has not lost any weight in the past 24 hrs! She is at 900g. I feel like a syringe feeding professional master, I have gotten pretty good haha. She really tried to eat some grass and veg yesterday but she couldn’t bite anything, she licked up the seeds/ watery part of the tomato tho. Thank you everyone! Have a great day

Fantastic work syringe feed expert!

 

[Natalia_W_500]

Fantastic work syringe feed expert!

Thank you! Haha

 

[Black piggies]

It's great you and she are finding the feeds easier, and she's maintaining weight and she's interested in food. What's next for her?

 

[Eddie & Elvis]

Wow it sounds like you're doing amazingly at feeding poor Dianna!

Syringe feeding is tough especially when your piggy isn't co operating. I found with my Eddie that the best way to keep him still enough was by getting someone to hold him in the corner of their arm and against their body with my hand gently on the back of his head. That way he can't wriggle or toss his head too much.

Keep persevering!

 

[Eddie & Elvis]

Sorry just thought of something to add.

You could also try alternating between feeding different critical care foods. I have both Emeraid and Oxbow and the variety encouraged Eddie to eat more and take it more willingly as it was more exciting.

 

[Natalia_W_500]

It's great you and she are finding the feeds easier, and she's maintaining weight and she's interested in food. What's next for her?

So for now we are going to see in the next few days if she will finally start eating, and if she doesn’t we will take her back to the vets for some more tests / to see what we can do.

 

[Natalia_W_500]

Wow it sounds like you're doing amazingly at feeding poor Dianna!

Syringe feeding is tough especially when your piggy isn't co operating. I found with my Eddie that the best way to keep him still enough was by getting someone to hold him in the corner of their arm and against their body with my hand gently on the back of his head. That way he can't wriggle or toss his head too much.

Keep persevering!

Thank you for the tip! My mom has helped me a few times but she works most of the days. I find the best way to feed her is to make a gentle cup around her face so she can’t toss her head and then I use my fingers to open her sides and then put some food on the side of her cheek.

 

[Black piggies]

That's what I do too as a last resort, a gentle head hold.

 

[Natalia_W_500]

Good morning everyone!

so I think I may have figured out what is happening with dianna. Her insizors, (idk if I spelt that right) (her front teeth) I think they were cut too short? But I’m not sure. I can tell she wants to eat and she try’s to grab, she can bite and grab, but she can’t bite down and chew. Could this be her main 4 teeth were cut down too short? If so how long till they grow back. Yesterday she decided with all her might to try and eat, I found that giving her bigger pieces were a bit easier, she tried to scape the veg with her mouth and eat some, and then she put all her power into taking small bites in the big cucumber piece, first bite of anything!

She is now at 901 g, and is getting easier and easier to hand feed.

I will call the vet on the morning to talk to her abt this... I feel bad bc I really love the vets we go to as they truly care, I don’t wanna confront them abt going wrong.

will update later!

 

[Black piggies]

Hi, yes that's what I said at the start And they'd need to grow back in. Because she seems strong and keen to eat, she doesn't seem overall a very unwell piggy which is great. Good to have a vet who knows guinea pigs check her teeth again to see if that's what's going on. Well done keeping her so well this far!

 

[Natalia_W_500]

Hi, yes that's what I said at the start And they'd need to grow back in. Because she seems strong and keen to eat, she doesn't seem overall a very unwell piggy which is great. Good to have a vet who knows guinea pigs check her teeth again to see if that's what's going on. Well done keeping her so well this far!

Thank you! Do you know around how long it will take for them to grow back?

 

[Black piggies]

Sorry I'm afraid not. I think it depends how badly they've been over filed or whatever. I think they can grow quite fast. But it'd be good for a piggy vet to see the teeth and advise on that. Is she able to eat any more?

 

[Natalia_W_500]

Sorry I'm afraid not. I think it depends how badly they've been over filed or whatever. I think they can grow quite fast. But it'd be good for a piggy vet to see the teeth and advise on that. Is she able to eat any more?

No she is not able to eat on her own still, besides the bit last night. We are taking her to the vet tomorrow morning again.

 

[Black piggies]

Good luck, hope it's good news. You must be tired!

 

[Free Ranger]

The front incisors grow back pretty quickly you see the difference by eye in a few days and definitely within a week. But the front teeth aren't needed for chewing - some pigs on the forum lost front teeth eg at the bottom and adapted well... it took a little time until they learned how to pick up the food and of course the opposing incisors had to be shortened every few weeks as there were no bottom ones to keep them short, but piggy could eat on his own just fine. Actually a pig whose back teeth are good but whose incisors are too long is going to have a lot more trouble as they prevent the mouth closing.

Your pig seems to have a decent dose of painkiller and may just dislike the syringe feeding process but try and have a think about how she's chewing, and you may have something to discuss with your vet. When I was syringing my girl after a dental I was worried about pain for her but although she fought the syringe when the mush was in she would chew and chew without flinching - and chew - and chew - and chew, but not seem to swallow. My little girl didn't make it in the end and we never really found out why but swallowing seemed to be her issue. I would rest my fingers on the bald spots behind her ears and feel the rapid, smooth grinding action of her teeth. After a few weeks this became slower and more intermittent - it turned out her incisors (which were not done when her back teeth were ground) had overgrown. She had these burred and was very gummy (and very cross, poor love) but when she came home you could immediately feel that her chewing was turbo speed and smooth again. I hoped that would make the difference, but sadly not for us. There was an underlying cause which had reduced her eating and that had made her teeth overgrow. She just stopped wanting to eat. Your girl sounds hungry and wanting to eat which is good news.

It's not always just how the back teeth meet - sometimes there are spurs which are missed - they sprout out the sides of the tooth and dig into the soft flesh. Sometimes the back teeth actually entrap the tongue and make eating impossible. The vet has to be certain that the dental addressed all possible problems. I've no experience with root abscesses apart from reading that they cause pain when chewing so piggy stops chewing. It would be wise to raise this as a possibility with your vet... I don't know how they are spotted though. I hope she continues to pick up x

 

[Natalia_W_500]

The front incisors grow back pretty quickly you see the difference by eye in a few days and definitely within a week. But the front teeth aren't needed for chewing - some pigs on the forum lost front teeth eg at the bottom and adapted well... it took a little time until they learned how to pick up the food and of course the opposing incisors had to be shortened every few weeks as there were no bottom ones to keep them short, but piggy could eat on his own just fine. Actually a pig whose back teeth are good but whose incisors are too long is going to have a lot more trouble as they prevent the mouth closing.

Your pig seems to have a decent dose of painkiller and may just dislike the syringe feeding process but try and have a think about how she's chewing, and you may have something to discuss with your vet. When I was syringing my girl after a dental I was worried about pain for her but although she fought the syringe when the mush was in she would chew and chew without flinching - and chew - and chew - and chew, but not seem to swallow. My little girl didn't make it in the end and we never really found out why but swallowing seemed to be her issue. I would rest my fingers on the bald spots behind her ears and feel the rapid, smooth grinding action of her teeth. After a few weeks this became slower and more intermittent - it turned out her incisors (which were not done when her back teeth were ground) had overgrown. She had these burred and was very gummy (and very cross, poor love) but when she came home you could immediately feel that her chewing was turbo speed and smooth again. I hoped that would make the difference, but sadly not for us. There was an underlying cause which had reduced her eating and that had made her teeth overgrow. She just stopped wanting to eat. Your girl sounds hungry and wanting to eat which is good news.

It's not always just how the back teeth meet - sometimes there are spurs which are missed - they sprout out the sides of the tooth and dig into the soft flesh. Sometimes the back teeth actually entrap the tongue and make eating impossible. The vet has to be certain that the dental addressed all possible problems. I've no experience with root abscesses apart from reading that they cause pain when chewing so piggy stops chewing. It would be wise to raise this as a possibility with your vet... I don't know how they are spotted though. I hope she continues to pick up x

Thank you for the long reply! I’m sorry about your piggie.

The vet didn’t say she had spurs, abscesses, or her tongue was trapped, she said one side was overgrown and she couldn’t bite down. She has been trying really hard to eat but hasn’t gotten the hang of it yet. Her chewing is way faster than how it was before. But mine was also chewing and chewing etc haha.

I don’t think she is in pain, I think she needs a bit more time to figure out how to eat again.

Whenever she sees my other pig Paris eating she wants to as well. I will be sure to talk to the vet more abt what you said.

I’m sorry if I missed anything you said as I am super tired and my brain is hardly functioning right now

thanks again!

 

[Free Ranger]

They do sometimes need to 'learn' how to eat again... there are posts where people describe feeding blades of grass one at a time. It seems impossible that these little eating machines can somehow not figure it out but there you go! And as mentioned previously there can be some nervousness about eating if there has been a problem.

This is a recent post by 'furryfriends (TEAS)' - who has so much experience of dental piggies. In this thread the issue was a query about 'elongated roots' in a young sow (although this was a side comment from the vet who observed a bumpy jaw - piggy actually went in for a UTI!)

If I could have a pound for every time I hear that a guinea pig has elongated roots, and this is the reason for the dental issue, I would be so very rich by now! However, in almost all cases, as soon as the crowns of the teeth are filed correctly, the guinea pig eats well! It can be a brewing abscess that is causing pain, which stops the guinea pig eating, but once that is treated and the teeth are filed, then the guinea pig will be able to eat for themselves.

 

[Bill & Ted]

They definitely loose confidence eating and get quite used to being syringe fed. There is a fine balance to syringe feeding and encouraging eating. When incisors are cut too short it definitely has some impact on them managing to eat, but hand feeding tiny amounts of veggies cut into matchstick sizes or blades of grass may help. Sometimes they find it easier to chew at large things like corn cob if you hold that too.
Lots of piggies without incisors manage to eat very well, they have learned a technique of mouthing the food into the pre/molars. Ted’s first dental left him with incisors that didn’t meet at all, his tongue could be seen poking through the gap at times. It took him many weeks for his incisors to grow back fully but the dental had not been done very well and we were lucky to find a vet who tidied all his teeth up of sharp and uneven surfaces using the conscious dental method, he ate hay straight after the dental before we had even left the vets.
The back teeth need to be balanced and even for the piggie to make real progress x

 

[Bill & Ted]

You could try offering her hand fed food after a couple of mls of mush. I used to find it encourages the appetite a little. Have you tried plain porridge oats, they are for fattening up piggies who have lost weight and quite easy to eat too as they can lick them up

 

[Natalia_W_500]

They definitely loose confidence eating and get quite used to being syringe fed. There is a fine balance to syringe feeding and encouraging eating. When incisors are cut too short it definitely has some impact on them managing to eat, but hand feeding tiny amounts of veggies cut into matchstick sizes or blades of grass may help. Sometimes they find it easier to chew at large things like corn cob if you hold that too.
Lots of piggies without incisors manage to eat very well, they have learned a technique of mouthing the food into the pre/molars. Ted’s first dental left him with incisors that didn’t meet at all, his tongue could be seen poking through the gap at times. It took him many weeks for his incisors to grow back fully but the dental had not been done very well and we were lucky to find a vet who tidied all his teeth up of sharp and uneven surfaces using the conscious dental method, he ate hay straight after the dental before we had even left the vets.
The back teeth need to be balanced and even for the piggie to make real progress

She has not been able to take small pieces. I have found it is easier for her to try to eat bigger pieces! She try’s to scrape it into her mouth, I don’t know why but she likes the bigger pieces. I will try to feed her small grass pieces. I find every day she try’s harder and harder to eat, so I’m hoping she will be chewing normal in a week or so!

 

[Bill & Ted]

She has not been able to take small pieces. I have found it is easier for her to try to eat bigger pieces! She try’s to scrape it into her mouth, I don’t know why but she likes the bigger pieces. I will try to feed her small grass pieces. I find every day she try’s harder and harder to eat, so I’m hoping she will be chewing normal in a week or so!

Aw, hope Dianna gets into eating again, she certainly sounds like she has the determination to eat which is great, my Ted was determined too. Wishing you all the luck and hope you can get her back on track x

 

[Natalia_W_500]

They do sometimes need to 'learn' how to eat again... there are posts where people describe feeding blades of grass one at a time. It seems impossible that these little eating machines can somehow not figure it out but there you go! And as mentioned previously there can be some nervousness about eating if there has been a problem.

This is a recent post by 'furryfriends (TEAS)' - who has so much experience of dental piggies. In this thread the issue was a query about 'elongated roots' in a young sow (although this was a side comment from the vet who observed a bumpy jaw - piggy actually went in for a UTI!)

And thank you for suggesting the post!

 

[Natalia_W_500]

They definitely loose confidence eating and get quite used to being syringe fed. There is a fine balance to syringe feeding and encouraging eating. When incisors are cut too short it definitely has some impact on them managing to eat, but hand feeding tiny amounts of veggies cut into matchstick sizes or blades of grass may help. Sometimes they find it easier to chew at large things like corn cob if you hold that too.
Lots of piggies without incisors manage to eat very well, they have learned a technique of mouthing the food into the pre/molars. Ted’s first dental left him with incisors that didn’t meet at all, his tongue could be seen poking through the gap at times. It took him many weeks for his incisors to grow back fully but the dental had not been done very well and we were lucky to find a vet who tidied all his teeth up of sharp and uneven surfaces using the conscious dental method, he ate hay straight after the dental before we had even left the vets.
The back teeth need to be balanced and even for the piggie to make real progress x

 

[Natalia_W_500]

Sorry guys I think I’m responding to the wrong persons posts! I have no idea anymore! I am so tired, I hope everyone knows that I read every message and i am so so greatful for everyone who has tried to help, I have learned so much and so many tips! Thank you again!

 

[Natalia_W_500]

Aw, hope Dianna gets into eating again, she certainly sounds like she has the determination to eat which is great, my Ted was determined too. Wishing you all the luck and hope you can get her back on track x

Thank you!

 

[Natalia_W_500]

And I cant find the post now, but someone mentioned to try oats, do I boil them, let them cool, and then serve them? Or can I serve them dry? Or both? Thanks!

 

[Piggies&buns]

And I cant find the post now, but someone mentioned to try oats, do I boil them, let them cool, and then serve them? Or can I serve them dry? Or both? Thanks!

Serve them dry and plain - a handful straight from the packet and pop into a bowl in her cage. They are calorific so only give a small amount - they are primarily used for putting weight back on recovering piggies after an illness
Guinea Pigs cannot eat any cooked foods so definitely dont cook them at all

 

[Natalia_W_500]

Oh my goodness. I need some help again . Dianna is in a worse condition, she seems more weak and less willing to move around, and ive Also noticed that her eyes have sunken in/ got smaller. Could this be dehydration? I was giving her small amounts of water in a syringe because she wasnt taking water in her cage. Now i have no idea What to do, is it too late? Can i make it better by giving her lots of water? How much water? Any help would be great! Pics below.