Is this normal?

[Bradshaw Piggies]

Odin started eating again as soon as his eye erupted really, because it must have relieved a lot of pressure for him. He still had regular trips as his teeth were growing that fast. This is quite often the case, the teeth grow and need dental treatment every other week, but as they start to eat more and more the time between dentals increases. In the end, Odin had amazing teeth and didn't require dentals as often. When his teeth were bad he did develop ulcers from the sharp molars and oral thrush. These things tend to come in combination with dental issues, so it's well worth asking your vet about treatment options. A short course of Itrafungol got Odin right again.

There wasn't one thing in particular that got Odin eating again. He started eating again when he felt relief from the pressure of the abscess behind his eye. Then with another few months of dental treatment began eating fine again and showing no extension of the jaw or signs of pain. Though in the end, despite having amazing teeth, he was still making funny movements with his jaw. This led us to believe that there was more going on with the mandibular joints and the jaw itself (possibly due to genetics). He would on occasion have a recurring head tilt also, which made us and the vets think there was more going on with the inner ear and possible problems with the jaw and skull. It kills me every day that he is gone, but I'm so so happy that he had an amazing few months (with no health issues) and then passed peacefully before more problems took hold of him. I think he knew that both he and his mummy needed a break. He will be with me always. I'm having a huge picture made of him to hang on the wall, and some pictures in a locket. I have his ashes in a special box and some of his hair in a love heart box by my bed. He will always be the love of my life.

Yes abscesses from the molars tend to manifest behind the eye. That's why to treat abscesses in the molars, vets have to enter via the eye socket in piggies. There simply isn't space to enter via the mouth as you would with a dog or cat. Like many hind-gut fermenters with similar dental structure (e.g. other rodents, horses etc) piggie molars are huge within the skull and go right back to the eye socket. His problems with choke could have been linked to the small mouth, but mostly it was because he wasn't chewing down hay correctly at the time. We have no evidence that he had episodes of choke, but it was something my vet suggested (again, similar to what happens in horses - particularly older horses when their teeth aren't so great anymore - I've had horses and worked in the equine industry for 25+ years, so I've seen many a case of choke).

Dental problems can potentially be genetic and due to skull conformation, but at lot of the time they are strongly linked to other issues going on elsewhere in the body; so it is worth the vet ruling anything else out. Some piggies can require dental work for life, but live a very long and happy life, so try not to be scared about the prognosis for your girl just yet. There are a few piggies on here that had/have ongoing dental work and they live very happy lives! I'm sure Debbie at TEAS on here wont mind you contacting her for advice; she was amazing at supporting me with Odin's issues. She runs a rescue centre for piggies with ongoing issues, and a lot of them dental issues.

You are more than welcome to ask as many questions as you like. I'm more than happy to help and understand what it is like to be in your situation.
Sometimes I would hear Odin cough when eating, but this isn't unusual and I still have piggies that do that now because they are greedy and eat too fast! So there's no way I can say when he aspirated and the particles of food must have been so tiny. It's the resulting fluid build up in the lungs due to inflammation following aspiration that causes the issue. Odin didn't suffer much with the pneumonia, despite us detecting it early. there could have been a whole other range of issues going on (as I said, his funny jaw movements had also started up again despite his teeth being in excellent shape). Right up until the day before he died, he was still pop-corning around and loving life! He just went quieter one evening and then lay down peacefully to pass away the next morning (after having breakfast, treats, cuddles with his mum and time with his best buddy).

Honestly, message any time if you need someone to talk to. Here for you and your piggies <3

 

[Puddles1999]

Odin started eating again as soon as his eye erupted really, because it must have relieved a lot of pressure for him. He still had regular trips as his teeth were growing that fast. This is quite often the case, the teeth grow and need dental treatment every other week, but as they start to eat more and more the time between dentals increases. In the end, Odin had amazing teeth and didn't require dentals as often. When his teeth were bad he did develop ulcers from the sharp molars and oral thrush. These things tend to come in combination with dental issues, so it's well worth asking your vet about treatment options. A short course of Itrafungol got Odin right again.

There wasn't one thing in particular that got Odin eating again. He started eating again when he felt relief from the pressure of the abscess behind his eye. Then with another few months of dental treatment began eating fine again and showing no extension of the jaw or signs of pain. Though in the end, despite having amazing teeth, he was still making funny movements with his jaw. This led us to believe that there was more going on with the mandibular joints and the jaw itself (possibly due to genetics). He would on occasion have a recurring head tilt also, which made us and the vets think there was more going on with the inner ear and possible problems with the jaw and skull. It kills me every day that he is gone, but I'm so so happy that he had an amazing few months (with no health issues) and then passed peacefully before more problems took hold of him. I think he knew that both he and his mummy needed a break. He will be with me always. I'm having a huge picture made of him to hang on the wall, and some pictures in a locket. I have his ashes in a special box and some of his hair in a love heart box by my bed. He will always be the love of my life.

Yes abscesses from the molars tend to manifest behind the eye. That's why to treat abscesses in the molars, vets have to enter via the eye socket in piggies. There simply isn't space to enter via the mouth as you would with a dog or cat. Like many hind-gut fermenters with similar dental structure (e.g. other rodents, horses etc) piggie molars are huge within the skull and go right back to the eye socket. His problems with choke could have been linked to the small mouth, but mostly it was because he wasn't chewing down hay correctly at the time. We have no evidence that he had episodes of choke, but it was something my vet suggested (again, similar to what happens in horses - particularly older horses when their teeth aren't so great anymore - I've had horses and worked in the equine industry for 25+ years, so I've seen many a case of choke).

Dental problems can potentially be genetic and due to skull conformation, but at lot of the time they are strongly linked to other issues going on elsewhere in the body; so it is worth the vet ruling anything else out. Some piggies can require dental work for life, but live a very long and happy life, so try not to be scared about the prognosis for your girl just yet. There are a few piggies on here that had/have ongoing dental work and they live very happy lives! I'm sure Debbie at TEAS on here wont mind you contacting her for advice; she was amazing at supporting me with Odin's issues. She runs a rescue centre for piggies with ongoing issues, and a lot of them dental issues.

You are more than welcome to ask as many questions as you like. I'm more than happy to help and understand what it is like to be in your situation.
Sometimes I would hear Odin cough when eating, but this isn't unusual and I still have piggies that do that now because they are greedy and eat too fast! So there's no way I can say when he aspirated and the particles of food must have been so tiny. It's the resulting fluid build up in the lungs due to inflammation following aspiration that causes the issue. Odin didn't suffer much with the pneumonia, despite us detecting it early. there could have been a whole other range of issues going on (as I said, his funny jaw movements had also started up again despite his teeth being in excellent shape). Right up until the day before he died, he was still pop-corning around and loving life! He just went quieter one evening and then lay down peacefully to pass away the next morning (after having breakfast, treats, cuddles with his mum and time with his best buddy).

Honestly, message any time if you need someone to talk to. Here for you and your piggies <3

Well,
Penelope and I went back to the vet after being there on Monday because I get worried about her. The front desk staff is very rude which is really not the best especially when dealing with a sick guinea. I kind of have mixed feelings on this vet visit. He looked at her teeth and said that he couldn’t tell a noticeable difference from Monday. He said that they’re not close to entrapping the tongue and she has plenty of room still. Basically, they’re just slightly overgrown. I was saying how id like to get her in and get it trimmed before it comes an issue. I don’t want her to have sores in her mouth or anything. He said if it was his animal, he wouldn’t do the procedure right now considering Penelope is finally gaining her weight back, eating super super well and no longer making that mouth motion anymore. He was worried that it might take her back and he wants her to improve as much as possible. He said he would trim them but he doesn’t necessarily recommend doing it.
I said how I wanted X-rays to rule out an abscess or elongated roots and he says that’s rare. That he has never really seen that in guinea pigs. I asked why she’d suddenly start having teeth problems at 2 and a half and he said “genetics.” Thats all, literally. He offered for me to come in any time to check her teeth in case I’m worried so I can finally relax. He checked her back molars but she ate her poop while we were there so her mouth was full of poop

So right now, Penelope is back home with a follow up appointment in 10 days. He says he doesn’t see her teeth being a problem within the next 10 days to even longer. He makes it seem that he doesn’t want to put her any unnecessary stress or GA when she doesn’t need it. At this point I have no clue what to do. He said to weigh her everyday which is what I’m going to do. Going to look for weight loss first and immediately get her in if there is any weight loss. He says he’s not concerned right now and especially since she isn’t losing the weight, she’s gaining it all. He doesn’t know how rapid the teeth will grow or what will happen. Just have to keep checking I guess? I mean she is doing super well right now so it isn’t an emergency but I don’t plan on letting it get to that point. He says that he doesn’t want to let it get to the point of needing syringe fed/force fed.

I am so frustrated because that’s good news I think? Or does he not know what he’s talking about. Since her molars are barely overgrown then it’s not too much of an issue. I don’t even know . All I know is that she’s doing fantastic and I’ve been snuggling her like crazy and I let her run laps around in their room and she adores running during her floor time.

 

[Bradshaw Piggies]

Well,
Penelope and I went back to the vet after being there on Monday because I get worried about her. The front desk staff is very rude which is really not the best especially when dealing with a sick guinea. I kind of have mixed feelings on this vet visit. He looked at her teeth and said that he couldn’t tell a noticeable difference from Monday. He said that they’re not close to entrapping the tongue and she has plenty of room still. Basically, they’re just slightly overgrown. I was saying how id like to get her in and get it trimmed before it comes an issue. I don’t want her to have sores in her mouth or anything. He said if it was his animal, he wouldn’t do the procedure right now considering Penelope is finally gaining her weight back, eating super super well and no longer making that mouth motion anymore. He was worried that it might take her back and he wants her to improve as much as possible. He said he would trim them but he doesn’t necessarily recommend doing it.
I said how I wanted X-rays to rule out an abscess or elongated roots and he says that’s rare. That he has never really seen that in guinea pigs. I asked why she’d suddenly start having teeth problems at 2 and a half and he said “genetics.” Thats all, literally. He offered for me to come in any time to check her teeth in case I’m worried so I can finally relax. He checked her back molars but she ate her poop while we were there so her mouth was full of poop

So right now, Penelope is back home with a follow up appointment in 10 days. He says he doesn’t see her teeth being a problem within the next 10 days to even longer. He makes it seem that he doesn’t want to put her any unnecessary stress or GA when she doesn’t need it. At this point I have no clue what to do. He said to weigh her everyday which is what I’m going to do. Going to look for weight loss first and immediately get her in if there is any weight loss. He says he’s not concerned right now and especially since she isn’t losing the weight, she’s gaining it all. He doesn’t know how rapid the teeth will grow or what will happen. Just have to keep checking I guess? I mean she is doing super well right now so it isn’t an emergency but I don’t plan on letting it get to that point. He says that he doesn’t want to let it get to the point of needing syringe fed/force fed.

I am so frustrated because that’s good news I think? Or does he not know what he’s talking about. Since her molars are barely overgrown then it’s not too much of an issue. I don’t even know . All I know is that she’s doing fantastic and I’ve been snuggling her like crazy and I let her run laps around in their room and she adores running during her floor time.

I have to agree with avoiding unnecessary GA. I’m so very lucky that our vets do concious dentals.

if she is eating, gaining weight and doing well, those are all great signs! Keep up the good work and go for your follow up in 10 days. Are you weighing her at the same time daily?

What do you feed her? The molars being worn down and not over growing is excellent news.

 

[Bradshaw Piggies]

How is your girl getting on?

 

[Puddles1999]

How is your girl getting on?

I’m so sorry for the late response! I’ve been working very long days lately and I’ve been so tired

Penelope is doing good so far! Weighing her everyday and she’s actually almost back to her regular weight from before all those dental problems. (She was around 780g) and she’s now 760g or so. I weigh her at 7 at night every day after I get off work ! Not counting weight fluctuations. She’s still not making that mouth motion which is great! I’ve been looking out for it like a crazy person lol.

She has her appointment in 5 days! He said that they are slightly overgrown but nothing severe. Right now she is just on hay, and an oxbow vit c tab and a digestive tab everyday. Right now they’re not on vegetables as they recently went through very soft poops and with Penelope’s dental problems, I wanted her to focus most on her hay. She’s still getting her vitamins though

I’m hoping her teeth issues will not arise again but I’m thinking they’re just growing fairly slow maybe? We’ll see when we go for an update in a few days and I’ll let you know what they say! I really appreciate you checking on us and her. It means a ton Again, I’m sorry about not responding the best. If anything does happen, I will for sure update you. So far so good though! I’m kind of dreading this upcoming appointment because I’m scared if her teeth have grown substantially. Fingers crossed everything is great still