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Kili's damaged tooth - extraction?

Kilimomo

Kilimomo

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hey there. One of my guinea pigs has damaged his tooth. In a really strange way. It has broken diagonally. (left in the picture)

I called the vet station and a nurse told me it would have to be extracted/removed. IMG_20180612_203938.webp
Anyone here with experience on tooth extraction? How will it actually happen? Will they have to put him under anesthesia? Or will they just numb him? He's a bit over 4 years old and gets 24/7 water and hay, veggies + vitamin C and pellets every day. What will happen after the extraction? I'm seeing the vet tomorrow but I'm panicking a bit.
 
Kilimomo said:
Hey there. One of my guinea pigs has damaged his tooth. In a really strange way. It has broken diagonally. (left in the picture)

I called the vet station and a nurse told me it would have to be extracted/removed. View attachment 88974
Anyone here with experience on tooth extraction? How will it actually happen? Will they have to put him under anesthesia? Or will they just numb him? He's a bit over 4 years old and gets 24/7 water and hay, veggies + vitamin C and pellets every day. What will happen after the extraction? I'm seeing the vet tomorrow but I'm panicking a bit.
Click to expand...

Hi! It actually looks like one incisor is split right down the middle at the top .

Tooth extraction is full operation under GA. Guinea pigs can live with one incisor less. The teeth may need regular checking to ensure that the dental system is balanced. You will find that your incisors will overgrow a little bit as your remaining top incisor has to work against two bottom teeth.
With a painful and damaged incisor, you guinea pig is less able to process hard, large and long food and is generally losing weight. Please step in with mushing up pellets, cutting soft veg and fresh herbs into short thin strips and top up with fibrous syringe feed to make up for any hay that cannot be eaten. Make sure that you get some herbivore recovery formula powder from your vet, but in an emergency you can syring mushed up pellets provided that you cut off the syringe tip as shown in the guide to allow any solids to pass through.
Our syringe feeding guide also contains a section for looking after dental piggies.
Tips For Post-operative Care
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

My Nesta was 5 years when she had her incisor extracted and my Hywel underwent 2 incisor root abscess operations aged 6, on of wich included removing a damaged regrowing incisor shard.
Here is Nesta's thread: Nesta's Incisor Root Abscess Operation

Hywel with his grated veg in addition to syringe feeding top-up.
DSCN3267_edited-1.webp

Our most experienced forum member with dental issues runs a sanctuary for guinea pigs with chronic severe dental problem. She is currently too busy to come on here, but has allowed to refer forum members to contact her via her sanctuary for advice: The Excellent Adventure Sanctuary – Providing life-enhancing care for Guinea Pigs with extra needs
 
Wiebke said:
Hi! It actually looks like one incisor is split right down the middle at the top .

Tooth extraction is full operation under GA. Guinea pigs can live with one incisor less. The teeth may need regular checking to ensure that the dental system is balanced. You will find that your incisors will overgrow a little bit as your remaining top incisor has to work against two bottom teeth.
With a painful and damaged incisor, you guinea pig is less able to process hard, large and long food and is generally losing weight. Please step in with mushing up pellets, cutting soft veg and fresh herbs into short thin strips and top up with fibrous syringe feed to make up for any hay that cannot be eaten. Make sure that you get some herbivore recovery formula powder from your vet, but in an emergency you can syring mushed up pellets provided that you cut off the syringe tip as shown in the guide to allow any solids to pass through.
Our syringe feeding guide also contains a section for looking after dental piggies.
Tips For Post-operative Care
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide

My Nesta was 5 years when she had her incisor extracted and my Hywel underwent 2 incisor root abscess operations aged 6, on of wich included removing a damaged regrowing incisor shard.
Here is Nesta's thread: Nesta's Incisor Root Abscess Operation

Hywel with his grated veg in addition to syringe feeding top-up.
View attachment 88979

Our most experienced forum member with dental issues runs a sanctuary for guinea pigs with chronic severe dental problem. She is currently too busy to come on here, but has allowed to refer forum members to contact her via her sanctuary for advice: The Excellent Adventure Sanctuary – Providing life-enhancing care for Guinea Pigs with extra needs
Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply! I checked out those links. Kili is having a hard time eating normally so I have been cutting his veggies into small pieces. He does eat those luckily. And he can drink water and eat hay too. I'll update tomorrow. Thank you!
 
The vet said she wouldn't put Kili under GA and wouldn't extract the tooth. Instead she cut the split part of the tooth off with some kinda scissors and Kili can eat normally again. It will probably grow back split for a while but it should be fine as long as I cut his food into pieces until the tooth is whole again! =)
 
Kilimomo said:
The vet said she wouldn't put Kili under GA and wouldn't extract the tooth. Instead she cut the split part of the tooth off with some kinda scissors and Kili can eat normally again. It will probably grow back split for a while but it should be fine as long as I cut his food into pieces until the tooth is whole again! =)
Click to expand...

All the best! Not having to go through a full operation is always a relief!
 
Update: The vet suspected Kili might have URI so she prescribed some antibiotics to him to give in case he has the flu. It contains Trimethoprim and Sulfadiazine. Quickly after starting the antibiotics he started to feel unwell. His appetite got bad and I started to syringe feed him every few hours. I called the vet and she told me to stop giving the antibiotics to him. After I woke up today he's still very unwell, I think he is dying. He has no strength to stand and he won't even eat when I syringe feed him. I'm calling the vet in 15 mins to see if they can take him in. Kili seems to suffer so much I think it might be best to put him to sleep....

This all started after I gave him the antibiotics. Is this just bad luck and he has antibiotic intolerance? I actually read that antibiotics can affect appetite and make guinea pigs weak but I didn't think they'd affect him this much... I've been crying all morning and preparing to say goodbye to him. =(
 
What type of antibiotics were you using and what dosage? Try getting him moving a little and check if he's dehydrated (pull the skin on the back up. If it falls immediently he's hydrated. If it sticks up for a while he needs more water). Is he pooping? If not check for bloat and massage the belly. Try to get him into a vet asap if you can give him more vitimans to help with his immune system. Lack of vitimans also cause a piggy to have a lack of movement
 
kailaeve1271 said:
What type of antibiotics were you using and what dosage? Try getting him moving a little and check if he's dehydrated (pull the skin on the back up. If it falls immediently he's hydrated. If it sticks up for a while he needs more water). Is he pooping? If not check for bloat and massage the belly. Try to get him into a vet asap if you can give him more vitimans to help with his immune system. Lack of vitimans also cause a piggy to have a lack of movement
Click to expand...

The antibiotic is called Diprim Duplo. Trimethoprim and Sulfadiazine. Can't find the English version for this. He's not pooping anymore. He did poop yesterday but it was all mushy and bad smelling. I massaged his belly earlier but he's still not pooping. I'll massage him again now. I've given him extra Vitamin C using syringe.
 
Antibiotics, including that drug, can upset a guinea pigs gut flora, sometimes leading to smelly, runny poops and infections in the get. To me it soumds like he needs probiotics. This part is going to sound gross a fresh dropping from a guinea pig mashed into water and syringed to him can help get more flora into his system. Acidophilus pills (crushed into powder) is also said to help in small doeses. Poops are best. It's natural, works faster, and guinea pigs eat them anyways. If you are feeding him enough still he should be pooping. Otherwise the gut may be blocked or stopped moving. In this case fluids are extremely important. If you aren't already begin syringe feeding this as well immediently. He really needs a vet. Continue to massage and see what it does
 
I've given him Momo's poops as well. The only vet available around here is only able to take him in 6 hours... I'll keep feeding him and giving him water and poop until then. Thank you for your replies. I'll update if something happens.
 
I'm so sorry. You gave him a good life. It wasn't your fault, I don't think there was much else you could do. You kept him as comfortable as possible when he was ill and that was the greatest thing you could have done for him
 
Thank you. It's hard now that it's just me and Momo. I need to get Momo a friend soon so he doesn't get depressed. I've given Momo his favorite foods and given him attention. But I know nothing beats a fellow guinea pig. So I've started a search for a new friend. There aren't any rescue pigs in my area but there are some licensed breeders within a few hours of travel. It pains my heart to see Momo lonely. But thank you all.
 
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