Lost both bottom incisors

[Puddles1999]

Hi everyone.
So a few weeks ago penelope had broke her top left incisor. Didn’t really cause any issues, had the opposing one filed as it grew a bit long and that was it. It grew back in just fine.

A week or 2 later, she breaks off her top right incisor. Same thing. Ended up being fine.

I brought her with me back home as I’m visiting my parents and it’s a bit of a drive. Noticed a week ago she kept pulling her bottom lip back and looked and saw her bottom right incisor was loose. Have never seen one of her teeth loose before. That tooth ended up coming out.

Fast forward to a few days later which is now, noticed she kept pulling her lip back again and was puffy quite a lot. Her bottom left incisor is loose! I emailed the vet and she said why that could be happening but she’s not fallen or anything recently. She DOES bite the bars but I haven’t seen her do it that much and she only does it when expecting food so she wouldn’t be doing it when I’m not in here I wouldn’t think.

She has now lost that tooth and she’s without both bottom incisors. She’s on meloxicam twice a day and she seems to be drinking water and eating hay still. She does just seem in pain and I hate it. I gave her some cbd on the ears earlier to try to help her a bit.

Also wanna add she has some loose stools. Poos with long tails on them. Not the normal tic tac shape so I’ve been giving her some probiotic to try and help. She just came off baytril a few days ago and the soft poos just started so wouldn’t think it was from the antibiotic.

Any advice is appreciated.

*I included a picture of said incisors. I found them both In her hay after they fell out.

 

[fluffysal]

I'm afraid I have no advice just bumping your post

 

[Wiebke]

Hi everyone.
So a few weeks ago penelope had broke her top left incisor. Didn’t really cause any issues, had the opposing one filed as it grew a bit long and that was it. It grew back in just fine.

A week or 2 later, she breaks off her top right incisor. Same thing. Ended up being fine.

I brought her with me back home as I’m visiting my parents and it’s a bit of a drive. Noticed a week ago she kept pulling her bottom lip back and looked and saw her bottom right incisor was loose. Have never seen one of her teeth loose before. That tooth ended up coming out.

Fast forward to a few days later which is now, noticed she kept pulling her lip back again and was puffy quite a lot. Her bottom left incisor is loose! I emailed the vet and she said why that could be happening but she’s not fallen or anything recently. She DOES bite the bars but I haven’t seen her do it that much and she only does it when expecting food so she wouldn’t be doing it when I’m not in here I wouldn’t think.

She has now lost that tooth and she’s without both bottom incisors. She’s on meloxicam twice a day and she seems to be drinking water and eating hay still. She does just seem in pain and I hate it. I gave her some cbd on the ears earlier to try to help her a bit.

Also wanna add she has some loose stools. Poos with long tails on them. Not the normal tic tac shape so I’ve been giving her some probiotic to try and help. She just came off baytril a few days ago and the soft poos just started so wouldn’t think it was from the antibiotic.

Any advice is appreciated.

*I included a picture of said incisors. I found them both In her hay after they fell out.

Hi

Please see a vet for the pain and the weak teeth.

The front teeth are very long and bent, so they are much more prone to snapping but if you have several incidents in close succession with different teeth, then there is generally another cause behind it than bar gnawing. There should also not be any major pain. Fluffing up is usually a sign of pain inside the body or head where a piggy cannot get at it.

The poo output reflects the diminished hay intake of the last day or two; hay makes over three quarters of the daily food intake; veg, pellets and any treats all together only replace the supplementary role that wild forage would have played in the original grass diet on which guinea pigs have evolved and which their dental growth rate and whole digestive system is laid out for.

You cannot control the hay intake by eye and will need to switch from the normal once weekly general health monitoring weigh-in and body onceover on your kitchen scales to weighing daily first thing in the morning for best day to day comparison and for computing the appropriate level of top up or round the clock feed for the coming 24 hours in order to stabilise the weight and minimise any weight loss. The incisors are there for picking up and cutting food. Missing or loose teeth are not able to do it. Hard hay will become very difficult to eat. Hay is also the first and most important food group that is impacted by any pain-related loss of appetite.
Please take the time to read our comprehensive, very practical step-by-step feeding guide with pictures, videos and how-to tips that also contains a chapter on how to improvise in an emergency. Your support during an illness is as important as any medical care: All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

All the best.

 

[Puddles1999]

Hi

Please see a vet for the pain and the weak teeth.

The front teeth are very long and bent, so they are much more prone to snapping but if you have several incidents in close succession with different teeth, then there is generally another cause behind it than bar gnawing. There should also not be any major pain. Fluffing up is usually a sign of pain inside the body or head where a piggy cannot get at it.

The poo output reflects the diminished hay intake of the last day or two; hay makes over three quarters of the daily food intake; veg, pellets and any treats all together only replace the supplementary role that wild forage would have played in the original grass diet on which guinea pigs have evolved and which their dental growth rate and whole digestive system is laid out for.

You cannot control the hay intake by eye and will need to switch from the normal once weekly general health monitoring weigh-in and body onceover on your kitchen scales to weighing daily first thing in the morning for best day to day comparison and for computing the appropriate level of top up or round the clock feed for the coming 24 hours in order to stabilise the weight and minimise any weight loss. The incisors are there for picking up and cutting food. Missing or loose teeth are not able to do it. Hard hay will become very difficult to eat. Hay is also the first and most important food group that is impacted by any pain-related loss of appetite.
Please take the time to read our comprehensive, very practical step-by-step feeding guide with pictures, videos and how-to tips that also contains a chapter on how to improvise in an emergency. Your support during an illness is as important as any medical care: All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures

All the best.

Hi. Thank you for your response.

I’ve been weighing her everyday since she had a bout of illness a few months ago and she’s been on the gaining weight trend. She’s actually gained some weight instead of losing it. I weighed her yesterday and she had gained a bit more. She is not losing any weight as of now.

She is also still eating orchard hay and is drinking water.

 

[Wiebke]

Hi. Thank you for your response.

I’ve been weighing her everyday since she had a bout of illness a few months ago and she’s been on the gaining weight trend. She’s actually gained some weight instead of losing it. I weighed her yesterday and she had gained a bit more. She is not losing any weight as of now.

She is also still eating orchard hay and is drinking water.

That is good to hear. Thank you for clarifying.

 

[Puddles1999]

Well, I visited a neighbor and came back and she was sitting in her cage very fluffy and her stools were a lot softer. They would stick to your finger when you touched it.

I got her out and tried giving her a belly massage and couldn’t tell if it was bloat. It was very sudden and it made me think of that. I gave her 0.4ml of metaclopromide as the vet had given it to me when she was at the vets last. You could tell she was very uncomfortable and was very puffy.

I drove her 2 hours to the er vet and found nothing out. Not sure if the metaclopromide helped her(I hope it did) but the vet told me nothing. She told me to stop the meloxicam since it could cause soft poops. She also told me I need to look into deworming her since that could also be the issue.

I brought up pain management as she was obviously in a lot of pain and the vet said “why do you think she’s in pain?” Because she quite literally was sitting there very poofy. It is so frustrating. She said all she’d do is give metaclopromide and since I already did that, she can’t do anything else. She said she was out moving around when they got her out. I'm going to see if they’d give cisapride if they even know what that is.

I also asked for an X-ray and it’s $700 for an X-ray.

 

[Puddles1999]

I can not get cisapride anywhere. I’ve called so many vets. Called the er vet again and they were less than hopeful. They were very rude and told they can’t give me a medication just because. The vet had told me that giving cisapride would be just fine but they just didn’t have it in stock. I am so frustrated.

Is just metaclopromide and meloxicam and belly rubs okay to help bloat? I am trying my best.

She is very puffy still.

 

[weepweeps]

I’m sorry you are struggling to get the medication your piggy needs. Can your vet order it in for you if no one else has it either? Good luck.

 

[Puddles1999]

I’m sorry you are struggling to get the medication your piggy needs. Can your vet order it in for you if no one else has it either? Good luck.

I seen chewy has it online but it would be a few days before I got it. I hope she is better in a few days. I’m not sure it’d be helpful in a few days from now. I would really like to get some asap but I’ve called everywhere.

Apparently most vets just use metaclopromide for these situations

 

[weepweeps]

Hopefully the medicine you have will be enough.

 

[Puddles1999]

Hopefully the medicine you have will be enough.

I hope so. I’ve lost my other two girls last month so I really do not want to lose her.

She is also hunching her back and pulling her ears back when pooing. :/

She’s never dealt with bloat ever in her 5 years so it was very sudden. I am doing tummy massages and metaclopromide every 8 hours. I will post updates.

I wish vets were more knowledgeable in guineas. :/

 

[weepweeps]

I’m so sorry you have lost two piggies recently. That’s so sad.

I’ve not had to deal with bloat but it can come on very quickly. You are doing everything you can. Sending you a hug . It’s frustrating that vets aren’t very knowledgeable with guineas.

 

[Gem789]

I hope so. I’ve lost my other two girls last month so I really do not want to lose her.

She is also hunching her back and pulling her ears back when pooing. :/

She’s never dealt with bloat ever in her 5 years so it was very sudden. I am doing tummy massages and metaclopromide every 8 hours. I will post updates.

I wish vets were more knowledgeable in guineas. :/

I wonder how knowledgeable your vet is as it does sound like she's in pain from what you've said so definitely sounds like she needs the meloxicam.

 

[Puddles1999]

I’m so sorry you have lost two piggies recently. That’s so sad.

I’ve not had to deal with bloat but it can come on very quickly. You are doing everything you can. Sending you a hug . It’s frustrating that vets aren’t very knowledgeable with guineas.

Thank you, I really appreciate your support & positive words. I’ve never dealt with bloat either until now unfortunately. It sucks because we put trust into our vets to take care of our little guys and it gets frustrating when it feels like you as the patient is telling the doctor what to do with your animal. :/

 

[Puddles1999]

I wonder how knowledgeable your vet is as it does sound like she's in pain from what you've said so definitely sounds like she needs the meloxicam.

I completely agree. I had never seen this lady before. It was our first time at this er vet. I felt like I was telling her about them versus her informing me.

I told her she needs pain management and she said “why do you necessarily think she’s in pain?” And I said because she is very puffy and that is their number one sign of being uncomfortable and in pain. She also told me I should deworm her as that could cause the soft poops but it’s obvious something else was going on.

She also never mentioned how her belly felt. I had to go out of my way to ask about it and she said her belly felt “kind of taut.” I know now she has bloat as I can feel the gas in her belly and her belly feels like a balloon kind of. I give her a lot of belly massages, poor girl.

I also did not stop the meloxicam. It’s obvious she needs pain meds so I only give her 0.14 every 12 hours but she weighs in the 600g area. She’s always been a small girl but she got sick a while back and was on the gaining weight trend and then this has now happened. To me, the dosage seems low but I don’t want to overdose her. I do worry

 

[Puddles1999]

Is it common for her to be pulling her ears back when pooing? I know they can have soft poop with bloat and she definitely has very soft, sticky poop. Sticky I’m sure because it’s so soft. Not watery diarrhea though. She pulls her ears back and hunches when passing poops but hasn’t squeaked while doing so.

 

[Gem789]

Is it common for her to be pulling her ears back when pooing? I know they can have soft poop with bloat and she definitely has very soft, sticky poop. Sticky I’m sure because it’s so soft. Not watery diarrhea though. She pulls her ears back and hunches when passing poops but hasn’t squeaked while doing so.

If she's also hunching when toileting that does sound like she's in pain.Bloat can be very painful itself.I'm glad you're still giving the meloxicam.Ive been prescribed much higher doses for my pigs though.Is there any way you can see a different vet who might be more knowledgeable?I'm gonna tag @Wiebke and @Piggies&buns who might have some more advice.

 

[Puddles1999]

If she's also hunching when toileting that does sound like she's in pain.Bloat can be very painful itself.I'm glad you're still giving the meloxicam.Ive been prescribed much higher doses for my pigs though.Is there any way you can see a different vet who might be more knowledgeable?I'm gonna tag @Wiebke and @Piggies&buns who might have some more advice.

I’ve seen much higher doses for piggies but I didn’t know if .14 was enough since she is so small right now. I don’t feel like it helps her with pain that much but I could be wrong. She sits very puffy in her cage still. She also gets really puffy when I rub her belly.

She still eats and drinks though which is a positive but I thought things would have been better by now. I’ve never dealt with this so I don’t know how long bloat or this usually lasts.

Since I’m home visiting family, our regular vet is really far now. The vet I used to bring her to here now doesn’t have an exotic doctor. It’s so hard to trust new vets anyways as I seen the other night :/

 

[Gem789]

I’ve seen much higher doses for piggies but I didn’t know if .14 was enough since she is so small right now. I don’t feel like it helps her with pain that much but I could be wrong. She sits very puffy in her cage still. She also gets really puffy when I rub her belly.

She still eats and drinks though which is a positive but I thought things would have been better by now. I’ve never dealt with this so I don’t know how long bloat or this usually lasts.

Since I’m home visiting family, our regular vet is really far now. The vet I used to bring her to here now doesn’t have an exotic doctor. It’s so hard to trust new vets anyways as I seen the other night :/

If she's still sitting puffed up she's definitely in pain still.Her belly must hurt very much.I don't have any advice for bloat as I only had one piggie diagnosed with bloat but that was with a lot of other things going on too.I think she was prescribed emeprid for the bloat though.I'm obviously no vet and I know your piggy is a small weight but could you increase the meloxicam dosage for now?Have you been weighing her every morning?It's such a difficult situation for you x

 

[Puddles1999]

If she's still sitting puffed up she's definitely in pain still.Her belly must hurt very much.I don't have any advice for bloat as I only had one piggie diagnosed with bloat but that was with a lot of other things going on too.I think she was prescribed emeprid for the bloat though.I'm obviously no vet and I know your piggy is a small weight but could you increase the meloxicam dosage for now?Have you been weighing her every morning?It's such a difficult situation for you x

The weird thing is her belly isn’t super hard or anything. It’s still squishy in my opinion. Maybe she’s just very gassy? I’m assuming that can still cause a lot of pain and soft stools. I can feel & hear the gas shift when rubbing her belly. Sometimes you can just hear her belly when getting her out.

Poor girl. She’ll lay down on me as if she can kind of relax when I get her out.

I have no idea why she’d have bloat anyways.. it was so random which I know bloat usually is.

I have been weighing her to make sure she isn’t losing any weight. I did up her meloxicam a tiny bit from .01 to 0.14. Not much at all but I didn’t want to give her too much and I don’t know since I’m not a vet. I do think the dose seems quite small too.

 

[Piggies&buns]

I’m sorry to hear this.
I’m glad you didn’t stop the meloxicom - it doesn’t cause soft poops. I and many others have had animals on it long term for conditions such as arthritis.
It is a low dose and piggies can tolerate much higher doses but unfortunately we can’t tell you what to do as we are not vets.

Bloat can be a thing on its own or also because of something else, making the bloat a secondary issue. How long recovering from it takes is going to depend very much on what other factors are at play.
It also comes in waves and can take quite some time to fully get over.

This is our bloat guide

Digestive Disorders: Not Eating - Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement)

Deworming - well, some piggies in certain countries may need it but it is not something most of us will ever have experience of. It’s not a common issue in this country and no piggies are routinely wormed

 

[Puddles1999]

I’m sorry to hear this.
I’m glad you didn’t stop the meloxicom - it doesn’t cause soft poops. I and many others have had animals on it long term for conditions such as arthritis.
It is a low dose and piggies can tolerate much higher doses but unfortunately we can’t tell you what to do as we are not vets.

Bloat can be a thing on its own or also because of something else, making the bloat a secondary issue. How long recovering from it takes is going to depend very much on what other factors are at play.
It also comes in waves and can take quite some time to fully get over.

This is our bloat guide

Digestive Disorders: Not Eating - Diarrhea - Bloat - GI Stasis (No Gut Movement)

Deworming - well, some piggies in certain countries may need it but it is not something most of us will ever have experience of. It’s not a common issue in this country and no piggies are routinely wormed

That’s what I thought but I’ve had so many vets tell me Meloxicam is really hard on their bodies and it causes soft poos. Thank you for clarifying.

Thank you for mentioning the deworming. The er vet said that’s something I should look into as she could have parasites that cause soft stools. I had never heard of deworming pigs and it was quite obvious a bigger issue was at play. I don’t think the vet knew a lot about them honestly.

This is something new for me as I’ve never had any piggies deal with bloat. It’s quite scary how fast they take a turn. I will be returning home I believe this coming week with her and am going to get a vet appointment with our regular vet for her to be seen and see what may have caused it in the first place. I do have to wait for her to start feeling better as the drive home is around 6 hours. It would be quite difficult for me to drive her home that far if she is feeling very poorly.

She actually seems better this afternoon. She knows she gets meds at 6am and as soon as my alarm goes off, she was squeaking. She does not seem as puffy either but she’s still not 100 yet. Hoping to keep going up from here. Her belly would make a lot of sounds when out for tummy massages. I ordered quite a bit more of benebac, the probiotic so I can keep her on that for a while to try to help her belly rebalance.

 

[Puddles1999]

Her poos are still quite soft. They make quite a mess :/

I thought she was feeling a bit better today but she’s unfortunately still very puffy. I’ve been an anxious mess

 

[Puddles1999]

It honestly feels very up and down. One minute she’s puffy and not really moving. The next she’s not puffy and eating hay and making her little excited noise for food or probiotics.

Her tummy is tender to touch. She got mad at me a few times when trying to gently rub her belly. She isn’t like that all the time though. Most of the time, she’ll let me rub her belly. She’ll of course be talking to me about it but never really anything too severe.

 

[weepweeps]

Hi. It’s so stressful when they are poorly isn’t it? You really sound like you are doing everything you can for her.

It’s 3am here and I can’t sleep because I have had a poorly piggy too. But hopefully he’s on the mend now. He’s been chasing his friend Pebble around for hours and I’m worried they may fight.

 

[Puddles1999]

Hi. It’s so stressful when they are poorly isn’t it? You really sound like you are doing everything you can for her.

It’s 3am here and I can’t sleep because I have had a poorly piggy too. But hopefully he’s on the mend now. He’s been chasing his friend Pebble around for hours and I’m worried they may fight.

It unfortunately is! It’s honestly so scary & makes me so anxious! Thank you! I have to leave her tomorrow for a few hours and I am so anxious.

I’m so sorry to hear your piggy isn’t feeling good either. I hope he’s on the mend too so hopefully you can get some more sleep.

 

[weepweeps]

Can anyone check on her while you are away?

 

[Puddles1999]

Can anyone check on her while you are away?

Yea. I asked my grandma who is coming to take care of my parents dogs to check on her tomorrow for me. I have a Guinea camera on her cage at my house but I’m at my parents so I don’t have the camera :/

I'm still going to worry about her when I’m gone. I'm so bad about worrying about them when they don’t feel good

 

[weepweeps]

I’m pleased Grandma is checking on her. At least she won’t be alone while your away.

 

[Puddles1999]

I’m pleased Grandma is checking on her. At least she won’t be alone while your away.

she has perked up tonight again and isn’t puffy and just eating away at her hay. She always begs when I go in there lol. I’ve never dealt with bloat so not sure if this is what it’s usually like, very up and down. It’s so weird how it feels like a roller coaster sometimes