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Dental Not eating after dental

L

Lancarra

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Hi I'm new here, I have 2 guinea boars, one of which has been in the vets since Saturday. He had a full dental on mon but still wont eat I have him home today and am syringe feeding but he keeps opening his mouth as if he is trying to dislodge something.
He is still quite bright but losing weight. Can anyone shed any light on this mouth opening, I should add he is having baytril and metacam
 
Sorry your piggie isnt eating normally yet. @furryfriends (TEAS) is the forum expert on dental problems, hopefully she can answer your question.
What vets do you use? Absolutely the best vets for dental problems in guineas is in Northampton, not that far from you.
PS it's best to use town or county name for your location, not as precise a location as a postcode :nod::nod:
 
Ok thanks I've changed that, he has been at westbar vets they have examined teeth thoroughly taken of spurs but could see nothing else wrong no ulcers or abscesses
 
He could still be feeling uncomfortable now the anaesthetic has worn off, like we do after a tooth filling or extraction. What dose of meds is he on?
 
I have been rolling small bits of hay and fresh herbs and poking them in his mouth and it does go in but he doesnt want to pick it up himself
 
As you are Northamptonshire based, I would urge you to contact the Cat and Rabbit Care Clinic and get an appointment with Simon or Kim Maddock. People travel the length and breadth of the country, with their dental guinea pigs, as they are the most experienced in the UK. They can also carry out the dental work without the need for a general anaesthetic, and generally the guinea pigs start to eat immediately. Most vets haven't got a clue about guinea pig teeth and so much is missed and mistakes are made. Please get an appointment with Simon or Kim, you won't regret it!
 
I second @furryfriends (TEAS) advice; especially since you have the best and most practised piggy dentals vet so close by. Other guinea pig owners are travelling all the way from Cornwall or Scotland to see them. They are doing about 25 dentals every week - which is much more than most general vets see in their career or exotics vets in months or even years.

It is likely that there is a) still discomfort from the GA and from the dental overgrowth and b) the teeth are not fitting together properly.

The medication is so low that it might as well not have been prescribed, to be honest. Your vet could not have gone any lower.

Please step in with feeding support for the time being. Keep in mind that up 80% of the daily food intake is silica rich hay or grass fibre against which guinea pig teeth have evolved and the digestive system geared towards with breaking the fibre down in two runs through the gut.

Our syringe feeding guide will answer all aspects around not eating at all (including how you can improvise) and it also has got a chapter on dental piggies that can still a little and are willing to eat.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
 
Ok thanks for the above, I will ring them but I do have to be mindful of the cost £400 already😬, he eats the small pieces of food I put in his mouth and noses through hay and grass when I put it in, I will continue syringe feeding and will keep him in carrier so I can do through the night
 
The cost of consultation in Cat & Rabbit is just around £50 (more or less) and the dental is probably the same thing. I can't remember how much it is now as I haven't been there since Feb. But if your piggy would need further treatments, you only have to pay for the dental again and not for consultation.
 
I am struggling to find a number for the clinic in Northamptonshire, there is a number for wellesbourne but it rings out?
 
The Maddock’s at the Cat and Rabbit are the best dental piggies vets in the Country. We travel from Cornwall with Ted, who has dental issues. It’s very reasonably priced at £60 because it’s all done consciously using a specialist dental brace and tiny teeth files. It takes about 10 minutes tops and your piggie will probably come out eating, I can’t rate them enough
 
Lancarra said:
Definitely going, cant give up on him, he is still bright and moves about well he deserves this chance hope they can sort it
Click to expand...
If anyone can Simon or Kim will. They deal with around 30 dental piggies a week, people drive fr9m all over the country, our trip is a 600 mile round trip, worth every penny, unlike most vets they are experts at guinea pig dentistry. Ted has chronic dental problems so the has a regular dental. It’s kept him alive for over 2 years and he loves life and is very happy and healthy.
Call at 8.00 am, they are always very busy and appts go really fast
 
I have alarm set and ring ring at 8! Receptionist said if needed they can do it there and then. Just feel something has been missed I think if it was underlying issue he would continue to deteriorate and he hasnt
 
yes, they will look inside the piggies mouth and remove any spurs which can grow over the tongue or cheek and make sure everything is even along the teeth, no bumpy edges which quite literally stop piggies from eating. In the meantime if he is not eating make sure you syringe feed with mushed up pellets to keep his tummy working and the gut bacteria alive
Good luck and let us all know how you get on x
 
What a beauty! Sorry if I've missed anything earlier. Is he eating grass now or is that an older pic?

How bad were his teeth and did he show other signs like drooling? If his eating slowed over time the teeth might have overgrown a little bit as a secondary issue. However, they can get a sore mouth after dentals and that would put anybody off chewing! Tell vets about your amount of metacam because it seems low even for a small pig - obviously we can't prescribe or advocate changing doses ourselves as there may be other things the vet is taking into account that we don't know about... but other people here would, I think, agree that we typically are prescribed more/of the stronger dog one/ sometimes twice a day. Hmmmm.

Some of the questions the vets might ask are: when you give him the syringe food does he look interested and have appetite? Or does he fight against it? Do you know how many mls he's taking in 24 hours? And is he pooping OK? If you are overloading his mouth they can struggle to handle it... I don't think they stuff their cheeks like hamsters. I had to syringe feed one for a while and she ended up with a respiratory infection which may have been from inhalation during her general anaesthetic (we weren't given ABs afterwards) or may have been from inhaling syringe food as I was clumsy with volumes at first. You are already on the baytril so you should be OK for that but it's just to say that inhalation can happen quite easily and mine used to sometimes pull a wide-mouth face where she twisted her head to one side because she was struggling to manipulate the food in her mouth.

I hope you can get some answers for your boy. It's encouraging if he's eating small pieces at least! Good Luck 💕
 
Does anyone know if it's a common thing for a non specialist vet to miss things during a gp dental?
 
Depends on the vet - can vary widely. Sometimes it can take a few goes to find a practice you feel comfortable with. And can afford!
 
He likes having the syringe food and takes it well, I am used to feeding and looking after sick animals as I'm a shepherd although they are somewhat larger same principles apply! I'm also happy to inject pain relief if necessary
 
The pic is an older one they are inside in winter and have a piglu outside in the summer.
The vet said there were some spurs, but I feel they have given up and dont feel there is anymore they can do, I certainly would not let him suffer but I dont think he is
 
That's great if he's got appetite! My poor sow was hungry but it turned out she had a problem with swallowing which sadly we couldn't resolve. Because of this she didn't like the syringe but afterwards, with a full tummy, she was out and about with our boar and looked bright as a button. I hoped every day she would welcome the syringe but it was not to be. Ours, it seems, was not a mechanical issue.
I saw a post a while ago from a piggie whose front teeth had been done very short and the owner had to hand feed until they grew back long enough for him to pick up food again... I think dentals are a dark art!
 
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