NOT eating hay for a week after dental - HELP!

[longtimelurker51]

hello,

my boy is about 2 years old and a week ago i noticed he wasn’t eating his hay, must have been around friday. by sunday i called my vet and by monday he has had his molars/premolars trimmed as the vet (an exotic vet) said they were slightly overgrown. no sign of mouth injuries or irritation.

i was told it would be fine if he continued to eat veggies for a day, but the issue was my boy just would not eat hay even after two days. became slightly bloated, didn’t poop for hours, i got critical care and began feeding him and still continue to do so.

his belly is now fine, his poops are completely normal shape (previously thicker and smaller with a pointy end).

the issue he still will NOT eat hay. he is otherwise acting normally, drinking water, occasionally eats pellets but just not hay.

he is on 1mL per 24 hours of meloxoral.

if i put a strand of hay in his mouth, he cuts it down with his front teeth but never fully picks it up and just chews.

i am just so paranoid, because we lost his brother to overgrown teeth and him not eating for a while until finally his liver shut down. (

the only concern my vet stated was a chance of gi stasis or bloat. but as i said his poops have became normal again, and there must be a hundred per day.

 

[Bill & Ted]

I am so sorry you are in this situation again. Please weigh him daily at the same time so you know his weight is stable. if his weight goes down then up the mushed pellets or Critical care. you are looking at a trend with weight so don’t panic if he is down one day and up the next.
Will he eat grass? Start with a little first as it can cause bloat if given in large quantities straight away but it is a great substitute for hay. try plain dry porridge oats in a dish too
Do keep trying with hand feeding too. I think dental problems are very difficult emotionally to cope with, a rollercoaster ride for us. Good luck I hope he starts to eat hay

 

[CTWC]

Hi I hope he soon improves as said above try some grass in small quantities which can be a be increased slowly

 

[longtimelurker51]

I am so sorry you are in this situation again. Please weigh him daily at the same time so you know his weight is stable. if his weight goes down then up the mushed pellets or Critical care. you are looking at a trend with weight so don’t panic if he is down one day and up the next.
Will he eat grass? Start with a little first as it can cause bloat if given in large quantities straight away but it is a great substitute for hay. try plain dry porridge oats in a dish too
Do keep trying with hand feeding too. I think dental problems are very difficult emotionally to cope with, a rollercoaster ride for us. Good luck I hope he starts to eat hay

i forgot to mention but he was 880g at the vets (monday) then 875g at home on wednesday and now back at 885g yesterday.

definitely seems as lively and moves just fine (even if his belly was occasionally a little bloated).

he is eating critical care just fine, i will try grass but what bugs me is he will chew hay with his front teeth but then spit it out.

i am mostly frustrated because i can not figure out why hay became such an issue for us, i am grateful he is otherwise fine but i hoped he would be fine

 

[longtimelurker51]

Hi I hope he soon improves as said above try some grass in small quantities which can be a be increased slowly

i will try some grass but we are in europe and there was a bit of snow, and the grass is kinda eh. i am wondering it old winter grass could cause any further issues?

 

[longtimelurker51]

UPDATE; picked up five or six short strands of some newly grown grass (it’s from a meadow meant for hay anyway) and he munched it right down!

 

[Posyrose]

Great news! Here's hoping that he'll gradually get back to eating hay.

 

[exia]

Pigs are highly dramatic about their teeth. Not being able to eat hay and loose weight is very stressful for them. Also their teeth needs to feel perfect, and after a trim they can feel a bit strange. Keep on giving critical care and weigh him every day. He needs to feel big and confident to start eating again.
Do you syringe him? Try offer him some hay and pellets during syringe. Critical care always makes my pigs so hungry for real food.

Do you only give him meloxicam once a day? Due to pigs high metabolism my boys always gets twice a day when they are sick or in pain. Try reach your vet and ask about that. Your boy might still be in pain after the trim.

I have a dentalpig myself. We went through this in January and I know its so hard and frustrating. It took my boy five weeks and gabapentin to fully eat properly by himself this last time. Diagnosis mental wreck, as the vet said. They are just so very sensitive.

Remember you're making a great job looking after him with such a big concern and love

 

[exia]

Great he is eating grass! Keep on giving him grass in small portions and just wait for it. Very soon you will see him munch hay!

 

[longtimelurker51]

Pigs are highly dramatic about their teeth. Not being able to eat hay and loose weight is very stressful for them. Also their teeth needs to feel perfect, and after a trim they can feel a bit strange. Keep on giving critical care and weigh him every day. He needs to feel big and confident to start eating again.
Do you syringe him? Try offer him some hay and pellets during syringe. Critical care always makes my pigs so hungry for real food.

Do you only give him meloxicam once a day? Due to pigs high metabolism my boys always gets twice a day when they are sick or in pain. Try reach your vet and ask about that. Your boy might still be in pain after the trim.

I have a dentalpig myself. We went through this in January and I know its so hard and frustrating. It took my boy five weeks and gabapentin to fully eat properly by himself this last time. Diagnosis mental wreck, as the vet said. They are just so very sensitive.

Remember you're making a great job looking after him with such a big concern and love

i forgot to mention it in the post, but his weight is shifting between 885g and 875g, NOT steadily losing it (probably just bladder, etc.)

the vet is the only experienced exotic vet around and i have seen her do miracles, but perhaps some teeth were shaved down a bit too much.

also we buy some local kind of hay, called Alpko (it’s from the alps meadows). not too dusty (we previously had issues with that), but it is mixed plants/grass, so maybe some are a bit harsh. some are more like pointy, others are whole flowers and some are that rough grass with rough lines going down. i could totally imagine how that would feel on sensitive teeth/gums.

the painkillers we have i am already kind of cautious with but honestly i don’t notice any difference between an hour after application and later in the evening - he still doesn’t eat. but we were given the painkillers for five to seven days, so perhaps some pain was expected.

i know they are ultra sensitive but he is otherwise fine, his tummy is fine, he can headbump me and run away from me but hay is where he draws the line. i am
thinking of drying some grass from outside? we used to grow clover and dry it into hay and my bunnies LOVED it even when both sadly declined healthwise

THANK YOU SO MUCH THOUGH every word means a ton because i don’t want to be calling the vet every day

 

[Bill & Ted]

Pigs are highly dramatic about their teeth. Not being able to eat hay and loose weight is very stressful for them. Also their teeth needs to feel perfect, and after a trim they can feel a bit strange. Keep on giving critical care and weigh him every day. He needs to feel big and confident to start eating again.
Do you syringe him? Try offer him some hay and pellets during syringe. Critical care always makes my pigs so hungry for real food.

Do you only give him meloxicam once a day? Due to pigs high metabolism my boys always gets twice a day when they are sick or in pain. Try reach your vet and ask about that. Your boy might still be in pain after the trim.

I have a dentalpig myself. We went through this in January and I know its so hard and frustrating. It took my boy five weeks and gabapentin to fully eat properly by himself this last time. Diagnosis mental wreck, as the vet said. They are just so very sensitive.

Remember you're making a great job looking after him with such a big concern and love

That’s absolutely true, they do need to gain that confidence and hay is the first thing that drops off and the last thing they will attempt to eat after a dental

 

[CTWC]

Brilliant well done for finding some 'nice' grass keep your eyes peeled obviously just make sure it hasn't been contaminated by urine or chemicals if it's not from your garden. The silica I think it is in the grass will also help to ensure his teeth stay at a healthy length hopefully until he is back on the hay. As you say that weight change could just be empty v full bladder

 

[longtimelurker51]

yet another issue i have noticed is that he, again, has not pooped for a few hours.

i felt his tummy, it’s a bit big but soft and squishy and he seems in no discomfort from me touching him. he runs around, isn’t hunched. also, he has so far eaten 20mL of critical care, water and five strands of grass.

i last fed him critical care at 10pm last night and at around 7am in the morning. i checked on him during the night and he was with his pellets and even the vet didn’t say it wasn’t necessary to feed during the night.

it’s like we have this every other day, no poops until afternoon but otherwise it’s large quantities of perfectly normal poop.

how fast do they digest food/poop after eating?

 

[Piggies&buns]

I'm sorry to hear this.

Poop output is 1-2 days behind food intake. So you won’t see poops from food eaten today until tomorrow or Tuesday.
This is why watching poop production is not helpful; and also why the daily weight checks are the only way to gauge hay intake.

If his weight is stable (which it is by the sound of it) then he is eating enough.
We only talk of weight loss once or is 50g or more.
It is normal to have around 30g difference day to day without it being considered weight loss we all - it’s hurt normal fluctuation

 

[exia]

i forgot to mention it in the post, but his weight is shifting between 885g and 875g, NOT steadily losing it (probably just bladder, etc.)

the vet is the only experienced exotic vet around and i have seen her do miracles, but perhaps some teeth were shaved down a bit too much.

also we buy some local kind of hay, called Alpko (it’s from the alps meadows). not too dusty (we previously had issues with that), but it is mixed plants/grass, so maybe some are a bit harsh. some are more like pointy, others are whole flowers and some are that rough grass with rough lines going down. i could totally imagine how that would feel on sensitive teeth/gums.

the painkillers we have i am already kind of cautious with but honestly i don’t notice any difference between an hour after application and later in the evening - he still doesn’t eat. but we were given the painkillers for five to seven days, so perhaps some pain was expected.

i know they are ultra sensitive but he is otherwise fine, his tummy is fine, he can headbump me and run away from me but hay is where he draws the line. i am
thinking of drying some grass from outside? we used to grow clover and dry it into hay and my bunnies LOVED it even when both sadly declined healthwise

THANK YOU SO MUCH THOUGH every word means a ton because i don’t want to be calling the vet every day

Something I've learned is that vets tends to think very different about pain after dental treatment. In the end I have been giving pain relief until my boy is eating properly by his own - not always all those days the vet prescribed... If you cant see any difference and dont feel comfortable with giving metacam, maybe its not pain that bugs him?

Even the best vet can accidentally poke the gum or trim a tooth just a littlelittle bit too much and even though the chewing part works just fine, the pig will not eat until it feels like it should. I was in need of a pig-terapeut this whole January...

If you can get your hands on more grass its a very good idea to try to dry it and see if he wants to eat that.

 

[longtimelurker51]

I'm sorry to hear this.

Poop output is 1-2 days behind food intake. So you won’t see poops from food eaten today until tomorrow or Tuesday.
This is why watching poop production is not helpful; and also why the daily weight checks are the only way to gauge hay intake.

If his weight is stable (which it is by the sound of it) then he is eating enough.
We only talk of weight loss once or is 50g or more.
It is normal to have around 30g difference day to day without it being considered weight loss we all - it’s hurt normal fluctuation

i couldn’t find an answer on google for the life of me, thank you! he started to poop again and when i found one torn in half with no other piece i started to suspect he is eating them! whatever helps him lol he is asking for more veggies now.

i weighed him again and i think i am actually noticing a stable weight gain.

could GI stasis occur even if he is regularly fed with critical care? i mean, it’s the gut shutting down but if he is fed every few hours it shouldn’t be the cause of it, right? i just called my vet and her only current concern is stasis. i will most likely bring him in tomorrow to increase his painkiller dose if needed.