• Discussions taking place within this forum are intended for the purpose of assisting you in discussing options with your vet. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this Statement

Dental Not eating, loosing weight

I'm pretty sure they aren't meeting. I'm trying to but I also need to go to work. Do you think it's because her incisors are too short? Overall it looks like her maloclussion is very bad.
 

Attachments

  • 20200929_124218.webp
    20200929_124218.webp
    27 KB · Views: 17
F&G said:
She's not eating. I can see that she's hungry because she tries to pick the nuggets but can't. I dont know if she's scared to get or what.. the same with the veggies. She'll bite tiny bit of cucumber and that's it.

I'm worried. What should I do?
Click to expand...
She needs time - her mouth will still be painful and she may have sores from her tongue entrapment.
You are doing a great job and giving her every chance so don't give up yet.

What medication is she on - I am guessing at least some decent pain killers which should help.
After a dental it is just a matter of keeping up with the syringe feeding as often as possible and continuing to offer lots of hay and other foods you know she likes.
She will pick up if her teeth have been fixed it just might take some time.
 
  • Like
Reactions: F&G
She never got any medication. I gave her a tiny bit of pepper but she was unable to pick it. I think her incisors are too short.

All she does is lying in her bed. I'll keep her going a long as I can. It's just very stressful watching her being like that..
 

Attachments

  • 20200929_142017.webp
    20200929_142017.webp
    36.9 KB · Views: 15
F&G said:
She never got any medication. I gave her a tiny bit of pepper but she was unable to pick it. I think her incisors are too short.

All she does is lying in her bed. I'll keep her going a long as I can. It's just very stressful watching her being like that..
Click to expand...

i would have thought she would have been given metacam for pain relief
 
Cutting incisors too short is very common problem of a poorly done dental, this has happened to my Ted on one/two occasions from two local vets, one a general vet and one exotic vet. This is why I now travel 300 miles to see Simon Maddock at the Cat and Rabbit Clinic in Northampton, who does conscious dentals, which generally take 10-15 minutes with no nasty GA effects. he does 30 a week and knows exactly how to shape and wearing teeth so the piggie eats straight away.
I do hope you can get your little piggie sorted, so sad x
 
  • Like
Reactions: F&G
How long will it take for them to grow back?
I wish I'd have money and time to go to your vet :)
 
Their teeth grow quite quickly but it could still be a while before things improve if it is due to them being cut too short. The issue is that if she doesn’t eat any hay, then it can mean the teeth aren’t wearing down and can overgrow again so getting her eating hay again is important . Try feeding her strands of hay and grass (grass also helps wear teeth down) cutting veg into strips and hand feeding as it may be that she will chew but just can’t pick up food.

You will have to syringe her water when you are giving her syringe feeds. Don’t forget to weigh daily to ensure she is getting enough syringe feeds.
 
  • Like
Reactions: F&G
F&G said:
She never got any medication. I gave her a tiny bit of pepper but she was unable to pick it. I think her incisors are too short.

All she does is lying in her bed. I'll keep her going a long as I can. It's just very stressful watching her being like that..
Click to expand...
You also need to urgently contact your vet and ask for pain relief.
She will manage with short incisors in the short term, but she won't eat if she is in pain.
Try using a veg peeler to offer her long strips of food which are easier to manage.
Once she is on suitable pain relief I am sure she will slowly start eating again.
 
  • Like
Reactions: F&G
I wouldn't say she's under stress. Her friend feels that something wrong with her as he's always next to her. I think now separating them would be a bad idea.

I just fed her with recovery plus and she ate a lot. Was very enjoying it. I tried with the veg but she won't pick it up. I'll call the vet tomorrow and complain. I also will try to get more liquid food and some pain killers for her.

The biggest problem is that I'm working, so I can't be at home 24/7 and constantly feed her. I do my best. I just don't know what to do. Even if the incisors will grow fast, there is a possibility that the molars will need to be done once again in a short period of time as she's not eating. I guess they should do it for free? Its not my fault that they've done it wrong.

I tried to get it done at small animal university hospital, but because of the virus they're not taking new patients and my only way to sort it out was to go to my current vet, who apparently knew what he was doing.
 
JourneyGabrielle'sPiggies said:
Take her to the vet as soon as possible! Maybe she is under stress, so maybe seperate if the vet says so.
Click to expand...
There is no need to separate. Doing so would cause stress.
@F&G do as mentioned above and go ask the vet for some pain relief.

Is there any way at all you could make the trip down to Northampton? I know it’s a long way for you so must be difficult. Otherwise I’ve nothing to advise except keep up with the syringe feeding. Maybe you could leave a bowl of it in the cage, if she will eat it that way. But it’s difficult when she’s housed with another.

Another could be to board her with someone who would be able to syringe feed her round the clock...I hope you find a solution that works for you both
 
First and foremost you need to get pain relief and then see what happens over the next few days. If the dental has been done well, other than the incisor issue, she will start to eat soon. I find for those who are reluctant to try to eat, it helps to feed some leafy veg into the mouth, stalk first. However, if she can't chew it, it would suggest that there is still a problem. Unfortunately, so many vets don't get it right when carrying out guinea pig dentals.
 
Debbie is amazing and cared for my Ted over the lock down period so he could be near Simon to have regular conscious dentals after a disastrous dental performed by a local vet. he stayed very happily for a couple of months in Debbie’s very experienced care.
 
Thank you guys. I'm afraid I can't afford it. The best option would be to give her away to people who can take care of her better than me...

I'm on the phone to the vet..
 
furryfriends (TEAS) said:
We can offer her a permanent place here at TEAS
Click to expand...
I just came back from the vet... Rudi lost 50g in 2 days. The vet said that the incisors look fine as well as the molars and it shouldn't be the case and she should eat normaly.
She said that probably her gut stopped working, so I had to leave her there for 6hours, so the nurses can feed her every hour, she can get pain killers and gut stimulant and if she won't improve within 24/48h we should consider putting her too sleep. She said that her teeth are overall in very bad condition. The not eating thing could be also a side affect from the GA.
 
F&G said:
I just came back from the vet... Rudi lost 50g in 2 days. The vet said that the incisors look fine as well as the molars and it shouldn't be the case and she should eat normaly.
She said that probably her gut stopped working, so I had to leave her there for 6hours, so the nurses can feed her every hour, she can get pain killers and gut stimulant and if she won't improve within 24/48h we should consider putting her too sleep. She said that her teeth are overall in very bad condition. The not eating thing could be also a side affect from the GA.
Click to expand...
So sad for you x
 
Wee update:

I got her back from the vet. They fed her with the recovery food, gave her gut stimulant and pain killers. The moment I put her transporter in the living room, she started screaming for food straight away. I put separate them to see if she's peeing and pooping. I gave her 10 nuggets (to see if she eats any of them) plenty of hay and water. She was so excited when she saw the nuggets in the bowl but couldn't really pick it up. I got her some apple stalks, she ate some but couldn't grind it and tear it. I think the vet was right saying that the dental disease is so advanced that the molars are not meeting each other and growing in the wrong direction, now I can see it when she eats veggies.

They asked me to come back on Friday if things don't improve so we can talk about her future and quality of life. It is only so little we can do. Fingers crossed!

@TEAS there is no way I could get to you... it's 12h by train
 
I put them in separate cages next to each other but she was constantly biting the cage, so I had to move her to his cage.

She put on weight 10g since yesterday but still not eating hay and solid foods. She started eating some hay snack and a few pieces of spinach but that's not enough. I haven't seen her drinking. I have a feeling that she can't tear the food because of her incisors but the vet keeps saying that they're okay length wise. Maybe that's the reason she's not eating hay?

I'll go to the vet tomorrow and see what they're gonna say...I was up every 2.5h during the night to feed her.
 

Attachments

  • 20201001_134749.webp
    20201001_134749.webp
    63.5 KB · Views: 6
Is she back in with him now?

I don’t have any advise but you have to seriously think about having her seen elsewhere.
 
Yes, she is. I phoned a few places but it's impossible because of covid.
 
If her incisor are too short then the best way to help her is to put little sticks of food in her mouth. I use to feed Ted beetroot from the Bistro Salad bags, along with syringe feeding him until his incisors grew back down. It can take some weeks but he is still here after three years. if the molars are not rubbing flat together it sounds more like a poor dental to me, spurs tend to grow over the tongue or grow outwards into the cheeks.
 
I tried with the salad etc but its falling out from her mouth. When she's eating the liquid food you can hear very scratchy? noise coming from her molars. It's like sound of old squeaky door. It sounds so uncomfortable.

I think the vet did his best and it's just the way her teeth are. I just finished feeding her and something catched her cheek and she couldn't help herself.

I'll see what they say on Saturday.
 
I‘ve heard that scraping noise before, it’s when the flat surface (grinding area) of the molar is not smooth or when the surface is uneven and as the piggie chews their mouth move sideways and back and forward the sharp bits catch and make that noise. The vet has done what he thinks is a good job, but to be honest that noise indicates he/she hasn’t sadly vets get very little training when it comes to GP’s. I’m so sorry for you and your little piggie, you are so far away from Northampton. Keep if the syringe feeding and continue to help her to eat, she may get the hang of it. There are plenty of piggies who manage to feed without any front teeth so if it’s just a matter of them growing then it’s just a waiting game for them to grow together x
 
Vet phoned me today to check on Rudi. He was worried about her and say that probably there's nothing else we can do. If she won't start eating and drinking over the weekend I should come and see him, so we can talk about her quality of life.
She gets very exticed about veggies, but is not really able to chew it... Same with the hay, she won't eat it. She's okay with the cucumber though., but looks uncomfortabe when she's eating. Looks like her upper and lower jaw is not inthe same position. I feel so sorry for her because it seems like she's hungry
😭
. She eats lots of recovery food and mushed pallets but that's it. She put on weight a bit...660g but I can still feel her spine and bones.

My heart is broken. I booked an appointment with vet for Monday. If she passes away, her cagemate will be devastated... not mentioning me.
 
i could help with a piggie train,may be from sheffield and the rest of the journey to teas.if anyone can help with the journey from scotland to where ever the persons can help.i feel sorry for your predicament,but your piggie will be going to the best carers and vets.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top