TangentKid
New Born Pup
Hi,
We have a 4 1/2 year old female piggie who has recently developed problems chewing her food. The full details are quite lengthy so I've written a short version and a long version for those who have more time on their hands.
We would be so grateful for any suggestions that people may have as we’re worn out with worry and the punishing syringe feeding schedule!
Thanks.
The short version
Over the last 3 weeks she has been to see a vet, a vet dentist and Vedra at the CCT twice. On each occasion her teeth have been trimmed and we had high hopes that she’d start eating again soon afterwards. In the first week she ate nothing herself but since then the symptoms have remained unchanged:
She is interested in food and when offered fresh veg such as soft cucumber or watercress she will give it a go. She gingerly takes the offering into her mouth and sometimes manages to chew but often has trouble and starts to lean her head from side to side, makes a yawning motion and makes the usual I’ve-got-something-stuck-in-my-teeth face. If we manage to get past this stage, the more she eats in a sitting the better she seems to get at chewing. Other times she decides that she just can’t do it and gives up after a few tries. However, even if she does manage to get good at chewing, after stopping for just 20 minutes we’re back to square one with the pulling faces when she tries food the next time.
The long version
We first noticed that there was a problem about 3 weeks ago when she started to drop small bits of food and then wouldn’t even touch her fresh veg breakfast. In the first week she deteriorated to eating nothing herself. She then improved slightly but since then the symptoms have remained unchanged:
She won’t touch hay or her Gertie mix so we’re feeding her a ground recovery mix by syringe 4 times a day. She is interested in fresh veg and when offered things like soft cucumber or watercress she will give it a go. She gingerly takes the offering into her mouth and sometimes manages to chew but often has trouble and starts to lean her head from side to side, makes a yawning motion and makes the usual I’ve-got-something-stuck-in-my-teeth face. If we manage to get past this stage, the more she eats in a sitting the better she seems to get at chewing. Other times she decides that she just can’t do it and gives up after a few tries.
As soon as we noticed the problem we took her to the local vet who said she had 2 ovarian cysts and needed her incisors trimming. They trimmed her teeth (under anaesthetic) and said to bring her back when she was back to normal to have her ovaries removed.
2 days later she was no better and we’d read that vets often don’t realise that teeth problems are usually with the molars and not just the incisors. We took her to a vet dentist who trimmed some spurs from her molars again under anaesthetic.
2 days later she was still not eating so we took her to Vedra at the CCT. She said that her molars were still overgrown so she trimmed them again and also drained her cysts and gave a hormone injection. She also suggested that she may have oral thrush and gave us a treatment regime which we have been following.
Over the following week she began to eat with more confidence but then suddenly stopped trying fresh food altogether. We then took her back to see Vedra who again said that there was overgrowth with her molars and trimmed them back. She also suggested that we give her some Nurofen in case she’s in pain.
We’re now 4 days on from the last visit and she’s showing more interest in trying food again and when offered fresh veg such as soft cucumber or watercress she will give it a go. She gingerly takes the offering into her mouth and sometimes manages to chew but often has trouble and starts to lean her head from side to side, makes a yawning motion and makes the usual I’ve-got-something-stuck-in-my-teeth face. If we manage to get past this stage, the more she eats in a sitting the better she seems to get at chewing. Other times she decides that she just can’t do it and gives up after a few tries. However, even if she does manage to get good at chewing, after stopping for just 20 minutes we’re back to square one with the pulling faces when she tries food the next time.
After giving Nurofen it’s usually more successful in getting her going with a good fresh feed so this would suggest that she’s probably in some sort of oral pain.
Even though her incisors were filed flat (again) just 3 days ago, the bottom ones are (again) worn down at an angle.
She now sits in the corner of her hutch hunched and fluffed up. When she sleeps she just rests her chin on the floor in the hunched position. We haven’t seen her relax and lie down properly for a couple of weeks. Her coat is in great condition and her eyes seem quite bright.
There’s loads more info that I could give but I think that this essay is long enough already!
We have a 4 1/2 year old female piggie who has recently developed problems chewing her food. The full details are quite lengthy so I've written a short version and a long version for those who have more time on their hands.
We would be so grateful for any suggestions that people may have as we’re worn out with worry and the punishing syringe feeding schedule!
Thanks.
The short version
Over the last 3 weeks she has been to see a vet, a vet dentist and Vedra at the CCT twice. On each occasion her teeth have been trimmed and we had high hopes that she’d start eating again soon afterwards. In the first week she ate nothing herself but since then the symptoms have remained unchanged:
She is interested in food and when offered fresh veg such as soft cucumber or watercress she will give it a go. She gingerly takes the offering into her mouth and sometimes manages to chew but often has trouble and starts to lean her head from side to side, makes a yawning motion and makes the usual I’ve-got-something-stuck-in-my-teeth face. If we manage to get past this stage, the more she eats in a sitting the better she seems to get at chewing. Other times she decides that she just can’t do it and gives up after a few tries. However, even if she does manage to get good at chewing, after stopping for just 20 minutes we’re back to square one with the pulling faces when she tries food the next time.
The long version
We first noticed that there was a problem about 3 weeks ago when she started to drop small bits of food and then wouldn’t even touch her fresh veg breakfast. In the first week she deteriorated to eating nothing herself. She then improved slightly but since then the symptoms have remained unchanged:
She won’t touch hay or her Gertie mix so we’re feeding her a ground recovery mix by syringe 4 times a day. She is interested in fresh veg and when offered things like soft cucumber or watercress she will give it a go. She gingerly takes the offering into her mouth and sometimes manages to chew but often has trouble and starts to lean her head from side to side, makes a yawning motion and makes the usual I’ve-got-something-stuck-in-my-teeth face. If we manage to get past this stage, the more she eats in a sitting the better she seems to get at chewing. Other times she decides that she just can’t do it and gives up after a few tries.
As soon as we noticed the problem we took her to the local vet who said she had 2 ovarian cysts and needed her incisors trimming. They trimmed her teeth (under anaesthetic) and said to bring her back when she was back to normal to have her ovaries removed.
2 days later she was no better and we’d read that vets often don’t realise that teeth problems are usually with the molars and not just the incisors. We took her to a vet dentist who trimmed some spurs from her molars again under anaesthetic.
2 days later she was still not eating so we took her to Vedra at the CCT. She said that her molars were still overgrown so she trimmed them again and also drained her cysts and gave a hormone injection. She also suggested that she may have oral thrush and gave us a treatment regime which we have been following.
Over the following week she began to eat with more confidence but then suddenly stopped trying fresh food altogether. We then took her back to see Vedra who again said that there was overgrowth with her molars and trimmed them back. She also suggested that we give her some Nurofen in case she’s in pain.
We’re now 4 days on from the last visit and she’s showing more interest in trying food again and when offered fresh veg such as soft cucumber or watercress she will give it a go. She gingerly takes the offering into her mouth and sometimes manages to chew but often has trouble and starts to lean her head from side to side, makes a yawning motion and makes the usual I’ve-got-something-stuck-in-my-teeth face. If we manage to get past this stage, the more she eats in a sitting the better she seems to get at chewing. Other times she decides that she just can’t do it and gives up after a few tries. However, even if she does manage to get good at chewing, after stopping for just 20 minutes we’re back to square one with the pulling faces when she tries food the next time.
After giving Nurofen it’s usually more successful in getting her going with a good fresh feed so this would suggest that she’s probably in some sort of oral pain.
Even though her incisors were filed flat (again) just 3 days ago, the bottom ones are (again) worn down at an angle.
She now sits in the corner of her hutch hunched and fluffed up. When she sleeps she just rests her chin on the floor in the hunched position. We haven’t seen her relax and lie down properly for a couple of weeks. Her coat is in great condition and her eyes seem quite bright.
There’s loads more info that I could give but I think that this essay is long enough already!
.
