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Piki illness/Teeth

Soulsin1924

Soulsin1924

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Hello. Some of you may remember me. I am the owner of two female guinea pigs.

They are 14 months old and some days.

One of them started to not eating and drinking properly the last week or so. Also lost a lot of weight. She had the appetite to eat and the will to drink but she was receiving less and less amounts of water and food.

I took her to the vet, the vet said after the examinations that has nothing pathological and she’s totally fine, the problem was her teeth on the right side of her mouth were not straight. The vet told me that can be from various reasons. I always have to them large amounts of hay, chewing toys especially approved for guinea pigs, but she still developed the issue with her teeth.

The vet went into a small teeth operation and after that and after me taking her home (she stayed 3 days to the vet for monitoring), she doesn’t eat at all only with some special food from a syringe that we give her, she doesn’t drink at all alone, just a few drops from a syringe again and she isn’t even able to walk or move.

I cannot understand what’s happening, as she was perfectly fine.
 
I’m sorry to hear this.

Are you weighing her every morning so that you can be sure she is getting enough syringe feed? You are aiming for 60ml per day (more if she will take it).

Is she on pain relief?

Not eating after a dental is not uncommon and it can take a while for them to went to eat independently again - they can lose confidence and if their pain isn’t properly managed then that will also have an effect.
Why she isn’t moving I’m afraid we can’t know. Was she moving while she was at the vet for the three days?

Wiebke

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I’m so sorry that your piggy is unwell. Is she on any painkillers? Pain could be stopping her from eating. What exactly did the vet do? Was it her front or back teeth?

Is she still losing weight? You need to weigh her every morning. If she has lost weight then you need to increase the syringe feeds that day. I had a piggy completely stop eating for 8 weeks. He needed over 90ml of syringe feed a day just a keep his weight stable.

Will she eat anything at all. Grass is always a good one to try. Make sure it’s clean grass and don’t give too much if she’s not used to eating it. Also after a syringe feed offer her a pile of hay as the feed sometimes kick starts the desire to eat.

Good luck I hope she starts to eat soon. Read the guides above they are amazing.
 
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