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Possible jawline abscess

Free Ranger said:
Incisors can be trimmed (ideally burred) very quickly, and consciously as long as someone has a firm grip on piggy! Even if they go too short they grow back fast. If they end up super short keep an eye on the lips and gums for swelling in case they have been caught. But again, that's a temporary issue. Overlong incisors can prevent correct chewing and put them off things like grass and hay which need a deal of grinding down. Something must have put her off biting at things for these to overgrow so it's lucky the vet thinks you have caught it before any molar problems develop. The gut issue might just be that her ratio of fibrous foods to veg is a bit off at the minute.

Give her a day or so for things to settle down and see if her eating habits change. Can you get any clue by her chewing action whether the problem is a localised dental issue? I'm attaching short vids of my rainbow girl Zara who had a problem on the root of her lower incisor. She was initially helped by trimming down the bad tooth to take the pressure off it (the neighbouring incisor was left intact).
BEFORE: chews by sticking out her jaw to avoid catching the tooth. AFTER: smoother action, normal jaw position.
View attachment 214086 View attachment 214087
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How do you post videos please? Mine won’t post 🙈
 
Bill & Ted said:
Poor Biscuit! The trouble with incisor teeth teeth is that they normally wear lovely and sharp at the biting edge. When some vets burr the teeth they don’t angle the biting edge so it’s basically blunt at best. Inexperienced vets always cut their incisors far too short like a rabbits, in fact GP’s have quite long incisors naturally. Again they will grow but it takes a week or so. My Ted‘s first GA dental locally for a molar spur came back home with incisors so trimmed back I could barely see them and of course they didn’t meet 🙄

I would just try and get as much food into her as you can tonight. Can you mash up some pellets in warm water, would she take it better on a spoon.
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You don’t think the vet could have broken or dislocated her jaw or would it be much worse? She’s managing a little finely chopped greens, but when trying to eat a piece of eg chickweed, she’s trying over and over but can’t get her mouth open wide enough to eat it. Most unusual.
 
You'd think in that case she wouldn't be able to eat anything at all but I can well imagine that if she fought the vet there might be some strain or swelling.
I'm so sorry I can't advise about youtube because I've never done it. There's a 'forum technical assistance' section you can post in to get advice. If you can get the video onto any sort of public site you should be able to post a link on here though.
 
Surfergirl said:
Thank you. How long do you think I should leave it? She’s only eating mushed pellets if they have pro c, and a tiny amount of finely chopped veg. Won’t touch chopped hay or grass. Her poo had normalised by the vet visit but is now not normal. I understand Jess only works Friday and Tuesdays?
Should I give her a few days or is this not normal? I am so cross that she was eating fine again before the vet meddled.
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I think if you can I would try and get an appointment with her Friday, but make sure it’s her and no one else. I remember my Ted have a dreadful dental and his chewing sounded like he was chewing gravel. When Simon looked at his teeth they were not smooth on the grinding bit, but all chopped and lumpy do when he chewed the teeth were jumping against each other and not gliding over each other as they should have. That particular vet made the biggest mess of his teeth ever and he was an exotic vet and the top surgeon 🥹 It’s so difficult finding someone who will actually do a good job.
If Jess has a look she will at least tell you what’s happed and tidy her mouth up a bit, she may then be able to eat but it’s up to you, life gets in the way of our best made plans. If you got an appointment you could always cancel Thursday if she improves greatly
 
Bill & Ted said:
I think if you can I would try and get an appointment with her Friday, but make sure it’s her and no one else. I remember my Ted have a dreadful dental and his chewing sounded like he was chewing gravel. When Simon looked at his teeth they were not smooth on the grinding bit, but all chopped and lumpy do when he chewed the teeth were jumping against each other and not gliding over each other as they should have. That particular vet made the biggest mess of his teeth ever and he was an exotic vet and the top surgeon 🥹 It’s so difficult finding someone who will actually do a good job.
If Jess has a look she will at least tell you what’s happed and tidy her mouth up a bit, she may then be able to eat but it’s up to you, life gets in the way of our best made plans. If you got an appointment you could always cancel Thursday if she improves greatly
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Thank you very much. My daughter has another hospital appointment on Friday so it might have to wait until Tuesday when Jess is next in. She is at least eating something and I will weigh her daily. I do think it’s exactly as you describe above with the noise and I am now 100-% the vet has cocked up big style. My Biscuit has been through so much recently, she certainly did not need or deserve this!
 
Surfergirl said:
Thank you very much. My daughter has another hospital appointment on Friday so it might have to wait until Tuesday when Jess is next in. She is at least eating something and I will weigh her daily. I do think it’s exactly as you describe above with the noise and I am now 100-% the vet has cocked up big style. My Biscuit has been through so much recently, she certainly did not need or deserve this!
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I’m so sorry for you both. It doesn’t sound right from what you’ve described and I can only go from my own piggies experience of mess ups at different vets. It’s really sad that most just don’t seem to get it right when it comes to GP dentistry. I hope Jess can help you, I think she is your best chance. If she is eating perhaps book an appointment with her for Tuesday, like I say you can always cancel if you need to, definitely weigh her at the same time daily so you know if she is not getting enough 🤞
 
Bill & Ted said:
I’m so sorry for you both. It doesn’t sound right from what you’ve described and I can only go from my own piggies experience of mess ups at different vets. It’s really sad that most just don’t seem to get it right when it comes to GP dentistry. I hope Jess can help you, I think she is your best chance. If she is eating perhaps book an appointment with her for Tuesday, like I say you can always cancel if you need to, definitely weigh her at the same time daily so you know if she is not getting enough 🤞
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Did you manage to view the videos I tried to upload please?
Really appreciate your help and support thank you.
 
Hopefully you can see these videos. This one is how she’s struggling to get even a tiny piece of veg into her mouth. Usually it disappears quickly!
 
8 November 2022

I don’t think this one posted. It’s her struggling to get a tiny piece of veg in her mouth, which is now happening post vet visit.
Apologies for my technical incompetence. Any feedback on the 3 videos much appreciated thank you.
 
Sorry I can’t get one video to post. It shows the tiny flower off a piece of groundsel not going into her mouth. She’s chewing and chewing but it doesn’t go in. This keeps happening with her food.
 
I can see the videos - she's definitely not right. When a piggy doesn't want to eat she doesn't try but poor Biscuit wants to eat, and to be honest it looks like she is wincing either with pain or effort - if you see the little squint she does with her eye in the first video. Her chewing is slow though, and very erratic, and the way she paws at her mouth is letting you know something is bothering her - it might well be a bit of stuck food but I wouldn't like to make that assumption as she was already having problems before the dental.

Are you certain the vet didn't do anything to the molars? Would it be worth checking..?

My rainbow girl Ivy was syringe fed for some weeks. Her problem remained a mystery but one day she just let a nugget drop from her mouth and turned away. Her molars were slightly overgrown at that point so she had a dental and about a week of antibiotics and painkiller (as standard, but the ABs were also to try and address whether there was some mystery infection that had stopped her eating in the first place). The vet adjusted the molars but left the incisors which were OK at that point. A few weeks later I had to take her in again for the incisors to be burred... as it turned out a bit too short but nevertheless, when the overgrown incisors were out of the way her chewing (of the syringe slurry) became immediately faster and smoother. Incisors are for biting and manipulating the food into the mouth, not really for chewing so if she had incisors trimmed but the molars were not touched you'd expect there to be improved chewing or at least the same as before. It would explain why she can't get little bits of food in, but not why her chewing isn't smooth. Maybe try offering longer matchsticks of food so you can support one end which she champs at the other? When Zara's tooth played up I gave her a plate of little bits from the middle of cucumber and she was able to slurp these up without biting with her painful incisor. It's not nutrition, but it was hydration and made her feel a bit better about life.
NB: check she is still using a drinking bottle - if it hurts to get veggies in, the metal spout might be too painful. Perhaps offer a water bowl too in the short term?

If she pawed at her mouth before the dental it could be part of her original problem - be it an abscess, or tooth spur, or stuck food, or something else. If this pawing started after I'd be concerned that perhaps a tooth had been hurt by the clipping; maybe not split but perhaps pulled at or damaged in some way. Perhaps a rough edge is chafing her soft tissue as she chews. It sounds like you have your hands full on Friday but I wonder if you could make a vet appointment and either rope a friend/partner in to take her or arrange to drop Biscuit there in a carrier? If you explain your situation they might be able to make a suggestion. They should have the facility to put her in a little cage until it's her turn to be seen - they house animals for surgery etc. You could call and enquire about cost - I think my vet charges about £12 for 'day boarding'. Just a thought. I'm so sorry it's all happened at once for you x
 
Free Ranger said:
I can see the videos - she's definitely not right. When a piggy doesn't want to eat she doesn't try but poor Biscuit wants to eat, and to be honest it looks like she is wincing either with pain or effort - if you see the little squint she does with her eye in the first video. Her chewing is slow though, and very erratic, and the way she paws at her mouth is letting you know something is bothering her - it might well be a bit of stuck food but I wouldn't like to make that assumption as she was already having problems before the dental.

Are you certain the vet didn't do anything to the molars? Would it be worth checking..?

My rainbow girl Ivy was syringe fed for some weeks. Her problem remained a mystery but one day she just let a nugget drop from her mouth and turned away. Her molars were slightly overgrown at that point so she had a dental and about a week of antibiotics and painkiller (as standard, but the ABs were also to try and address whether there was some mystery infection that had stopped her eating in the first place). The vet adjusted the molars but left the incisors which were OK at that point. A few weeks later I had to take her in again for the incisors to be burred... as it turned out a bit too short but nevertheless, when the overgrown incisors were out of the way her chewing (of the syringe slurry) became immediately faster and smoother. Incisors are for biting and manipulating the food into the mouth, not really for chewing so if she had incisors trimmed but the molars were not touched you'd expect there to be improved chewing or at least the same as before. It would explain why she can't get little bits of food in, but not why her chewing isn't smooth. Maybe try offering longer matchsticks of food so you can support one end which she champs at the other? When Zara's tooth played up I gave her a plate of little bits from the middle of cucumber and she was able to slurp these up without biting with her painful incisor. It's not nutrition, but it was hydration and made her feel a bit better about life.
NB: check she is still using a drinking bottle - if it hurts to get veggies in, the metal spout might be too painful. Perhaps offer a water bowl too in the short term?

If she pawed at her mouth before the dental it could be part of her original problem - be it an abscess, or tooth spur, or stuck food, or something else. If this pawing started after I'd be concerned that perhaps a tooth had been hurt by the clipping; maybe not split but perhaps pulled at or damaged in some way. Perhaps a rough edge is chafing her soft tissue as she chews. It sounds like you have your hands full on Friday but I wonder if you could make a vet appointment and either rope a friend/partner in to take her or arrange to drop Biscuit there in a carrier? If you explain your situation they might be able to make a suggestion. They should have the facility to put her in a little cage until it's her turn to be seen - they house animals for surgery etc. You could call and enquire about cost - I think my vet charges about £12 for 'day boarding'. Just a thought. I'm so sorry it's all happened at once for you x
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Thank you very much. Just very briefly as I’ve now got a little boy with a high temperature (child!)

I have put a bowl of water in but she doesn’t appear to be touching either that or the bottle.
I gave her a cucumber stick and she managed to eat the soft middle but she won’t eat the skin. She even skinned half a blueberry and just at the flesh.
I have no family within 250 miles who would help and don’t think any of my friends would drive the 2 hour round trip Friday, as they’re all working full time.
Maybe if this Jess from Brixham happens to work anywhere else the other days, does anyone know?
She maybe squinting as the light came on the video, my little girl has shown me now how to turn it off! But yes the chewing is eratic and it doesn’t look like she chewed before the vets. Before I saw her scratch that side 2-3 times, which to be fair could’ve been an itch. I cannot feel the tiny lump on her cheek I thought I felt on Sunday. She hasn’t done that funny mouth movement before she saw the vet. I am convinced the vet has done something bad inside her mouth. I’ve tried to feel inside but am not confident and don’t really know what I’m doing in their mouths. My daughter regularly checks her moths and thinks the incisors are very short. The vet said she’d only managed to shorten them a little bit. She didn’t think the incisors were a problem as her molars were beautifully ground down, so why the hell she decided to cut them I do not know. I think she was clutching at straws because she couldn’t see anything else. I reckon it could’ve been some food stuck previously but I didn’t realise that until after the vet visit. I never dreamt she’d make them worse.
I feel sure the vet has done some damage and like you said maybe left a rough edge. She’s managed some peas, finely chopped leaves, cucumber, blueberry and mashed food with pro c. She’ll eventually eat on my knee but is not out eating most of the time like normal. I will weigh her daily and definitely book her in for Tuesday when the vet is there unless I can speak to them about how to get her seen and maybe board. I would be worried that would stress her further and I have spent hours with her on my knee getting her to eat and I know they won’t give her that attention. She won’t take a syringe, you have to force feed her and again that stresses her out.
Really appreciate you advice thank you.
 
Wow you are really in the wars! @Bill & Ted do you know whether Jess covers any other practices? Or actually if you phone that vets they may well know... my vet has a sister practice further east and some vets alternate between the two.

If she doesn't have a greedy cage mate you could perhaps try leaving a bowl of mush in the cage where she can get to it overnight. If she has a friend don't split them for the sake of a supper though. Even if she doesn't go to the water bowl she'll know it's there. Keep up with her metacam.

If you are able to try her with a handful of grass tomorrow ( but avoid roadsides and anywhere a dog might have peed) she'll probably struggle a bit but it's a great motivator and can help keep the molars in check. If you have a mortar and pestle and a little time you can pound grass with a bit of water and use that green water to flavour the mush. I did this with carrot as well (not at the same time) to try and vary our mush to keep up her interest. Keep checking her poops are not petering out - you don't want gut stasis on top of everything else. The fibre is the key to keeping everything moving x
 
Free Ranger said:
Wow you are really in the wars! @Bill & Ted do you know whether Jess covers any other practices? Or actually if you phone that vets they may well know... my vet has a sister practice further east and some vets alternate between the two.

If she doesn't have a greedy cage mate you could perhaps try leaving a bowl of mush in the cage where she can get to it overnight. If she has a friend don't split them for the sake of a supper though. Even if she doesn't go to the water bowl she'll know it's there. Keep up with her metacam.

If you are able to try her with a handful of grass tomorrow ( but avoid roadsides and anywhere a dog might have peed) she'll probably struggle a bit but it's a great motivator and can help keep the molars in check. If you have a mortar and pestle and a little time you can pound grass with a bit of water and use that green water to flavour the mush. I did this with carrot as well (not at the same time) to try and vary our mush to keep up her interest. Keep checking her poops are not petering out - you don't want gut stasis on top of everything else. The fibre is the key to keeping everything moving x
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Thank you. Grass was her favourite, I’ve tried all ways even finely chopped, I think she’s had a strand or two but is presumably struggling to chew it.
She has a bowl of mush out and did eat some last night.
Her cage mate died as the same vet practice failed to diagnose gut stasis. I was on holiday and my neighbour took her in. They gave her Baytril but no gut mover.
I will put some grass liquid in tomorrow. I fear she isn’t getting any fibre other than her pellet mush, but no hay. I guess the green weeds are on but she needs to eat hay and grass. 😢
 
There's fibre in the pellets - if she's still pooping she's doing OK but you're right to watch out for that. Vets usually stock some sort of recovery food for over the counter sales. Recovery, Critical Care, Emeraid, Dual Care etc. It's better in the longer term than mushed pellets. They can keep going for weeks on Recovery food alone (with a bit of added vitC if it's long term). She's still trying herself and managing to eat little bits - they can be very determined! What a brave girl x
 
Free Ranger said:
There's fibre in the pellets - if she's still pooping she's doing OK but you're right to watch out for that. Vets usually stock some sort of recovery food for over the counter sales. Recovery, Critical Care, Emeraid, Dual Care etc. It's better in the longer term than mushed pellets. They can keep going for weeks on Recovery food alone (with a bit of added vitC if it's long term). She's still trying herself and managing to eat little bits - they can be very determined! What a brave girl x
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Thank you. I bought some recovery food from the vets but it’s for rabbits and small animals. There is a fraction of the vitamin C in it compared to her pellets. I queried it and was told that’s what they use.
May I ask how it’s better than mushed pellets please? I will buy some off Amazon if need be for speed.
I presume the pro C is enough vitamin C? How does this suit them long term as it’s majority dextrose, ie sugar? I am worried about her teeth from a decay aspect too with all the pro C she’s having.
Thank you very much for your help.
 
Free Ranger said:
Wow you are really in the wars! @Bill & Ted do you know whether Jess covers any other practices? Or actually if you phone that vets they may well know... my vet has a sister practice further east and some vets alternate between the two.

If she doesn't have a greedy cage mate you could perhaps try leaving a bowl of mush in the cage where she can get to it overnight. If she has a friend don't split them for the sake of a supper though. Even if she doesn't go to the water bowl she'll know it's there. Keep up with her metacam.

If you are able to try her with a handful of grass tomorrow ( but avoid roadsides and anywhere a dog might have peed) she'll probably struggle a bit but it's a great motivator and can help keep the molars in check. If you have a mortar and pestle and a little time you can pound grass with a bit of water and use that green water to flavour the mush. I did this with carrot as well (not at the same time) to try and vary our mush to keep up her interest. Keep checking her poops are not petering out - you don't want gut stasis on top of everything else. The fibre is the key to keeping everything moving x
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The Brixham vets does have other practices but it says on their website that she only works from Brixham on those days. I will ring today to find out, imagine @Bill & Ted would’ve said if she knew about alternatives but hopefully she will reply later to confirm.
What an ordeal, it is all so stressful when it goes on for so long.
 
Surfergirl said:
Thank you. I bought some recovery food from the vets but it’s for rabbits and small animals. There is a fraction of the vitamin C in it compared to her pellets. I queried it and was told that’s what they use.
May I ask how it’s better than mushed pellets please? I will buy some off Amazon if need be for speed.
I presume the pro C is enough vitamin C? How does this suit them long term as it’s majority dextrose, ie sugar? I am worried about her teeth from a decay aspect too with all the pro C she’s having.
Thank you very much for your help.
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What is the name of the recovery food from the vets?
If it’s ok for rabbits if most likely fine for piggies but if you could tell us what the product is we can confirm.

Proper recovery feed is better than mushed pellets because it has a higher fibre content which is what you need for longer term feeding.
(It also goes through syringes easier!)

Pro c is absolutely fine to use
 
Piggies&buns said:
What is the name of the recovery food from the vets?
If it’s ok for rabbits if most likely fine for piggies but if you could tell us what the product is we can confirm.

Proper recovery feed is better than mushed pellets because it has a higher fibre content which is what you need for longer term feeding.
(It also goes through syringes easier!)

Pro c is absolutely fine to use
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Thank you very much. I think it’s called Science Selective. I’m still in bed- woken in the night by my poorly child, it’s full on in this household atm! I can double check when I’m up.
 
Piggies&buns said:
What is the name of the recovery food from the vets?
If it’s ok for rabbits if most likely fine for piggies but if you could tell us what the product is we can confirm.

Proper recovery feed is better than mushed pellets because it has a higher fibre content which is what you need for longer term feeding.
(It also goes through syringes easier!)

Pro c is absolutely fine to use
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Can you recommend a recovery food please?
She will eat mushed pellets off a plate and absolutely hates to be syringe fed, it takes over an hour and I find it extremely stressful because she dislikes it so much. So in a way it’s easier for her mostly to eat off a dish, but obviously I will get more critical care food if it’s better for her long term. Thank you
 
I’m sorry I put my iPad on charge last night so wasn’t on the forum for long. I’m no expert but her chewing doesn’t seem quite right to me. She is struggling and that turn of her head is like there’s something in there stuck or not going down. A bit like when we have something stuck in her teeth to me?
 
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