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Dental Refusing to eat hay!

Q

quicklies

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A couple of months ago, one of my guinea pigs has been losing weight rapidly, I assumed do to not eating enough hay. He had to have a teeth trim under anesthesia due to his teeth overgrowing. The vet accused me of feeding too much veg and pellets. I tried to explain this was not true, I stick to less than a table spoon of pellets, half of that in the morning and half in the evening, and he only gets a bowl of veg once a day and it's not that much really. I told the vet that he does not want to eat hay but it seemed that he did not believe me.

Following the surgery, he slowly started eating hay again, but it was not a lot, just like before, but not so low to cause concern, plus he was gaining weight. I was topping him up with critical care, too.

He went from 1040g at the time of surgery (his normal weight prior to this has been around 1200g), to around 1150g and has managed to stay that weight, but now he stopped eating hay... again. His weight is down to 1050g so I started oxbow CC again.

After a quick visit, I was told his teeth were fine and he looks like he's in good health. He's pooping fine, for now. I was told that if he does not start eating hay again, his teeth WILL overgrow and he WILL need another dental surgery. As much as I love him, £300 every month to trim his teeth because he prefers to starve and only eat pellets and veg is a bit steep!

Currently, he's on haybox timothy hay blend. It's gorgeous smelling and fresh and my other pig adores it. The problem pig used to love it too but now he's bored of it, it seems.

I've tried so many different timothy/meadow/orchard hays but it seems that legitimately he would rather starve than eat hay. My flat is full of different packs and boxes of hay that he does not like and the other pig slowly goes through (they live next to each other separated).

Any advice please?
 
Sorry you are having problems with your boy.
To me your diet sounds text book perfect, and a piggy won't stop eating hay for no reason (particularly as you are clearly feeding quality hay and a variety).

I suspect there is something else going on in his mouth.
Has he had an x-ray?
And how did your vet confirm that he doesn't have dental issues with his back teeth?
This can be very hard to check in a conscious piggy unless your vet is extremely experienced.
Given the comments he made about the diet you feed I suspect he might not be an expert in piggy care.

Is it possible to get your boy to see Simon or Kim at The Cat and Rabbit Clinic?
They are truly the dental specialists and will be able to deal effectively with any ongoing dental issues at a greatly reduce price.
 
The vet is from the recommended vet list here. I will not name so I do not shame. But the vet in question has been praised here many times. He used some tool to put in his mouth to look at molars. I think he did not believe about the diet because from his point of view the piggy is healthy and so surely it must be my fault by not giving the piggy what he needs.

We are not very close to Northampton. I am not sure how the piggy would cope with 3 hours on the train. I am doing ok financially but I am not sure if I can spend hundreds extra each months on traveling and teeth trims, if the dental issues are ongoing :( I don't really know what to do anymore. He was given meloxicam in but it did not help.
 
So sorry to hear about your piggie, unfortunately dental spurs do tend to grow back and it’s a viscous circle. They do need to eat hay to keep the teeth filed down but because the spur(s) hurts by growing into the cheek flesh or grow over the tongue, as much as they would like to eat hay, they can’t. It may look like he is messing around and uninterested, but he really wants to eat it but he knows he can’t and after a while of trying they tend to loose confidence in actually trying.
If you can get a referral from your vet to go to the Cat and Rabbit Clinic and get an appointment for either Simon or Kim Maddock then that is by far the best you can do for him. I was in a very similar position as you some years back and I found out about these fantastic vets from this forum. My Ted was struggling after an anaesthetic dental and my vet wanted to have him PTS. I took him to Simon and he was eating hay before he came out of the vets after a conscious dental was performed. It took 5-10 minutes and no nasty anaesthetic to worry about either.
My Ted travelled all the way from Cornwall and back which was about a 600 mile round trip that lasted all day from 6 in the morning to late at night and he and his brother where fine, so don’t worry too much about travel.
Simon and Kim will diagnose what’s wrong and be able to do any dental work needed there and then and it’s about £69 for a dental and around £40 for a one off registration fee
Good luck, I know how awful the situation is and how hard you are trying x
 
:agr: Can’t recommend Kim and Simon enough. I used to travel my boy once per week from Manchester to Northampton to get his dental issues corrected. The time between dentals increased once we were on top of the problems.

Sending love to you and your boy. Dental issues are tricky. Hope things get better 🤞🏻
 
Thanks everyone. Could it be dental still if he's eating pellets, veggies and even the tough bits of alfalfa fine? I gave him some alfalfa to tempt him but of course it's just a treat. He also ate some oats and he's really enjoying critical care, straight from the spoon.
 
quicklies said:
Thanks everyone. Could it be dental still if he's eating pellets, veggies and even the tough bits of alfalfa fine? I gave him some alfalfa to tempt him but of course it's just a treat. He also ate some oats and he's really enjoying critical care, straight from the spoon.
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If you went along to see Simon or Kim I think they would be able to confirm or rule out dental problems. They have special equipment to have a really good look around his mouth, they also suss out abscesses and other jaw problems too. You would get an answer from the most experienced dental piggie vets in the UK. they are also excellent at all other illnesses in piggies too, not just dental 👍
 
Also another huge fan of Simon and Kim here for non dental issues as well. We went to several of the recommended vets on the guide, but Kim was the only one that managed to help us with our pig with bladder issues - we also travelled 2 hours from London to go see them and it was absolutely worth it for our Luna to finally be pain free. Their knowledge is really second to none for guinea pig care.
 
What do I tell my vet to get a referral? My worry is that they will refuse and say they would treat him there and I will just waste money as they try to throw random cures and meds on him
 
maybe ask your vets that you would like a second opinion.just be polite,they cannot refuse.I'm sorry you are going through this.ive had similar problems,and my guinea pig ate for himself after two treatments,when previous vet stated PTS was the only option.
 
quicklies said:
What do I tell my vet to get a referral? My worry is that they will refuse and say they would treat him there and I will just waste money as they try to throw random cures and meds on him
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Just say you would like a referral, as you’ve heard this vet has had great success treating guinea pigs with dental disease.
 
quicklies said:
But how do I know it's really dental? He's eating hard foods such as pellets, ate the rough alfalfa bits too :(
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You don't really know until you see a super experienced vet.
That is why it is so worthwhile - they will know and give you the best chance of an accurate diagnosis and realistic treatment plan.
 
Swissgreys said:
You don't really know until you see a super experienced vet.
That is why it is so worthwhile - they will know and give you the best chance of an accurate diagnosis and realistic treatment plan.
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Ok. I did go to a vet from the Vet Locator List, guess they're not all great there :(
 
quicklies said:
Ok. I did go to a vet from the Vet Locator List, guess they're not all great there :(
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The vets on the locator are recommended as being piggy savvy but even piggy savvy vets aren’t usually trained to the level in dental issues that cat and rabbit are.
 
Simon and Kim Maddock do about 30 plus guinea pig conscious dentals a week, there are no other vets in the uk that get this experience. They have both been doing this for years and years which builds up experience and perfection. Good luck, you won’t be disappointed and you will find out if it’s dental related or not
 
Thanks all. Is there anyone equally as good but a bit closer to the Manchester area? I am going to sound like a terrible pet owner but I cannot currently afford to get the dental for him every week or so, train tickets on their own are £100 :(

if anyone wants to judge me, that is okay, but I doubt many people expect to pay £500 a month to keep their guinea pigs healthy, on top of the usual costs. I have done so much research before getting piggies, they are on fleece, they have the correct diet, their nails are trimmed, they have floor time every day. Nothing prepared me for this though.
 
quicklies said:
Thanks all. Is there anyone equally as good but a bit closer to the Manchester area? I am going to sound like a terrible pet owner but I cannot currently afford to get the dental for him every week or so, train tickets on their own are £100 :(

if anyone wants to judge me, that is okay, but I doubt many people expect to pay £500 a month to keep their guinea pigs healthy, on top of the usual costs. I have done so much research before getting piggies, they are on fleece, they have the correct diet, their nails are trimmed, they have floor time every day. Nothing prepared me for this though.
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Firstly no one here will judge you.
It is clear you are a very committed owner who is trying their hardest to do their best for their piggies.
It is always a difficult decision, but you have to be realistic about your resources too.

What I would suggest is making the one off trip to see Simon and Kim.
They will be able to give you and honest and accurate picture of what is going on with your boy, which will allow you to make an informed decision moving forwards.
Realistically, even with the train ticket, one trip there will still cost less than a single dental procedure at your current vets.

At that point you will know you truly have done everything possible and can make a decision knowing this.

If regular dentals are part of the plan then there is a guinea pig sanctuary close to Simon and Kim who will often take in guinea pigs who need long term dental care.
You may also find that 1 further dental done by experienced vets is enough to solve the issue or at least stretch out the time between trips.
 
Is it The Excellent Adventure Sanctuary? I guess that would be my last resort. I will phone my vet today for the referral to Northampton.
 
quicklies said:
Also will the referral from my vet to cat and rabbit clinic cost anything, does anyone know?
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I don’t think a referral will cost anything, your vet just sends all notes over to the Cat and Rabbit, you will have to ask your vet who makes the appointment
 
quicklies said:
Is it The Excellent Adventure Sanctuary? I guess that would be my last resort. I will phone my vet today for the referral to Northampton.
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Yes it is TEAS.
Debbie who runs it can take in piggies who need to be close to Northampton for short and long stays.
So if it is only going to take a couple of treatments and assuming she has space, he might be able to board there in the short term until his issues are resolved.
And in the hands of an experienced vet it sometimes does just take a couple of treatments to get a dental piggy back on track.

Our boy Eddi suddenly started with dental issues at around 3 years old ,and despite quite a grim initial prognosis after x-ray, he had 3 dental treatments over a 6 month period and the problem was resolved.

Good luck with whatever you decide.
 
Swissgreys said:
Yes it is TEAS.
Debbie who runs it can take in piggies who need to be close to Northampton for short and long stays.
So if it is only going to take a couple of treatments and assuming she has space, he might be able to board there in the short term until his issues are resolved.
And in the hands of an experienced vet it sometimes does just take a couple of treatments to get a dental piggy back on track.

Our boy Eddi suddenly started with dental issues at around 3 years old ,and despite quite a grim initial prognosis after x-ray, he had 3 dental treatments over a 6 month period and the problem was resolved.

Good luck with whatever you decide.
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If multiple treatments are needed in let's say a span of 2 weeks, is it £70 per each treatment?
 
quicklies said:
If multiple treatments are needed in let's say a span of 2 weeks, is it £70 per each treatment?
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I think the best thing would be to arrange to have him assessed and take it from there.
Once they have seen him they will be able to give you a proper assessment, and discuss details like prices and prognosis with you.
Every piggy is different, and the specifics are best discussed directly with the vet.
 
All appointments very much depend on how bad his teeth are. Some piggies need regular treatment every two weeks, other every 2 months. yes it would be about £70 per dental which is so much cheaper than dentals with general anaesthetic and it’s all done in around 10 minutes. They don’t tend to X ray teeth as their experience can tell exactly what the problem is, they are amazing!
 
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