• 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

Regular molar trims

A

Agostinhoromao

New Born Pup
Joined
Jan 19, 2022
Messages
21
Reaction score
4
Points
45
Location
Child
Hi, I'm having trouble with my 3yo guinea pig named cuchito (like cutie pie in English) cause on the 1 of December he lost the apetite and had diarrhea , each time eating less until he practically stop eating, we get him to the urgency vet and he says we need to trim the molas are they are going above the tongue and he was having difficulty eating cause of that, we got scared while they were "operating" as still is on general anesthesia, all goes well, he gets on critical care for like 10 days, vitC, analgesic and something to make the intestines move, he didnt like critical care at that time so we have to force, he recovers, start eating normally but now on a diet as he was overweight (6 months earlier we got him to the same vet and said nothing about the weight, he was at 1550grs, now 1400grs), now 3-4 days ago he stopped eating again, starting with the hay ( I have for him 10 different types of hay, when he was recovering only liked alfalfa that I know can't eat but the vet told us to give him alfalfa mixed so he can eat anything) and then now when eating vegetables he fights and is like is shocking even with tiny pieces, we're going in an hour to another vet but want to know your opinions, why would the molars grown again if he was eating hay like normal, he was eating mostly oat hay as is the one he liked the most but I've tried two types of Timothy, 4 mixes of perennial ryegrass, orchard garden, oat, everything... Thanks :(
 
Here the pictures, the x-ray was after the trim
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_2022-01-19-09-19-20-971_com.whatsapp.webp
    Screenshot_2022-01-19-09-19-20-971_com.whatsapp.webp
    18.6 KB · Views: 19
  • Screenshot_2022-01-18-15-24-18-081_com.google.android.gm.webp
    Screenshot_2022-01-18-15-24-18-081_com.google.android.gm.webp
    10.8 KB · Views: 18
If he’s not eating enough hay then his teeth unfortunately will overgrow. Hay (and fresh grass) are what keep their teeth trimmed down.

They will sometimes need regular trimming before it settles down. And sometimes it can also be genetic. I think for now you may need to get his molars trimmed regularly.

As an aside, please don’t feed alfalfa. That can cause issues in itself. Give him the hay he seems to like best along with some of another.

Hope you can get him seen and sorted soon.

@furryfriends (TEAS)
 
He hasn't been eating alfalfa, he was regular on oat hay when he started to eat normally after the surgery, fresh grass trims the molesta as hay? Cause I haven't tried grass, as wr live in an apartment but I could buy , when you say: "They will sometimes need regular trimming before it settles down. " has this happened to you before? Even if they are eating hay that overgrown again and then settles down? Thank you so much for the fast answer, I'm going to the vet in 1 hour but the symptoms are the same as the first time in December
 
I’ve no experience of piggies with dental issues. However, a lot of members have and it has sometimes been their experience that they need trimming regularly. I’ll tag @Bill & Ted but there are others.
 
My late Enoch had teeth that grew over his tongue. His was genetic as he was only two years old and sadly, he didn’t have a happy ending :(

If your piggies teeth are trapping his tongue due to genetics, then he will need regular dentals to trim back his molars or if it is simply due to him not eating enough hay, he may get away with just having a couple of dentals.

But I am in no way an expert, just sharing my experience.

I am tagging in our dental expert @furryfriends (TEAS)
 
Finally got out of the vet, it is the molars again, she told me that is probably again cause he is not eating green leaves, as the previous vet told us to stop giving him leaves, she told us that because of the movement in his mouth is good to eat green leaves, of course has to eat hay, but leaves help, but sadly she noticed something on the x-rays and in his mouth, I don't know how is the term in English but she told me that he has calcification that is hereditary, that he will get abscesses in his mouth cause of that and that is pushing all his face and he has one eye with pressure to outside his face, in the x-rays she shower to me that below the molars there's calcification that shouldn't be there, that is not cause of food or something and is just hereditary so I guess when we go out of this tooth problem (hope to God all goes well) he eventually will have less years than normal :(

He is going to be admitted on the Friday and this vet doesn't hospitalizes, so when he is up (hope all goes well, God please) and trying to eat he goes home to be cared, as he is not eating that much they told me to give him more critical care (I was giving him 7cc 3 times a day) and now 12cc 3 times a day.
 
I’m sorry it’s not the news you wanted. Unfortunately you were misinformed in terms of green leaves. The only things that help wear the teeth down are hay and (to a lesser extent) grass. They’re the two things that contain what is needed to wear the teeth down. You can still offer him vegetables but hay, hay and more hay is the important thing.

In terms of critical care, I would try 5ml every two hours. You need to aim for 60ml in a 24 hour period, especially when he’s not eating by himself. You can try offering it on a spoon or even in a bowl in his cage.

I hope it goes well on Friday.
 
Thank you guys, hope the vet is right and with hay and leaves it will be ok, as he has never had this problem, he has 3, years and the first time he had any trouble was 2 months ago, no changes in the diet ever :(

But about the calculus or calcification as they called here, know anything about that? Any vet here that sees something wrong in the x-rays? Thanks
 
Normal continuous chewing of especially hay and grass keep the teeth ground down under normal circumstances. In some dental piggies sometime, something has happened that has caused pain to make them either chew differently or eat less hay or avoid hay altogether, an example of the cause could be an abscess, a trapped piece of hay, thrush, broken tooth even hereditary. The actual pain may have gone but in that time spurs on the molars can grown outward into the cheek or inward bridging and eventually trapping the tongue.
Some piggies can be cured and go back to a normal chewing pattern after a couple of dentals, while others may need regular dentals for the rest of their lives to enable them to eat normally
It’s a very difficult and sad situation for the piggie and the owner emotionally and financially. Finding a vet who can do conscious dentals using tiny files to grind down any recurring spurs is the best option, that’s if you can find one who has this proven experience, it may mean travelling quite a long way.
Good luck x
 
Hi just to let you guys know, all has gone well, surprisingly the first time he came out of surgery we had to almost force feed him but this time he came out and two hours later eating some hay and drinking some water, now he has stopped he is like sleepy but the vet told us that he would be sleepy for a few hours cause of the anesthesia, we have to keep giving him critical care for 3 days and if he is eating normally decrease the critical care, he would eat in a day 70gr in total of vegetables, most cucumber than anything but cucumber, bell pepper, tomato and carrot, she told us to stop giving him carrot, just once a month, 1 long straw of pepper a day, 1 slice of tomato and 2 inches of cucumber, green leaves not as much as hay but more than vegetables, let's see how it goes, we got another appointment the next Friday to check him (I'll be watching the weight anyway but he has to make a little bit of diet) I asked about the trims without anesthesia and she told me that she doesn't know anybody here that do it like that as while trimming any movement can cause damage in the jaw :(. Hope he eats a lot of hay, I'll try grass too, I'll keep you guys posted.


Anybody know anything about hereditary calculus or calcification as she said it? She says that the things below the teeth on the xray of the jaw shouldn't be there, but that's something future. Thanks!
 
Hi, just to let you guys know, cuchito haven't been eating, not hay not vegetables, anything, doesn't like that much now the critical care but I can give it to him, the first week the vet told us not to give him analgesic, after a week of not eating he is now on Meloxicam since the Friday but still not eating, he's getting 12cc of critical care each 8 hours, maintaining his weight, we have now the blood exams and there are two weird things, first like an inflammation process (the vet says could be cause of the teeth) as he has high phosphatase alcaline (153 should be between 23-148) and thrombocytes (322.000 and should be between 140.000 and 210.000), and second one he has one liver enzymes altered ggt, can't find info on the internet but ggt is on 24.3 (should be between 4-10), were going to see the vet on the Thursday and he is going to receive treatment for 1 months (I guess liver medicine), blood samples for cortisol and thyroid hormones, and then checkup exams 1 month later, let's see how it goes, I don't know what to do about the hay, I just took it all out and put fresh and still the same, he has yellow oat, green oat, fescue, perennial ryegrass, and Timothy. My wife today got some on the food processor to get smaller hays and still the same, he loves strawberry and even though he shouldn't be eating it we give him one and he didn't even look at it :((( I know my cuchito still inside but I don't know what is happening
 
Agostinhoromao said:
Hi, just to let you guys know, cuchito haven't been eating, not hay not vegetables, anything, doesn't like that much now the critical care but I can give it to him, the first week the vet told us not to give him analgesic, after a week of not eating he is now on Meloxicam since the Friday but still not eating, he's getting 12cc of critical care each 8 hours, maintaining his weight, we have now the blood exams and there are two weird things, first like an inflammation process (the vet says could be cause of the teeth) as he has high phosphatase alcaline (153 should be between 23-148) and thrombocytes (322.000 and should be between 140.000 and 210.000), and second one he has one liver enzymes altered ggt, can't find info on the internet but ggt is on 24.3 (should be between 4-10), were going to see the vet on the Thursday and he is going to receive treatment for 1 months (I guess liver medicine), blood samples for cortisol and thyroid hormones, and then checkup exams 1 month later, let's see how it goes, I don't know what to do about the hay, I just took it all out and put fresh and still the same, he has yellow oat, green oat, fescue, perennial ryegrass, and Timothy. My wife today got some on the food processor to get smaller hays and still the same, he loves strawberry and even though he shouldn't be eating it we give him one and he didn't even look at it :((( I know my cuchito still inside but I don't know what is happening
Click to expand...
He needs WAY more critical care than that if he’s not eating anything himself.
At least 80-100cc over the course of a day. Preferably 15-20cc per sitting.
Bless him, I hope he perks up soon ❤️ Somethings clearly bothering him
 
I hope the vet can find what is causing him to be unwell.

All you can do is make sure you get enough critical care into him. If he isn’t eating anything for himself at all then he needs much more critical care and he needs feeding every 2-3 hours during to day to keep his guts functioning. Once every 8 hours isn’t enough. Get as much as you can into him during the day, then a feed last thing at night and then can rest at night knowing he has had a good amount during the day.
You need to be aiming to get at least 60ml into him in each 24 hour period. What you are giving calculates to 36ml in each 24 hours.

Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
 
Piggies&buns said:
I hope the vet can find what is causing him to be unwell.

All you can do is make sure you get enough critical care into him. If he isn’t eating anything for himself at all then he needs much more critical care and he needs feeding every 2-3 hours during to day to keep his guts functioning. Once every 8 hours isn’t enough. Get as much as you can into him during the day, then a feed last thing at night and then can rest at night knowing he has had a good amount during the day.
You need to be aiming to get at least 60ml into him in each 24 hour period. What you are giving calculates to 36ml in each 24 hours.

Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Click to expand...

Only 60? Simon at the cat and rabbit clinic advised I give at least 100ml a day.
 
Lisanjake said:
Only 60? Simon at the cat and rabbit clinic advised I give at least 100ml a day.
Click to expand...

At least 60ml.
I believe healthy piggies would eat 100ml in a day voluntarily but if piggy is poorly its going to be a bit more situation dependent. Getting as much in as possible is the key.
If piggy is taking a good amount at each sitting, then getting towards 100ml is going to be much easier. If piggy is only able to take 10ml or less at each sitting, then getting to 100ml may not happen so aiming for 60ml at least is recommended
 
Piggies&buns said:
At least 60ml.
I believe healthy piggies would eat 100ml in a day voluntarily but if piggy is poorly its going to be a bit more situation dependent. Getting as much in as possible is the key.
If piggy is taking a good amount at each sitting, then getting towards 100ml is going to be much easier. If piggy is only able to take 10ml or less at each sitting, then getting to 100ml may not happen so aiming for 60ml at least is recommended
Click to expand...

Ahhh I seee, that makes total sense.
 
I always give him more but around 15ml per sitting 3 times a day, he has been maintaining his weight 3 days in a row, let's see today as I weight him everyday at morning
 
I don't have a lot more to add, but you are doing a great job if his weight is stable.
I hope he continues to hold his weight.
 
If anybody has any idea thanks :( I even tried putting tiny pieces of any vegetable in his mouth with a video of a guinea pig eating 😭
 
Until the vet can get to the bottom of what is causing him to be unwell, other than syringe feeding him to replace his lack of hay intake, there isn’t a lot you can do.
It would be a good idea to speak to the vet again as soon as you can
 
Update, two tooths are already big plus the front ones, tomorrow he will be trimmed again, hopefully all will go well with anesthesia and those things as he didn't eat anything, we thought he has stomach ache or something, the vet told us to give him simeticone and sucralfate each 12 hours and he didn't eat that much but ate something (2 weeks not even eating treats), she told us there's two options, if the problem was an stomach ache he should recover like the first time and start eating, if not, it is the calcification on the jaw, she showed us a lot of x-rays and we saw the difference, if it's the jaw there's nothing else to do, just give him critical care but each 2-3 weeks the teeth will be large, hopefully the problem today is not the calcification and he will be with us for at least a few months more, she says the calcification gives pain and abscesses, so let's see, if any believers I would be grateful for prays yo Cuchito Antonio Romão Ramírez, if not, good energies will be well received, thank you all for everything and I'll keep you all posted
 
Yes, that's the idea, she felt gases and now is the last day of someticon and today he will get trimmed again, hoping this time he eats :(
 
Good and bad news, one tooth was growing into the flesh and has pus (could be that the pain and not wanting to eat, that's why good and bad) teeth already trimmed again, 1 week with antibiotics, checkup and x-rays to check the calcification on Thursday, hoping my little boy starts eating by himself soon
 
Hi, just to update, cuchito got another time his teeth trimmed but in between we found out he has Cushing disease, he has high cortisol levels but not that high, he's drinking and peeing a lot (hence losing liquid weight too) he has been on trilostane 17days, some improvement combined with the last trim (10 days ago) now he is eating a lot o thinks that he didn't eat since he started having teeth problems but still not hay, just mainly lettuce and some orange, swiss chard and a little parsley, we are still happy as he is eating something and before nothing and we're seeing changes, hoping he eats hay soon, he has 10 different types of hay and I change them each 2 weeks (changed them when he came home from the last trim) still hoping he eats a little hay
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top