my piggy marble is 5 1/2 years old and has been suffering from what looks like an eye infection for 6+ months. After taking her to the vets several times and being told nothing is wrong, I decided to look things up and took her to the vet once again yesterday and mentioned she hasn't been eating so much lately. The vet suggested her back teeth may be too long and causing an infection which is causing her eye to ooze. We have been given antibiotics and also an appointment for the 29th of this month to have her teeth checked out and filed down but it will have to be done under anesthetic. What are the risks of putting my guinea under anesthetic and is it worth it?
Please start syringe feeding and watering your guinea pigs asap - if you do nothing, your guinea pig's gut are slowing and then closing down slowly. Please switch from weighing weekly to weighing daily at the same time to contol the food intake. Up to 80% of the daily food intake should be hay, which you cannot control. It is VITAL that you this to give your guinea pig a chance to survive. Your home care is every bit as important as what your vet can do, when it comes to dental guinea pigs!
As the premolars at the back of the mouth are no longer ground down evenly, the quickly grow spurs, which meet over the tongue and trap it, so a guinea can't not only chew, but it increasingly also struggles to swallow. Without dental treatment, it will bascially hunger to death.
Most guinea pigs won't be able to eat on their own after dental treatment, so you have to be prepared to continue with syringe feed to provide the essential fibre. Make sure that you get painkillers and gut stimulants for the time after.
Please carefully read our illustrated syringe feeding guide. It tells you exactly how to prep the syringe, hold your guinea pig and how much feed it needs, plus tips on what you can do with what you have got at home or can easily get to start straight away, as well as an overview over recovery food brands.
The guide also contains a section on how to best look after a dental guinea pig that is not eating on its own.
Complete Syringe Feeding Guide
Since we have members from all over the world, could you please add your country, state/province or UK county to your details, so we can tailor any advice and recommendations to what is available where you are and possible in terms of dental savvy vets. You do this by clicking on your username at the top, then going to personal details and scrolling down to location. Thank you!
In your case, it is important to know whether you can get to one of the very few vets that use only as much anaesthetics as necessary or whether you have to make do with a vet that will only perform dentals under full GA.
