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Dental Syringe feeding - Still not eating 2 weeks after dental

LadyLilly

LadyLilly

New Born Pup
Joined
Aug 2, 2017
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The netherlands
Hi everyone,

I was wondering if someone would be able to offer some advice for my piggy Lilly (who will be 4 next week! :lol:).

She went to the vets on april 8th to get her teeth checked as she had some trouble eating. They checked her teeth (removed some sharp edges and made her two upper front teeth shorter and straight) while she was under anesthesia. She had a lot of trouble really waking up after that but she did eat and poo a little bit so we got to take her home that day without any painkillers. She would eat a little bit at home, some veggies and small pellets, I figured it was just a matter of time before she was eating hay again.
Her sister Lady is also constantly cleaning her which is just adorable to watch :love:

She then completely stopped eating last Wednesday so we contacted the vet again and had to start syringe feeding her, we use Oxbow critical care. We then had to take her to the vets again on Friday because she wasn't pooing at all. She then got an injection (I forgot the name sorry) and we were given Cisaral drops to give with her critical care 2 - 4 times a day.

We're syringe feeding her 5 times a day (10 ml each time), starting at 07:30 and the last feeding at 22:00. Her poos ar okay, still very small and dry but I guess it just takes some time get better? She still won't eat anything by herself. She sometimes sniffs at some veggies which I offer every time before syringe feeding her but she's just eating it..

I'm just not sure what to do anymore. We've tried to offer her every favourite veggie, timothy hay cut in small pieces, soaked pellets (which she absolutely hates..), carrot babyfood and a nice warm snugglesafe at night.


I just was wondering when we would see some improvement or if someone has some advice? She really hates the syringe feeding and it just breaks my heart to see her like that :(
I was planning on calling the vet again tomorrow and ask for some painkillers as her mouth could still be sore?

I'm sorry for the long post, it's been a really stressful week with Lilly and the feeding and work.
 
LadyLilly said:
Hi everyone,

I was wondering if someone would be able to offer some advice for my piggy Lilly (who will be 4 next week! :lol:).

She went to the vets on april 8th to get her teeth checked as she had some trouble eating. They checked her teeth (removed some sharp edges and made her two upper front teeth shorter and straight) while she was under anesthesia. She had a lot of trouble really waking up after that but she did eat and poo a little bit so we got to take her home that day without any painkillers. She would eat a little bit at home, some veggies and small pellets, I figured it was just a matter of time before she was eating hay again.
Her sister Lady is also constantly cleaning her which is just adorable to watch :love:

She then completely stopped eating last Wednesday so we contacted the vet again and had to start syringe feeding her, we use Oxbow critical care. We then had to take her to the vets again on Friday because she wasn't pooing at all. She then got an injection (I forgot the name sorry) and we were given Cisaral drops to give with her critical care 2 - 4 times a day.

We're syringe feeding her 5 times a day (10 ml each time), starting at 07:30 and the last feeding at 22:00. Her poos ar okay, still very small and dry but I guess it just takes some time get better? She still won't eat anything by herself. She sometimes sniffs at some veggies which I offer every time before syringe feeding her but she's just eating it..

I'm just not sure what to do anymore. We've tried to offer her every favourite veggie, timothy hay cut in small pieces, soaked pellets (which she absolutely hates..), carrot babyfood and a nice warm snugglesafe at night.


I just was wondering when we would see some improvement or if someone has some advice? She really hates the syringe feeding and it just breaks my heart to see her like that :(
I was planning on calling the vet again tomorrow and ask for some painkillers as her mouth could still be sore?

I'm sorry for the long post, it's been a really stressful week with Lilly and the feeding and work.
Click to expand...

Hi!

Please make sure that you also offer water, as much as she will take and that you up the syringe feeding frequency.
A healthy guinea pig is eating/drinking the equivalent of 120 ml in a day; ideally you want to get 60-90 ml into her in 24 hours. I usually try every 2-3 hours depending on the amount I get in and then again at least once during the night to keep the flow of food going. You can also try to see whether a mix of recovery food and mushed up pellets is going to down better.

The poo output does generally run 1-2 days behind. It is better to monitor her food intake by weighing daily as that gives you an immediate result of the 'now'. Try small amounts of grass or fresh herbs like coriander/cilantro or parsley to tempt her appetite for fresh food. Keep in mind that the majory of what a piggy eats in a day is hay; it should be around 80%. You cannot control that by eye.

Unfortunately it sounds like your vets have not done a very good job (guinea pig dentals is not something that features on a vet curriculum) and that her teeth may be starting to overgrow again.

@furryfriends (TEAS)
 
Please don’t loose heart, I am in a very similar position with my dental piggie Ted at the moment. He stopped eating completely on Tuesday and I had to let him have an emergency dental with anaesthetic on Wednesday. Ted is not enjoying being syringe fed food either and still won’t eat hardly anything for himself. Gets uptight if you try and help him, it’s exhausting and frustrating. I feel this vet (not his normal practice) has cut his incisors too short so he can’t pick his food and veggies up, he looses confidence and then goes off and sulks. This has happened to him before nearly two years ago, but he did get through it.
She needs some painkillers and a gut stimulant, ask the vet as pain can stop piggies from eating. Hope she’s better and eating soon x
 
I have used grated sweet potato mixed with oats to help boost poorly piggies.
I have also mashed a small piece of banana into the Critical Care feed - that is very popular with mine.
Holding you in my thoughts
 
Thanks for the advice! We'll be offering some extra water from now on too. I wasn't sure wheter the water mixed with the critical care was enough.

We weigh her daily for a week now and she did lose some weight but her weight has been stable now that we're syringe feeding her. She used to be (last year at the vet) around 1100 kg and is now only 980 g :(

I've tried many different herbs (she usually loves parsley) and will keep offering until she eats again. I don't have acces to fresh grass unfortunately.

The vet was actually quite happy with her back teeth, but I do think her incisors are a bit too short now.. fingers crossed they'll grow back soon.

I'll definitely contact the vets tomorrow and ask about painkillers
 
Bill & Ted said:
Please don’t loose heart, I am in a very similar position with my dental piggie Ted at the moment. He stopped eating completely on Tuesday and I had to let him have an emergency dental with anaesthetic on Wednesday. Ted is not enjoying being syringe fed food either and still won’t eat hardly anything for himself. Gets uptight if you try and help him, it’s exhausting and frustrating. I feel this vet (not his normal practice) has cut his incisors too short so he can’t pick his food and veggies up, he looses confidence and then goes off and sulks. This has happened to him before nearly two years ago, but he did get through it.
She needs some painkillers and a gut stimulant, ask the vet as pain can stop piggies from eating. Hope she’s better and eating soon x
Click to expand...

I definitely understand what you mean! I think Lilly is in the exact same situation as your Ted is. She tried picking some veggies up a couple of days ago and she just couldnt. Will ask for painkillers tomorrow, luckily she has some gut stimulant and her pooing is going okay now.

I will do anything I can to help her! She's just such a sweet piggy and still quite young.

I'm sorry to hear that about Ted :( I hope he's is feeling better soon!
 
Merab's Slave said:
I have used grated sweet potato mixed with oats to help boost poorly piggies.
I have also mashed a small piece of banana into the Critical Care feed - that is very popular with mine.
Holding you in my thoughts
Click to expand...

Oh really? I had no idea they could have sweet potato. Will defintely give that a try soon. I've also ordered some science recovery to "mix it up a bit"
Will try the bana trick too! Thank you :D
 
Merab's Slave said:
I have used grated sweet potato mixed with oats to help boost poorly piggies.
I have also mashed a small piece of banana into the Critical Care feed - that is very popular with mine.
Holding you in my thoughts
Click to expand...
Ted has had some banana mixed with his CC for tea. He had one frond of fennel but really struggled, took about 4 minutes to get in and eat in total, but at least he’s trying now
 
Bill & Ted said:
Ted has had some banana mixed with his CC for tea. He had one frond of fennel but really struggled, took about 4 minutes to get in and eat in total, but at least he’s trying now
Click to expand...

Trying is good! I'll get some bananas and fennel at the store tomorrow (if they have any.. veggies sell quickly these days :( ) she loves the little green on top of the fennel, that should be easy to eat too
 
Yeah! I feel much more positive after all your replies, thank you :luv:

Luckily, my boyfriend can work from home and will continue feeding her until she's able to eat herself. She did at least sniff at some veggies, which is kinda an improvement already. Fingers crossed!
 
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