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Dental Teeth problems

A

Andrea Marici

New Born Pup
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Hi,
unfortunately what I feared has happened. My little girl has a dental problem. She's 3 years an 8 months old
We took her to the vet today and she checked her teeth. She didn't find any problems but she couldn't see the last molars, the ones that are further down but the symptoms are there.
She said that she has to put her to sleep to get a better look and eventually she would have surgery on Saturday. Meanwhile she told us to give her a painkiller (Meloxydil) to see if the situation improves.
I would like you to give me some information about the risks.
As far as I know it can go in these ways:
1) She dies during surgery = 5-10%
2) She survives the surgery but does not start eating again and in that case he must proceed with euthanasia = 25%
3) she starts eating again but periodically, every month, every 2,3 or 6 months depending on the case, she will have to be operated on again (55-60%)
4) she restarts eating and everything is solved permanently (5-10%)

The vet thought she was related to the fact that she was eating little hay but I know for sure that this is not the case. This happened because of the Little One food I gave her which contains a very thick type of pellet (1cm in diameter) and is as hard as stone. I weigh 80 kilograms/ 175 lbs and I stepped on it, shifting all my weight on that foot and it didn't break.
If you care about your guinea pigs, don't buy it. Don't buy anything of this brand. I got them because the company sent them to me to sponsor them on our Facebook page.
I saw that it took her a lot of time to chew it. But now 40 days have passed and it is likely that she has altered her way of chewing and this would require further interventions.

So please tell me what you know because I am very anxious. If she has to die I would prefer this to happen at her home and not in an operating room. Nor would I want to make her go through an operation that will not save her anyway.
 
I am so sorry that you find yourself in this horrible situation. Dental problems in guinea pigs is a rollercoaster ride of ups and downs. Surgery always carries some risks, you can minimise this by finding the most experience guinea pig vet that has had success in guinea pig dentistry, there are very few vets that can give dentals successfully.
Most dental guinea pigs require some from of follow up dental work, the problems can go either way with longer intervals but also shorter intervals too. Some guinea pigs do cure after a few dentals.
Get yourself prepared to syringe feed your guinea pig after surgery with syringes, hay based recovery food or mashed soaked pellets and be prepared to spend a good deal of time hand feeding too. Daily weighing will tell you if your piggie is eating enough, a stable weight or gain is good, a loss means she is not eating enough food. Keep a note of daily weight so you can see a pattern or trend in her weighs, that will help you decide how things are going. Ask your vet to check for thrush or anything jammed in her teeth as you say you think the hard pellets have caused this?
Good luck, I hope it goes well for her x

Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
 
Thank you. She doesn't chew with her mouth open so her teeth are not blocking her tongue and the rest of her teeth seems to be fine and her incisors are normal. I only hope that her mastication hasn't changed so that she won't need other dentals.
I already know how to syringe feed. I am already giving her critical care to give her more fiber for her stomach because three months ago she had gi stasis and her stools had just gone back to normal when this happened.
 
Is she able to eat her vegetables? Maybe only if they are cut into thin slivers or maybe she is OK with bigger pieces? Can she eat fresh picked grass perhaps?

It is good that you have syringe feeding experience as they are always sleepy after anaesthetic. They usually give us painkiller and sometimes Emeprid which stimulates the movement of the guts. They tell us to watch out for changes in breathing as sometimes it is possible for a piggy under anaesthetic to inhale a little fluid (can also happen during syringe feeding which is why I never syringe water any more - just the food slurry) and develop a respiratory infection - if spotted in time these are dealt with quickly by antibiotics.

It is awful to lose one during surgery or just after, but the alternative is not to try and it might just be something simple - maybe not total change to the molars but perhaps some sharp spur that is poking her cheeks as she tries to chew which will be easier to smooth... as long as your vet can see it and at least if she has to go under they will be able to get a very good look around. Poor girl - she has had her problems but I hope she can get through. You will be in my thoughts and prayers x
 
Have you tried leaving a bowl of plain porridge oats, thry are great for dental piggies and are usually accepted and quite easy to eat? It sounds like you are doing everything you can for her, hope it goes well for you both x
 
Bill & Ted said:
Have you tried leaving a bowl of plain porridge oats, thry are great for dental piggies and are usually accepted and quite easy to eat? It sounds like you are doing everything you can for her, hope it goes well for you both x
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I leave a bowl with oxbow pellets and she's eating it, and another bowl full of small pieces of hay. She's still eating vegetables anyway and she hasn't lost weight. She gained a few grams, really. That's because after she broke her tooth we started giving her more veggies to replace the hay. I am also giving her 20 ml a day of critical care (water included) to give her more fiber.
So the situation is not super critical yet. The problem is that not eating enough hay least to loose stools. Anyway we'll see how it goes
Thank you for the help
 
If she can eat on her own you could try leaving the syringe food in a bowl - as long as she hasn't got a greedy cagemate. My healthy ones will slurp it up given a chance! I used something called Recovery (Science selective) which went down OK, but mine weren't keen on the green packet Oxbow CC with the aniseed flavour. Then we tried Oxbow CC 'fine grind' which comes in a brown packet and is papaya flavour - and it was really popular. It's good to hear that she can eat something by herself - she is letting you know she is still a hungry pig and that's great. You could try grass too - it's going to work the teeth like hay will. Remember to try and find some that dogs haven't been near though because dog pee is toxic to them x
 
Yes, it’s a difficult one, if don’t don’t eat enough fibre they get gassy and lose poops and their teeth don’t wear down as they should, is a small amount of grass ok with her? That has the silica that wears down teeth too. Beetroot sticks from salad bags are something I used to give my boar Ted (he had dental spurs which grew into his cheek)
 
Free Ranger said:
If she can eat on her own you could try leaving the syringe food in a bowl - as long as she hasn't got a greedy cagemate. My healthy ones will slurp it up given a chance! I used something called Recovery (Science selective) which went down OK, but mine weren't keen on the green packet Oxbow CC with the aniseed flavour. Then we tried Oxbow CC 'fine grind' which comes in a brown packet and is papaya flavour - and it was really popular. It's good to hear that she can eat something by herself - she is letting you know she is still a hungry pig and that's great. You could try grass too - it's going to work the teeth like hay will. Remember to try and find some that dogs haven't been near though because dog pee is toxic to them x
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I don't know where I can find fresh and clean grass. I am giving her oxbow critical care not because she's not eating enough. She hasn't lost weight. She gained a little, really. It's just to give her more fiber.
Yesterday the vet took a look at her teeth and she said that they were ok but she couldn't see the last ones.
When she'll be asleep, the vet will take a better look and could change her mind but if what she says is true, the rest of her teeth is fine and the vet won't touch them. If it's just one broken tooth that is cutting her tongue or mouth, maybe things aren't so bad and there are good chances that she will get better and maybe she won't need other dentals.
Maybe it's an abscess. Could it be something stuck in her mouth? 45 days passed and it should have been gone already, don't you think?
I have seen that she does this thing with her upper lip and she often touches her mouth. It looks like she's liking her paws. I tried to upload a video but i can't.
The thing that scares me the most is the possibility that she won't go back to eating again.
 
If she's eating and is a good weight it's better for if she has to have a GA... it's when they are feeling poorly and are weak that there is more risk. Try not to worry about the future too much - you are doing really well for her and your vet sounds determined to make this work. At least you have the video to show your vet. I think you have to put on youtube or something and link that into this site (but I have never done it myself).
You are doing everything you can do and that's all you can do. Sometimes waiting is the hardest part x
 
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