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Dental Teeth spurs - operation needed

Really pleased with how Hazel's daily weights are going so far! In the last three days we've had a 1078, a 1074 and tonight she was 1074 again. She's still quite a way under her heaviest weight which was around 1200, but I'm not sure if she will get back to that as she was definitely overeating pellets at that point. I think she could stand to gain a little more though as she still feels a little skinny around her ribs and her lower back near her bum, but it's still less than 7 days since her op so there's time for that! Just so pleased she's maintaining!
 
Maintaining her weight is good at this stage, also looking so lively! Big piles of floor hay, or hay in big trays the piggies can climb into, is really the best way to go, rather than hay racks, especially to promote extra hay eating in a dental piggy to keep her teeth nicely worn down x
 
Hazel&Olive said:
Really pleased with how Hazel's daily weights are going so far! In the last three days we've had a 1078, a 1074 and tonight she was 1074 again. She's still quite a way under her heaviest weight which was around 1200, but I'm not sure if she will get back to that as she was definitely overeating pellets at that point. I think she could stand to gain a little more though as she still feels a little skinny around her ribs and her lower back near her bum, but it's still less than 7 days since her op so there's time for that! Just so pleased she's maintaining!
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Brilliant news. She’s still a very healthy weight x
 
Thank you @Claire W and @PigglePuggle! She's eating completely on her own now without me supplementing critical care so I'm pleased she's able to maintain her own weight! I do wonder if she'd gain weight a bit quicker if I was still supplementing but I think I'll giver her another few days to a week to see how she gets on. She definitely eats more hay when it's on the ground, whereas Olive doesn't mind using the rack as much. I'm determined to get their diet right now! They get a big pile of hay in the morning and evening, in the afternoon I've been weighing out 100g of veg each day made up of 4-5 different types and scatter feeding that, today they had cucumber, green pepper, carrot, coriander and lettuce. I've measured out two tablespoons of pellets (one tablespoon each) in a mini tupperware pot that I never used and I've drawn a line on it so I can use it as a scoop and I know where to fill it up to and they get that split between two bowls just before bedtime. It seems to be working ok for them!
I had a working from home day today and they were out in their playpen all day, so distracting, they are too cute! 😍
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Hazel was 1076g tonight so still maintaining her weight really nicely! The vet has said we can stop the inflacalm from today so I'm going to keep a really close eye on her over the weekend, I hope she's still able to eat comfortably and keep her weight up without it. She eats pretty consistently all through the day, so its not like she's waiting for the pain relief before she's able to eat on her own. I've also noticed when she had her pellets this evening she was eating bigger bites. At the start of the week she was breaking them into tiny pieces and eating the chunks, but tonight she was only breaking them in half. Not sure if that means anything but it seems like an improvement! Her vet Chris has a free appointment on Tuesday so if she starts dropping any weight or struggles to eat over the weekend I'll take her in for a check up, but I'm optimistic for now!
 
So glad that the dental surgery has had a good outcome for your piggy, its a great sign that she is eating so well already and maintaining her weight- it is possible that her teeth may overgrow again depending on what caused the problem to start with, so you might think about getting her teeth checked by the vet every 3 months or so to make sure they are staying evenly worn down. But if she's eating lots of hay, that will really help keep her teeth in good shape!
 
Is it possible for guinea pigs to just not like hay? I'm really not sure what's up with Hazel this afternoon. They are in their run at the moment and so far she has tried to eat the cardboard tunnel, the wooden house, the fleece blanket, the metal bars of the run, AND the plastic tray they hay is in, but barely any of the massive pile of fresh hay. I mixed in some herbs to try and encourage her and that worked for a minute but now all the herbs have been found she's not interested again. Do you think this is because she didn't have any pain relief last night? I feel a weight loss coming on today 😢
 
Oh dear... but do try not to stress too soon, piggies do pick up on stress and an anxious hooman can be enough to put them out of sorts! If this is her first day without pain relief, that may be what's going on. Or she might just be being fussy, you might try fresh grass, or readigrass, or a hay cookie, or a different type of hay, just to tempt her. Or, she may still be eating hay just not when you are watching! It might just take time too for her to get the hang of eating hay again.
Keep offering hay, and weighing daily, and if her weight dips call the vet and ask about starting the pain relief again or taking another look at her x
 
She may still be a bit sore from the operation. My Ted is a reluctant hay eater too, he will try and eat some but if there’s an alternative then he’ll eat that. He does eat a lot of grass though which is good for keeping teeth worn down too
 
It’s so hard having a poorly piggy isn’t it? You just love them so much and want them to be happy and healthy. She’s done really well since the op so I’m going to try and stay positive for her sake. This is the first little blip so I can’t start panicking straight away 😢
 
Hazel&Olive said:
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Little Miss Hazel is loving her new found snacking abilities!
On a side note, what do people recommend for piggies that won’t really use a hay rack? Hazel is a bit lazy about it and just waits for whatever Olive knocks on the floor (possibly why she had teeth spurs and Olive doesn’t?) I’ve just been putting hay in around their cage but it’s starting to look pretty messy!
Will report back on today’s weigh in later!
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I have used brown paper bags like you get from the greengrocer for hay. It's a little less wasteful than putting it loose if your pigs lay on it and toilet on it, but it's not as 'hard work' for the pig, they just lay down and eat with their head in the bag! 😂 😂
 
Hi everyone! I thought I’d give you a little update as it’s been just over two weeks since hazel’s dental. She’s doing really well and has gained 50g over the course of the two weeks. We did get a 1130g on the scales the other day but I think she must have had a full tummy as that was a one off! She’s pretty consistently about 1110g at the moment and she doesn’t feel bony around her ribs or back anymore so I’m happy! I think they both can’t wait for this heatwave to be over though, neither can I to be honest!
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