Larissa98
New Born Pup
Hello!
I have a neutered male guinea pig (who is housed with two younger sisters) who is quite the medical mystery. When I adopted Jos Louis about 2.5 years ago, he was estimated to be a year old, but there’s a good chance he’s a bit older than thar. About a year ago he had some horrible dental issues which caused a rapid decline in his health. Over the course of a weekend he went from normal and heathy to losing over 200 grams and being unable to eat. I weigh my piggies every 3-4 days, so as soon as I realized his issues, I began emergency care and got him to the vet the next day.
Long story short, he was too weak to be sedated and wouldn’t allow the vet to even inspect his mouth. He developed GI Stasis, and his chances were not so great. Xrays also requires sedation, so all we could do was guess that his teeth were the issue.
I decided to commit to getting him strong enough to at least have an xray done, which wasn’t easy. He was on 4 meds, and required feedings every 3 hours, around the clock. After about 2 weeks (without sleep I should add), he was beginning to have normal bowel functions again, and had more energy. He even put on about 30 grams.
He got some major dental work done (he had several molar spurs that had entrapped his tongue), and survived the procedure, woohoo!
Unfortunately, he didn’t recover at the expected rate. He didn’t eat solid food for nearly 3 weeks after the procedure- the vet expected it to take less than 5 days). His mouth was quite tender, and his pain meds did make him a bit drowsy, so this could have been the cause. I went over a month giving him feedings every 3-4 hours to prevent him from developing GI Stasis again, and it was exhausting. He may have been weak and hungry, but dang he could fight a syringe! He actually lost even more weight after the procedure, reaching a low of about 750 grams (he weighed 1200 before getting sick).
Just as I was getting ready to give up and stop intervening with probiotics and digestive aids and constant feedings, he ate some leafy greens- it was a really exciting moment.
I reunited him with his sisters once he reached 1000 grams and got the all clear from my vet , which wasn’t until about February of this year (I did build him an enclosure attached to the main custom enclosure, so don’t worry, he wasn’t too lonely).
He is much happier now, but I’m running into several issues. 1) He lost some weight and really just isn’t maintaining/keeping it on. For about the past 2 months he has been averaging out around 930 grams, and I can only get him to maintain this weight by syringe feeding him critical care every day (I only give him ~1tbsp of the powder now, compared to the 4-6 I have him when he wasn’t eating). He eats hay, munches on pellets, and I supplement his food with rolled oats to help with weight gain, in addition to the extra veggies he gets daily. I really can’t comprehend if this is simply a consequence of him getting older, or if perhaps his GI Stasis cause some long term damage, and he just isn’t able to absorb calories and nutrients like he once could.
Issue #2 is that he has continuous incisor issues. His back teeth are great- since he was going to the vet several times a month, for months last year, he’s become a bit less fussy with them, so they’ve been able to get a peek at his molars.
For whatever reason though, his incisors constantly over grow. Like I mentioned, he eats hay, tossed around wood chews and nibbles of his huts, but he just can’t seem to grind them down properly. I’m taking him to the vet every 6 weeks to get them trimmed, and this costs me each time. They also seem to be darker in colour and they are constantly somewhat fragmented/chipped. He actually lost a bottom incisor last month, and it doesn’t seem to be growing back. He eats a very nutrient rich diet (oxbow pellets, Timothy hay, 1.5 cups veggies every day), so if this is a nutritional issue, I can only imagine that it is an issue of him not being able to process his food properly, however, that wouldn’t explain the over-growing. I’m kind of baffled at what could be the cause, and am wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience/ any advice.
He’s a really sweet old guy and I want to give him the best quality of life. He is beginning to grey around the eyes and has the starting of cataracts, so he is definitly hitting those senior days, so he deserves to be spoiled.
Thanks in advance for any guidance!
I have a neutered male guinea pig (who is housed with two younger sisters) who is quite the medical mystery. When I adopted Jos Louis about 2.5 years ago, he was estimated to be a year old, but there’s a good chance he’s a bit older than thar. About a year ago he had some horrible dental issues which caused a rapid decline in his health. Over the course of a weekend he went from normal and heathy to losing over 200 grams and being unable to eat. I weigh my piggies every 3-4 days, so as soon as I realized his issues, I began emergency care and got him to the vet the next day.
Long story short, he was too weak to be sedated and wouldn’t allow the vet to even inspect his mouth. He developed GI Stasis, and his chances were not so great. Xrays also requires sedation, so all we could do was guess that his teeth were the issue.
I decided to commit to getting him strong enough to at least have an xray done, which wasn’t easy. He was on 4 meds, and required feedings every 3 hours, around the clock. After about 2 weeks (without sleep I should add), he was beginning to have normal bowel functions again, and had more energy. He even put on about 30 grams.
He got some major dental work done (he had several molar spurs that had entrapped his tongue), and survived the procedure, woohoo!
Unfortunately, he didn’t recover at the expected rate. He didn’t eat solid food for nearly 3 weeks after the procedure- the vet expected it to take less than 5 days). His mouth was quite tender, and his pain meds did make him a bit drowsy, so this could have been the cause. I went over a month giving him feedings every 3-4 hours to prevent him from developing GI Stasis again, and it was exhausting. He may have been weak and hungry, but dang he could fight a syringe! He actually lost even more weight after the procedure, reaching a low of about 750 grams (he weighed 1200 before getting sick).
Just as I was getting ready to give up and stop intervening with probiotics and digestive aids and constant feedings, he ate some leafy greens- it was a really exciting moment.
I reunited him with his sisters once he reached 1000 grams and got the all clear from my vet , which wasn’t until about February of this year (I did build him an enclosure attached to the main custom enclosure, so don’t worry, he wasn’t too lonely).
He is much happier now, but I’m running into several issues. 1) He lost some weight and really just isn’t maintaining/keeping it on. For about the past 2 months he has been averaging out around 930 grams, and I can only get him to maintain this weight by syringe feeding him critical care every day (I only give him ~1tbsp of the powder now, compared to the 4-6 I have him when he wasn’t eating). He eats hay, munches on pellets, and I supplement his food with rolled oats to help with weight gain, in addition to the extra veggies he gets daily. I really can’t comprehend if this is simply a consequence of him getting older, or if perhaps his GI Stasis cause some long term damage, and he just isn’t able to absorb calories and nutrients like he once could.
Issue #2 is that he has continuous incisor issues. His back teeth are great- since he was going to the vet several times a month, for months last year, he’s become a bit less fussy with them, so they’ve been able to get a peek at his molars.
For whatever reason though, his incisors constantly over grow. Like I mentioned, he eats hay, tossed around wood chews and nibbles of his huts, but he just can’t seem to grind them down properly. I’m taking him to the vet every 6 weeks to get them trimmed, and this costs me each time. They also seem to be darker in colour and they are constantly somewhat fragmented/chipped. He actually lost a bottom incisor last month, and it doesn’t seem to be growing back. He eats a very nutrient rich diet (oxbow pellets, Timothy hay, 1.5 cups veggies every day), so if this is a nutritional issue, I can only imagine that it is an issue of him not being able to process his food properly, however, that wouldn’t explain the over-growing. I’m kind of baffled at what could be the cause, and am wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience/ any advice.
He’s a really sweet old guy and I want to give him the best quality of life. He is beginning to grey around the eyes and has the starting of cataracts, so he is definitly hitting those senior days, so he deserves to be spoiled.
Thanks in advance for any guidance!
I am very careful about deciding to trim his teeth. They used to be normal and he had no trouble with them until his molar issues last summer. His molars dont seem to have overgrown again since his procedure and he has been eating plenty of hay every day, and this week I've been able to bring the piggies outside again to eat some fresh grass (it's finally warm enough). Of course, I cant see them at home, but I do keep a close eye on his ability to normally move his tongue when I syringe feed him.