Sebastian Thread

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User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Thu Jul 12, 2007 9:33 am


Towards the end of May, Sebastian had what our vet feels was either a form of stroke, or an autoimmune issue. He had dropped weight and was suddenly having trouble eating and drinking. The morning I discovered this, he was dehydrated but not lethargic. We did dental xrays, which showed nothing out of the ordinary (didn't appear to be any root elongation, no sharp points, and the teeth all seemed to be lined up and tongue was not trapped), and started him on a round of Baytril just in case. After 2-3 days when it became apparent that he just couldn't manage any food on his own (tried, but couldn't seem to pull the food into his mouth), we started him on Prednisone daily, subcues and handfeeding. His left eye was sunken in - appeared to have at least partial blindness - and it seemed that the left side of his face was having some issues. Otherwise, he was still very active.

After about a week of the Prednisone, he started to eat and drink again on his own, and his weight started to slowly pick back up. We went with an every-other-day regimen on the Pred, which seemed to be working well; then backed it down to every three days. Still slowly gaining weight, active, and otherwise seemed to be back to his old self.

Approximately a month into the Prednisone treatment, Bassy lost a tooth. It is his lower right incisor. The vet took a look again and said that it had broken off at the gumline, and there was a little bit of inflammation. We put him back on Baytril, continued with the Pred on an every-three-days schedule, and the missing tooth didn't seem to have any effect on his ability to eat or drink.

We did a follow-up visit with the vet again last week, after I was concerned that there didn't appear to be any new tooth growth. She looked and said that there *did* appear to be some growth, just above the gumline, and it looked to be healthy tooth. I mentioned that I thought his jaw alignment looked very much off, too. Dr. M. compared the alignment with Sebastian's cagemate, Oliver, but said she thought that jaw alignment itself looks normal but that the remaining tooth is growing at an angle.

I'm stumped by this. Is it possible for it to be leaning so far to the right just in the short time that the right tooth has been missing? Dr. M. stated that she would do some research and check with some of her colleagues on this and see what they would recommend. I thought I'd post it here, too, and see what you guys suggest:

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Should the remaining tooth be clipped? If so, by how much? Again, this doesn't seem to be interfering with his ability to eat (yet)...he's still wolfing down hay, pellets and veggies and maintaining a weight of 2 lbs. 8 oz.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu Jul 12, 2007 1:08 pm


If the crooked tooth is not getting properly worn down, it will need to be filed/shortened. Unsure if clipping is safe (can be but can split the tooth). Look at the teeth pics in the guide to get a rough idea of what the max you'd want to remove would be.

Let me know if I can add these pics to the site.

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Thu Jul 12, 2007 2:59 pm


You're welcome to use the pics, Lynx.

User avatar
RavenShade
Thanks for the Memories

Post   » Thu Jul 12, 2007 4:23 pm


My guest pig had a missing front tooth and the remaining bottom one tilted to compensate. However, in his case, his tooth lined up and was being worn down.

Do you think he would benefit from a chin sling and tooth trim? You might want to ping Pinta on this.

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Thu Jul 12, 2007 4:52 pm


I was thinking possible chin sling candidate, too.

User avatar
somechick

Post   » Thu Jul 12, 2007 5:45 pm


To me it looks like crooked tooth, not misaligned jaw. The tooth looks pretty long too, and I would think that if it's not wearing down, trims would be needed. I have no substantial advice, just chiming in on what it looks like to me.

Tracis
Let Sleeping Pigs Lie

Post   » Fri Jul 13, 2007 12:25 am


No medical advice, but I hope Sebastian continues to do well, and keeps eating. He has a very cute nose, by the way.

GP Lover
My home, ruled by pigs!

Post   » Fri Jul 13, 2007 6:49 am


I would have that tooth clipped down. It would make it easier for him to eat and may help the new tooth come in straighter?

Elsie has a tooth problem and gets hers clipped every 4-6 weeks. Sometimes one tooth is loose and the vet is able to pull it out and within weeks a new one grows back since the root is always still there.

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Fri Jul 13, 2007 9:04 am


Thanks. I think I will go ahead and have it clipped again, then. Dr. M. said she wanted to just watch it and see if it would grind down on its own by coming in contact with the upper right tooth, but it isn't. I'll have it done next week when I get the Prednisone refilled.

Is there any way for me to find out what vets typically use to clip guinea pig teeth? I mentioned this before, but I'd like to invest in a good clipper that I can take with me, same as I do with my set of diamond files (which vet always raves about; thank you, whoever recommended that small set to me). Dr. M. has been using an old pair of what looks like pliers/cutters that seem a little large for the job. So far, she has only taken off the tip of the tooth, but if she needs to cut off more than that, I'm wondering if she should use something else. ?

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri Jul 13, 2007 9:44 am


Ask him what he uses. Ask if there is a trick to not fracturing the tooth (having it split).

Safer to file if you can.

Thanks for the pics. I added the three large ones to the board. Hey, you might want to post a pic after the clip/trim.

User avatar
Sef
I dissent.

Post   » Fri Jul 13, 2007 10:15 am


The tool that she currently uses, looks a little like either the tool in the middle or on the end:

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GP Lover
My home, ruled by pigs!

Post   » Fri Jul 13, 2007 10:41 am


Yikes! Those tools don't look anything like the one my vet uses.

His slips over the teeth and when positioned he squeezes and it clips the tooth.

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