Guinea had incisors trimmed, now he is not eating at all!

Cherry Vanilla

Post   » Sat Sep 22, 2007 7:05 pm


Hello!
I live in Croatia, so I cant write english very well. I hope you will be able to understand my problem.
My guinea pig is 6 years old. Last few days he lost weight drastically, and he couldnt eat.
He wanted to, but it seemed he couldt. I suspected his teeth were owergrown, so I took him to vet.

Vet examined his teeth – both incistors and molars.
Incistors were a little owergrown, but molars were OK.

Vet trimmed his front teeth (lower), but now he doesnt eat at all!
I feed him myself with a little pieces of apple, banana... etc. I also make him an apple juice.
He also avoids drinking water so Im giving him water with syringe.

He still wants to eat, but now it seemes he cant bite properly with front teeth.
I put him a piece of apple on a tongue, and then he eats it.
He chews normally, so molars seems to be OK.

Is it normal that he cant eat, since his incistors were trimmed yesterday? When can I expect him to start eat normally? Vet told me he needs some time to adjust.
Has any of you had a similar problem?

Please, give me some advice, becouse Im desperate!

Thank you!

HollyT
Get on your bike.

Post   » Sat Sep 22, 2007 7:25 pm


The vet should not have trimmed the incisors. It will take about a week for them to grow out so your pig can grasp food again. In the meantime, shove hay and veggies to the back molars to keep them working and you must handfeed for the time being. Incisors vary per pig. There is no one right length. If the molars were fine the incisors should have been left alone.

Cherry Vanilla

Post   » Sat Sep 22, 2007 7:29 pm


But he couldnt eat properly, and he was losing weight.
It was obviously a teeth problem. Maybe vet trimmed them too much?

User avatar
Mum
I GAVE, dammit!

Post   » Sat Sep 22, 2007 7:48 pm


Unless one of the front incisors was infected, it's almost never a front incisor issue, unless the back molars are also involved.

If the vet just trimmed the front incisors, the pig will not be able to eat until they're long enough that food can be grabbed.

The problem now is that you still don't know what the original source of the problem is. What made you think it was a tooth issue in the first place?

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Sep 22, 2007 7:49 pm


Are you weighing your guinea pig daily? It sounds like you're giving lots of fruit. This is tough on the digestion. Do you have guinea pig pellets you can grind and soften with water?

Read over www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html for more tips.

Sometimes a dental xray can show things going on with the teeth that are not apparent with a visual exam.

It does sound like the vet trimmed too much. See also www.guinealynx.info/teeth_broken.html

Use JoePig's suggestion of rolling lettuce leaves to hand feed your pig. Try a leafy lettuce like romaine.

p.s. you write very well.

Cherry Vanilla

Post   » Sat Sep 22, 2007 8:01 pm


He wanted to eat, but he couldnt put food in his mouth. When he ate carrot, for example, a little pieces were always around. And I looked at his teeth - they seemed pretty long, especially lower incisors, which my vet confirmed.
I dont think the problem is with molars, becouse my vet examined them, and they were fine. Now he chews normally.
And he stopped drinking water( before trimming). My vet said its becouse his front teeth are blocking, so he cant opet the jaw enough.
And today, when I was feeding him, i looked inside his mouth - I couldnt even see the molars. They are below tongue.

I tried "lettuce cigarettes", and pellets, but pellets didnt work.
He didnt want to eat that. But he ate a lot of lettuce today.

User avatar
Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Sat Sep 22, 2007 9:47 pm


You must hand feed with a syringe if he's not eating enough.

User avatar
sus4rabbitsnpigs

Post   » Sat Sep 22, 2007 10:15 pm


You need to feed him more than just fruit. Here https://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html

It's rare that the incisors are the problem alone. Usually it is a molar problem. If your vet trimmed only the bottom teeth, which they use to grasp food and push them back into their molars, he only made it worse and now your pig can't grab any food.

Did your vet thoroughly check the teeth? You cannot see the molars yourself properly without proper tools. He may have molar spurs or something your vet missed.

Cherry Vanilla

Post   » Sun Sep 23, 2007 3:48 am


Yes, she checked his molars with special tools. She was examing him for a long time and she really thoroughly cheked the whole jaw. My vet is a specialist for guinea pigs.
Here in Croatia there are no many vets for guinea pigs, and my vet is known as the best.

Molly

Post   » Sun Sep 23, 2007 11:19 am


My little Beanie had the same problem. He couldn't eat. I took him to a vet that was supposed to be experienced with guinea pigs and he did the same thing as your vet. He cut the incissors. That made it worse, so I took him back.

He said that there was no problem with his molars, but still he couldn't eat. eventually, he did a procedure on his molars, and still he couldn't eat. He sugested euthanizing him so I found a more experienced vet. It took me 8 weeks to find him

He examined him and told me that his molars were extremely overgrown and needed fixing. So he did the procedure properly and now my Beanie can eat everything. The new vet told me that the incissors should not have been cut.

If I were you I would definately get a second opinion. It might save your guinea pigs life.

User avatar
Zoe

Post   » Sun Sep 23, 2007 1:53 pm


My piggy has incisors that grow very long and slanted and one will break off after a bit. The back teeth have been checked frequently, and there has been nothing the vets have seen during rechecks.

My guy just had his teeth done and he tries to eat lettuce and he can't. I have a very well known exotics vet who knows what he's doing, but tooth issues are tricky.

I have been syringe feeding for a few day now. His teeth are looking good but he still has trouble. (He also has a painful stone that will pass soon or be operated on... that's a factor too.)

So, grind up his dry food and make a watery paste with it. Syringe into the back of his mouth. My vet said you are aiming for about a half a cup a day. You don't want to choke him, but you have to keep at it. I am spending the weekend syringing food and water into my guy. If they don't have food in their systems, their organs start to give up pretty quickly. Syringe water too.

I think your english is great.

pinta

Post   » Sun Sep 23, 2007 9:51 pm


Xrays need to be done to rule out elongated roots. If there is pain, the gums will swell covering the extent of molar overgrowth. Many vets don't realize this and completely miss overgrown molars.

Even Dr. Legendre has been fooled by overgrown molars hidden by gums. However, he always does an xray to doublecheck which is how he has caught my pigs' dental issues.

Without an xray you have only had half an dental examination done

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