Pregnant and din't know and now have 3 babies.Please help :(

[Lynx]

Yes, go ahead and send me the xrays:


Properly administered anesthesia should be safe for a normally healthy pig (no heart issues). In the states, there is monitoring while under anesthesia. It should make trimming the teeth easier (able to do a better job).

Hopefully there will be no complications and your vet is competent.

[Pooja Mehta]

Thank you sooo much Lynx for the assurance.

The vet said that they will monitor him during anesthesia and if needed will give him Isoflurane gas.

I just searched on the forum and it says that metronidazole is for GI upsets/anti-diarrheal. Should I continue giving him Metrogyl syrup for seven days post surgery?
Is there any other antibiotic given to piggies post trimming of teeth like Baytril or Bactrim?

Limcee tablet (Vitamin C) are orange flavoured and I read oranges are acidic. Should I exchange it for plain tablets if I get?

I have sent the x-ray pictures to Lynx. Please feel free to comment what are your observations on it.

[Lynx]

Here are your pics. They are large so I am just adding links:

www.guinealynx.info/pics/PoojaMehta-7.jpg

www.guinealynx.info/pics/PoojaMehta-8.jpg

www.guinealynx.info/pics/PoojaMehta-9.jpg

I will leave answering your more technical question to someone who has more experience than I do.

[Pooja Mehta]

Sandy is eating really less than yesterday and he still hasnt gone in for a surgery. I think the antibiotic have taken a toll on him. Should I discontinue metronidazole and give him some other antibiotic? Please help.

He is becoming very difficult to handfeed. He will chew on the syringe for two seconds but when I dispose off the medicines/food he doesnt chew afterwards. Is he swallowing the food or no? He will also kind of sneeze inbetween. Am I hande feeding him the right way and not aspirating him?

Please please help. I can't see my poor boy struggling :(

[Lynx]

I am sorry you are having a difficult time. I don't know if you will find the answers you need on the hand feeding or tips page but that is all I have to offer (you need to see chewing motion to have the food going down).

www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html
www.guinealynx.info/tips.html

[bpatters]

He should be chewing while you have the syringe in his mouth -- that way you know he's swallowing.

How exactly are you putting the syringe in his mouth? And then what?

[Pooja Mehta]

Thank you Lynx for helping with the pictures.

I put the syringe through the side of his mouth behind his incisors and IF he starts chewing the syringe then I dispose the food, otherwise I try to go a little deep near his molars and wait for him to chew the syringe.
After putting the food in his mouth, I remove the syringe and allow him to chew the food (which most guinea pigs do) but he doesn't chew or do any mouth movement which shows that he swallowing.
He kind of sneezes/removes air from his nose/ mouth at times. Is he actually swallowing? Am I hand feeding wrongly and aspirating him?

[Lynx]

It sounds like you are doing things right be he is not cooperating. Is your guinea pig weak? Limp? doing very badly? Generally they will make some effort to chew. Does it seem the food gets swallowed? Are you maintaining weight?

[bpatters]

I think most people don't remove the syringe between bites. If he can chew, I'd just leave it in. He's got plenty of room between back and front teeth for the syringe.

[Talishan]

Ditto bpatters. If he doesn't particularly like the food, it won't take him long to figure out that if he doesn't chew it, you will take the syringe out and not give him any more.

In my limited experience, their mouths will hold about 1/3 of a 1 cc syringe's worth of food at one time. Go deep near his molars and depress the plunger VERY SLOWLY. Don't try to give more than about 1/4 to 1/3 of the syringe at one time. Wiggle the syringe if needed a bit to get him to chew. Then, once he's chewed and swallowed, give him another 1/4 to 1/3.

Don't remove the syringe until it needs to be refilled.

If a guinea pig is chewing, he is swallowing. (If you watch a cavy drink, they actually chew their water.)

Be SURE you are using a 1cc syringe with the tip cut off and the rough end smoothed!



These instructions will NOT work with any syringe larger than that.

If he aspirates, he will cough violently. Of course you don't want to do that, but generally if a guinea pig aspirates there's no question as to what has happened.

[Pooja Mehta]

Thank you so much Lynx, bpatters and Talishan for your help.

Lynx, he is doing better now. He couldn't eat properly for almost a week after the surgery but critical care helped maintain his weight. He went in for another incisors trim few days back because it wasn't done properly and his front incisors had grown and started touching his lips. Presently, I cut vegetables in small,long pieces and give him.

Bpatters, I will try doing it the next time I have to hand feed him. I just hope he doesn't have to be hand fed ever. Fingers crossed.

Talishan, I use a 1 cc syringe. And he doesn't cough but only kind of sneezes.

[Talishan]

The top incisor of a normal guinea pig will touch (just graze, or touch) its bottom (opposite) lip. Just saying.