Dental Overgrowth

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marianac95

Post   » Thu May 24, 2018 7:59 pm


Good Afternoon,

I am a guinea pig owner from Portugal, My guinea pig is about 2 years old, and he had is first overgrowth episode about a year ago. However about a month ago he started having episodes every 2 weeks. Between episodes he shows hunger and to be feeling well and I also feed him with a syringe, and he increases weight. After that, he stars eating less and loosing weight, when i take him to the vet he needs to wear them down again.

He normally already does vitamin C every week and he always has hay at disposale. Is feeding consists of vegetable and pellets.
I very kindly ask for your help, support and advise as my vet from here, as only told me if it keeps happening I will need to put him down. As he still is so lively, I am looking for more answers.
Is there any method to incresed theeth wear down that you recomend?
I know it is a recurrent situation, so I am looking for something that helps increase the time between episodes and help him leed a comfortable and happy life with some treatment.


Thank you very much for your help in advance.

Best Regards,
Mariana Cabral

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Thu May 24, 2018 8:52 pm


What do you mean by an "overgrowth episode?" Are his incisors getting too long, or is there a problem with the molars?

Does he just stop eating less, or are there other symptoms? Is he drooling? Dropping food from his mouth? Trying to pick food up but can't?

There are dental problems that can be fixed, some that can't, and some that could go either way. We'd have to know more to be able to make any suggestions.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Thu May 24, 2018 11:07 pm


I take it you have read everything in the teeth area?
www.guinealynx.info/teeth.html

Has your vet taken an xray?

Sometimes vets that are not as skilled working with teeth will consult with veterinary dentists for advice. I am guessing being able to send a nice clear xray is important.

Malocclusion can be difficult to get under control if the vet does not have a great deal of dental experience with guinea pigs.

marianac95

Post   » Fri May 25, 2018 5:09 am


The problem are his molars. He has no other symptoms just starts eating less.

I don't think my vet has done an x-ray, but he is already a veterinary dentist...

Renrutscavystud

Post   » Fri May 25, 2018 6:14 am


If they are over grown, they just need to be trimmed so his teeth don’t overlap. He will then be able to eat again. The only symptom is not eating and they will go downhill very quickly so you need to act fast. You can either do them yourself or get your vet to do it. They need to be trimmed evenly and not on an angle. It can be easily done with nail clippers. Good luck

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Fri May 25, 2018 9:24 am


You are new, Renrutscavystud. From your answer, it seems you do not understand the issue. I encourage you to read instead of post advice.

Molars cannot be trimmed with nail clippers. They do need to be ground at an angle.

bpatters
And got the T-shirt

Post   » Fri May 25, 2018 10:35 am


marianac95, dental problems can't be adequately diagnosed without an x-ray. The problem could be elongated roots or a tooth abscess, and x-ray is the only way to diagnose those. They are, unfortunately, the problems that are hardest to treat and often the least successful. But if it were my pig, I'd definitely want the x-ray done so I'd have a definitive diagnosis.

If the molars are just overgrown, there can be a couple of problems. The pig may not be eating enough hay to keep the molars ground down. Getting the molars planed once or twice and reducing the number of veggies/treats the pig gets may resolve the problem. Or, it could be an issue with the structure of the jaw and could require regular planings at roughly 4-6 week intervals to keep the pig eating. That's not a long-term solution, as repeated anesthesia isn't good for the pig, and the cost isn't good for the owner's pocketbook.

A third possible problem has to do with the way the jaw is hinged. Sometimes a chin sling can help. See if https://www.guinealynx.info/chinsling.html gives you any potentially useful information.

Good luck, and keep us posted on how he's doing.

marianac95

Post   » Mon Jun 18, 2018 1:23 pm


They are misaligned and so as he hasn't been eating much it has been recurrent, today he is treating them again X-ray has been done my mistake. But is there anything I can do to make him wear them down a bit more, what do you recommend?

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