Drooling, not eating

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Talishan
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Post   » Mon Apr 13, 2015 8:35 am


If you look for canned pumpkin, make sure it's pure pumpkin only, and not a pie filling mix with added spices.

It has a lot of fiber, and many guinea pigs like it.

Pigs are different in how much fruit sugar they can tolerate. If his GI is doing okay on the recipe you're giving him, then don't mess with it. The Critical Care, when you get it, will help work his teeth.

Can he chew with his back teeth (molars) properly (or at least as far as you can tell)?

Rufi

Post   » Mon Apr 13, 2015 9:15 am


Thanks for the tip with the canned pumpkin!
10 days ago I took Rufi to a vet to chip down his molars. He was drooling and swallowing real slow. After the operation his face had swollen, but now, it seems to me, chews without problems (though he eats only "soft" food (e.g., mix, cucumber)).

Rufi

Post   » Mon Apr 13, 2015 11:55 am


I forgot to mention that when the vet clipped his molars he did the same for his incisors also.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Mon Apr 13, 2015 11:53 pm


I hope he did not clip the incisors too short.

www.guinealynx.info/_broken.html

Rufi

Post   » Tue Apr 14, 2015 2:33 am


I think they were clipped too short, he couldn't grab anything for around 4 days. From around the 7th day he could slice "soft" food (e.g. cucumber), he chews on it, but spits out a very big part of the food, though he remains interested to the food (now we are at the 11th day).
I know this is a very complicated case (dislocated jaw, trimmed molars and incisors), four vets have seen him and couldn't say why he is behaving like this. But the information which I receive here on the forum is very valuable (for example, Talishan said that Rufi has a dislocated jaw which proved to be true after the x-rays). Anyway, Rufi was through a great deal of pain, he has the will to survive, I would like very much to help him.

Talishan
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Post   » Tue Apr 14, 2015 6:09 am


If I had to guess -- and this is purely a guess -- the jaw dislocation is making it to where he can eat and chew comfortably only up to a point (that is, within a limited range of motion). Past that point, the jaw hinge does not meet properly, bone grinds against bone, and that hurts. Below that point, or within a narrower than normal range of comfortable jaw motion, he can eat.

That is a guess only!!

Keep him on the lowest possible dose of pain medication that will keep him comfortable, and keep handfeeding him. He may require a low dose of pain med, and handfeeding, for a very long time to come. If you can keep his weight stable and he seems happy, comfortable and behaving normally otherwise, you're doing all the right things.

Rufi

Post   » Tue Apr 14, 2015 7:31 am


@Talishan: Presuming your guess is correct, can't be the jaw dislocation operated? I read that it is also possible that, in jaw dislocation cases, a "false articulation" forms.
I ask these since, as you also pointed out, not eating normally can lead easily to complications (teeth overgrowing, weight loss, etc).

Talishan
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Post   » Tue Apr 14, 2015 7:53 am


I am emphatically not a bone specialist, orthopedist or chiropractor in any way, shape or form, but if "false articulation" means a partial or crooked resetting of the jaw alignment, resulting in a range of motion limited and/or misangled/misaligned from the normal, then yes, that's what I am speculating (pure speculation,mind!!) has happened to him.

Dislocations can be medically treated, but the vet, or orthopedist, or animal physiotherapist HAS GOT TO know what they are doing. Got to. It is my understanding that the jaw can be gently worked back into place under sedation, but it HAS to be done by someone who REALLY knows what they are doing.

SardonicSmile

Post   » Tue Apr 14, 2015 8:26 am


Could a chin sling be an option?

Rufi

Post   » Tue Apr 14, 2015 8:53 am


I called the vet who made the x-rays (there were 3 x-rays made from different angles). He said that if the jaw is not in place it can be seen on the x-rays.
(@Talishan: Personally (of course I am no specialist unfortunately) I find beside your guess no other logical explanation).
Should I post the x-rays on the forum, is there somebody who can interpret them? A second opinion could not hurt.

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Lynx
Celebrate!!!

Post   » Tue Apr 14, 2015 10:33 am


Pinta's animal physiotherapist was able to rock the jaw back into place when it was dislocated. You can't try this yourself. Only someone who really knows what they are doing can do this.

Usually a pig is under sedation during an xray, at which time the jaw muscles are slack - making it hard to tell.

Talishan
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Post   » Tue Apr 14, 2015 1:02 pm


Sardonic -- I can't say for sure, but if the jaw is misaligned I'd be afraid a Chin-Sling would do more harm than good.

If an expert could properly re-place his jaw, then it might very well do a lot of good therapeutically afterward -- my gut hunch only. But the jaw would have to be in the correct, normal position first, if it is not already. I think.

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