I have a male guinea pig about 3.5 years old named Sugie. He had been losing weight slowly for several months. The vet we took him to said there was nothing
that he could see was wrong. Finally I noticed that his teeth were overgrown quite a bit and I took him to a different vet. He trimmed the front teeth and
sedated him to file his molars down which were also overgrown and cutting into his tongue. He gave us pain meds and antibiotic for him and told us to feed him
critical care for a week and then bring him back. Unfortunately we have already spent over $500 on his medical care and we are completely tapped out and cannot
afford to take him back to his follow up. It has been about 9 days since his teeth were fixed and I am still giving him his meds. I put food in his cage and he
wants to eat but still seems like he has problems chewing or opening his mouth all the way. I am feeding him the critical care but he is still very thin. I
bought a digital scale to start monitoring his weight. In the 9 days his weight has gone from 2lb 6oz to 2lb 3.3oz.HIs original weight was close to 3lbs. Can
anyone tell me if he is still recovering or if he should be back to normal eating by now. I am still feeding him but if he keeps losing weight, i might have
to put him down before long because I dont want him to suffer and slowly starve himself to death. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
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My piggie had his teeth filed down but still seems to have a problem eating?!?!?!
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 cavydaddy75 |
My piggie had his teeth filed down but still seems to have a problem eating?!?!?! |
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Posts: 4 04/29/09 03:58 PM |
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PooksiedAnimals |
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Posts: 4114 04/29/09 06:27 PM Moderator |
Unfortunately, malocclusion can be a difficult problem to fix. Depending on how bad his teeth were the first time, it may take more than one trimming to fix
the problem. Depending on how much the front teeth were trimmed, he may be having problems grabbing food to eat. And the molars may not be in proper alignment,
and may need to be trimmed again. The process can take months.
Is he eating at all on his own? How much critical care a day are you feeding him? You definitely need to keep his weight up - the fact he's still losing is worrisome. He really needs to get back to the vet (he sounds like he knows what he's doing), to be rechecked, and possibly re-filed. I feel your pain on the expenses. It can be so overwhelming. The problem is, the longer you wait, the more likely the teeth will overgrow again. At least keep up with the critical care -- he needs to keep on his weight, to get through this. |
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cavydaddy75 |
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Posts: 4 04/29/09 07:27 PM |
I dont understand why his teeth would have to be re-filed? Why wouldnt he have filed them correctly the first time? I dont think I have been feeding him enough
critical care. The package says 15g powder per kg. Now that I have a digital scale I see that he is probaby eating about 5g a day. He is eating a little bit on
his own. I shredded a carrot the other day and he ate several strips but very little. My wife and I will follow up with the vet this week but there is no way
that we would be able to have his teeth filed again because of the cost. This whole thing is really upsetting to me because I raised him from a baby and I am
very attached to him. We have a newborn baby right now and my wife has been out of work without any maternity leave so its really tight. Im going to keep
pushing as much Critical care in him as I can. I think his stomach is shrunk considerably from being hungry so long. My other two pigs are very healthy and
both are almost 3lbs. Thanks for the advice.
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PooksiedAnimals |
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Posts: 4114 04/29/09 08:34 PM Moderator |
Good question. I don't know why it sometimes needs to be done multiple times. The only thing I can think of, is if they've been growing the wrong way
for a while, it may take a while to get them to grow the right way (and in the meantime, it needs to be manually fixed again). Anyone with an explanation why?
Since I have no first hand experience with this, all I can do is point you to: GuineaLynx::Malocclusion.
I don't do Critical Care by weight, but by volume. I know a 1kg pig should get 50ml of mixed Critical Care a day. When I have to give my pigs critical care, I use a few different sized syringes. My favorite is a 35ml syringe I use to fill the other syringes, which makes it easier to measure how much they have gotten. So your boy needs at least 50ml a day. I am sorry you're going through this. Having witnessed other posters on this forum that have gone through a pig with malocclusion, it can be a drawn out and wearying thing. Well wishes to you and your pig. |
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newpiggymom |
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Posts: 16 05/01/09 06:55 AM |
When we took one of our boys to the vet, he told us to come back for a follow up. I told him that I was very short on funds (who is not?) and he offered the
follow up at no cost. Why don't you just call the vet and explain your situation? Maybe he would take a look and not charge you anything since you have
already spent so much money at his clinic. Good Luck!!!
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