Teeth Ethel was diagnosed with malocclusion today

When my guinea pig went through this she had bit her tongue since her molars over grew too much so she was slow starting to eat again. But I'd say if your guinea pig was caught in good time that she should be fine for eating right away unless her mouth had gotten sore. Just try offering her some foods and see if she can eat them, if not you'd best start feeding her with the critical care right away. My guinea pig never made it sadly...she wasn't helped in time. If only I had of knew way back then what I know now.

Pain meds are very helpful in cases like this. Sometimes the pig just won't eat enough and then you're back in the place you were before, with teeth too long.

Often the teeth are trimmed but the underlying cause isn't--why did the teeth get too long in the first place? Did she stop eating because she was sick, and this caused the teeth to overgrow? Did she fall, causing damage to her mouth or jaw?

Weigh daily. If she drops any more weight at all, handfeed. In fact, you might want to handfeed anyway. And with her incisors trimmed, she may have trouble biting off pieces of vegetables, so you can cut or shred them to make eating easier for now.

foggycreekcavy said:

Weigh daily. If she drops any more weight at all, handfeed. In fact, you might want to handfeed anyway. And with her incisors trimmed, she may have trouble biting off pieces of vegetables, so you can cut or shred them to make eating easier for now.

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Thank you. Shredding veggies is a good idea. She is a very scared pig and always has been. She's the only one of our pigs that will not eat anything from our hands. I tried a pellet mash last night but I couldn't get the consistency to a point that would go into the syringe easily and I worry that she got more water than pellet.

Last night I had to take her out of the pet store cage and put her back with the others. She was terrified and confused in the pet store cage and just hid under the pile of hay the whole time, not eating it. In the big cage she was definitely showing interest in her food and hay but it's hard to monitor her intake. I saw her eat a pellet and slowly eat some watermelon. She also was laying next to the hay pile and seemed to be eating it, but she seemed like she'd been eating normally this whole time so it's hard to tell. I'm going to weigh her in a little while so that it's about the same time of day as the other times. If she's lost anymore at all I'm going to drive the 45 minutes to the vet for some Critical Care.

This isn't good. She lost another ounce and while on the counter, I saw this. I think it's a poop. She took in the pellet mash but I'm still not convinced that she didn't get more than water. I shredded up some lettuce, carrot, and pepper in the food processor and put her in the pet store cage with it and hope she'll eat some instead of just be scared in the corner of the cage. I'm going to the vet to pick up some Critical Care in a little while. I feel like I should also get some vitamin C tablets. Human ones, right?

What my vet told me was, after anistetia (sp) guinea pigs have a hard time maintaining their body temperature. So I would lay a piece of fleece in her pigloo, so she can snuggle in it, or a heat pad. Another thing, if she is not pooping rub her belly, make her move (exercise is good to pass poos), and maybe give her baby gass drops.

I think you may have to syringe feed her the critical care until she's comfortable enough to eat on her own. I don't want to call it force feeding, because the stuff tastes really good, and guinea pigs will often eat it up. Vit C tablets are a very good idea. Yes, you buy the human type. I buy 500 mg tablets and cut them into about 8 pieces. I give all my guinea pigs one piece daily, just for good measure. They are citrius flavored, and my guinea pigs love them. They think it candy for them! Just make sure that Ethel is the guinea pig that eats it, other pigs will not hesitate to steal her tasty treat.

Also, next time you see your vet, you will probably want to bring some of her small poops with you (in a plastic baggie of course). I had to do this with a guinea pig who wouldn't eat, and his poops were tiny too. Also, make sure that she's not getting dehydrated. You may have to syringe feed her water too. If she doesn't stay hydrated, them she may need Sub Q injections. Trust me, that is something guinea pigs would rather avoid.

I hope I was able to help.

I get the children's 100 mg C chewable tablets and quarter them. Some pigs eat them like candy. You may need to crush it and syringe it to her.

Have you read the handfeeding page at Guinea Lynx? https://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html

Yes, I did end up finding that link when I was looking for vitamin C doses. I've been able to get more pellet mash into her along with vitamin C. I shredded everyone's lettuce and cut veggies into very small pieces. She was showing a lot of interest and my husband peeked in from the doorway and said she had food in her mouth as well as hay later on. No weight loss (I record fractions of an ounce) from this morning to this evening. Keeping our fingers crossed.

Praying for Ethel to get better. Seems like you are a very loving, responsible pet owner. She is a lucky piggie. Get well Ethel! From Amani (me), Silvermist and Ariel (my piggies).

A week later and she's still not eating normally. I need some ideas on what to do because I feel like I've done everything. I've been giving her pellet mash, vitamin C, and shredding everyone's vegetables. I can't separate her because she just sits in the corner, but when she's in with the other pigs she shows lots of interest in food and seems to eat a little. Because of the fact that I can't separate her, I can't monitor whether she's pooping and peeing. She's obviously not eating as much as she should be because she continues to lose weight at fractions of an ounce per day. The weight loss has slowed down, but she's still losing. Shouldn't she be eating normally by now? I'm going to make another vet appointment for her even though I'm not sure what else he can do. He's already trimmed her teeth.

I would call the vet and tell them what is going on with her and that you are worried. Ask what sedative she was given.

I wish I had care advice for you but don't have the experience. What the others are saying looks good. Maybe knowing the specific sedative will help the experienced members know what is affecting her.

I've heard of some people feeding their pigs vegetarian baby mash when they won't eat. Would that be easier to feed her?

How do you separate her? Have you tried grids in their cage, so she can see and be near the others but still separate?

Sometimes it's not just the teeth, but the jaw itself. Some people have had good luck with the Chin Sling-- https://www.guinealynx.info/chinsling.html

Fresh grass is good for grinding teeth, and most pigs can't resist it.

foggycreekcavy said:

How do you separate her? Have you tried grids in their cage, so she can see and be near the others but still separate?

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I tried both a pet store cage and a partition inside in the main cage. Both times, she wouldn't eat at all unless she was with the other pigs. Almost like she forgot how and needed to be shown.

I did mention this in another thread answering someone's question but I figured that I would update my own thread as well. I don't think she's going to survive this. Critical Care is now her only source of nutrition and she isn't showing interest in veggies at all anymore. She has gone downhill since last night and I'll be surprised if she makes it through the day. If she does make it until tomorrow, I seriously need to consider whether it's more humane to put her down rather than have her starve to death. It's not what we want to do obviously, but she's suffering.

Before someone says to call the vet, I did call him yesterday and he didn't want me to bring her in since really, there wasn't anything that he could do. He's already trimmed her teeth and now it's up to her to eat. I fed her this morning's dose of Critical Care and she hasn't moved since I put her back in the cage over 20 minutes ago and her breathing is heavy. This is very sad to watch and I can't understand why now that her teeth are trimmed, she's refusing to eat.

You are doing a good job. I am sure this is tough for you. I will keep you and Ethel in my thoughts and prayers.

I have felt your pain with this situation. Ethel is lucky to have someone caring for her so much. I wish she'd pull through.

If I can't get Critical Care immediately, I put pellets in a thick plastic bag and use a hammer to crush them. I use a strainer to sift it which quickly mixes it into a nice consistency when water is added. Are you cutting off the tip of the syringe?

Maybe she's not eating because it still hurts to eat--she could have an abscess or something like that under her molars. I wish you could find a vet who would check her for signs of infection.

pinky said:

If I can't get Critical Care immediately, I put pellets in a thick plastic bag and use a hammer to crush them. I use a strainer to sift it which quickly mixes it into a nice consistency when water is added. Are you cutting off the tip of the syringe?

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I have Critical Care for her. Before I did, I put pellets in my grinder and got it to a powder and yes, I cut off the tip of the syringe. When I picked up the Critical Care I was given a bigger syringe that's much easier to use

cogni said:

Maybe she's not eating because it still hurts to eat--she could have an abscess or something like that under her molars. I wish you could find a vet who would check her for signs of infection.

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My vet is great. I've been on the phone with them a few times this week and they are of the opinion that sadly, they can't do more for her than what I'm already doing. It just seems like she's given up.