Mouth Post molar surgery care-- help please!!

Diamondarcade · Mar 9, 2013

My guinea pig had molar surgery and he doesnt want to eat anything-- for understandable reasons-- and I was wondering following anyone elses pigs molar surgery.. What was your approach to post-op care?? What did you feed them? How often? What if they didnt want to eat?

They sent him home with pre filled buprenophrine (analgesic) syringes and it makes him so warped out, I don't like using it.

He is eating very little and getting a little water but i think he needs more, before his surgery i did have to hand/force feed him every 4-6 hrs so i know how I just want to know if I should do it the same way/same frequency or maybe more frequently? Thanks for the help!

foggycreekcavy · Mar 9, 2013

Perhaps you can get the vet to prescribe a painkiller that doesn't knock him out. Metacam is often prescribed. Did he have his molars planed/trimmed, or were some actually removed?

I would continue to force feed him. It could be the pain, or could be the buprenophrine that's causing him to lose his appetite. I've also noticed that pigs who haven't been eating for some time seem to "give up", and you'll need to force food into him until he regains his appetite.

There's also a possibility that the original problem, the one that caused his teeth to need surgery, hasn't been resolved.

Diamondarcade · Mar 9, 2013

foggycreekcavy said:
Perhaps you can get the vet to prescribe a painkiller that doesn't knock him out. Metacam is often prescribed. Did he have his molars planed/trimmed, or were some actually removed?

I would continue to force feed him. It could be the pain, or could be the buprenophrine that's causing him to lose his appetite. I've also noticed that pigs who haven't been eating for some time seem to "give up", and you'll need to force food into him until he regains his appetite.

There's also a possibility that the original problem, the one that caused his teeth to need surgery, hasn't been resolved.

He had his molars trimmed... When he went to the vet a few weeks ago they did an oral exam and found his back molars to be slightly overgrown.. Then as time went on his symptoms of food falling out, struggling to eat, etc got worse and with straight force feeding his back and front teeth had overgrown. I will ask about the metacam but I am just frustrated that I have to go back to the vet and speak about this. He is barely eating, he wants to but the pain is obviously bothering him.

madelineelaine · Mar 9, 2013

Was he given pain medicine?

cavy_jdas · Mar 9, 2013

I definitely think something more is going on. A piggie should not be in pain after just having his molars trimmed. They can be in pain from related issues, like tongue or mouth lacerations from the overgrown teeth, but a pig with just slightly overgrown molars should instead feel much better right away.

Why were you force feeding him to begin with? I think whatever the original issue was is still there, and the teeth becoming overgrown was the result of not eating correctly due to that original problem.

Continue to syringe feed, and I would take him back to the vet as soon as you can.

foggycreekcavy · Mar 9, 2013

A piggie should not be in pain after just having his molars trimmed.

Sometimes trimming the molars can cause a lot of pain. Depends on how much is trimmed, if the cheeks get lacerated, etc.

You could call the vet and see if they will let you have the Metacam without an office visit.

I do think, though, that there's something else going on in addition to any pain from the dental work.

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Mouth Post molar surgery care-- help please!!

Diamondarcade

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