Malocclusion

Re: Hi Everyone

veggiegirl said:

Umm I have a question but maybe need to ask it in another section of the forum...... overgrown teeth is so common in guinea pigs I understand it has a proper name......starts with M but anyway mum had two guinea pigs die of this despite taking them to the vets every 4 weeks to have their teeth trimmed........could it be that our vet is trimming them wrong? even after having their teeth trimmed they were never able to eat again, I had to syringe feed them but this caused other issues such as bloat (probably due to lack of fiber) I worry so much that I will suffer the same heart ache with the piggies I eventually get.

Our vet had the proper tools and put them under anesthetic and everything but I have heard that the teeth need to be cut at a 30 degree angle and am wondering whether or not this was done.....

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Guinea pigs should really never have overgrown teeth unless they have malocclusion. Overgrown front teeth or molars?

Are you taking about malocclusion?
https://www.guinealynx.info/malocclusion.html

Re: Hi Everyone

Also does this treatment look familiar? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC339280/

Re: Hi Everyone

@sugarandspice is correct. The overgrowth of teeth is called malocclusion and thankfully really isn't that common. One cause is lack of hay. Unlimited hay is necessary for both keeping molars worn down and to keep the digestive tract moving.

Malocclusion can be avoided by keeping an unlimited supply of hay available for pigs. If it does develop, keeping the molars trimmed will be a regular vet visit which may need to be maintained for the rest of their life. The overgrowth of molars can sometimes trap their tongue causing them to be unable to eat. This can lead to weight loss and sometimes bloat if they aren't able to keep the digestive tract moving. Both weight loss and bloat can be fatal.

Re: Hi Everyone

Yes Malocclusion is what I meant. The hind teeth or molars grew so badly they trapped the tongue it was horrible. They cut his teeth both front and back but he was still unable to eat. This happened with two of our piggies. The first one developed it at around 1 year old and we were told it was probably genetic and the second one did not get it until he was three years old. They always had access to unlimited hay and were provided with pellets and fruit and veggies. I NEVER want to have to go through that again! they may not have been my piggies but it was heartbreaking and mum was devastated.

The thing that scared me the most was that they were still unable to eat after their teeth had been trimmed. We just felt so helpless because no one could suggest any other way to help them, trimming should have fixed it but they still could not eat!

Re: Hi Everyone

veggiegirl said:

Yes Malocclusion is what I meant. The hind teeth or molars grew so badly they trapped the tongue it was horrible. They cut his teeth both front and back but he was still unable to eat. This happened with two of our piggies. The first one developed it at around 1 year old and we were told it was probably genetic and the second one did not get it until he was three years old. They always had access to unlimited hay and were provided with pellets and fruit and veggies. I NEVER want to have to go through that again! they may not have been my piggies but it was heartbreaking and mum was devastated.

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Were the pigs related? If so, that could be the case in the genetics case. Malocclusion is not all that common and isn't catchy.

Sometimes things like that happen and are unpreventable, and I sorry that happened to your family. I wouldn't worry about it, but in case that happens again, you and your mother should do research on the treatment and make sure your vet does accordingly.

They weren't related that is what made it even worse, losing one was devastating enough but then for it to happen in an older piggy....we were as shocked as we were devastated. I desperately want some piggies of my own I think they make such wonderful loving pets and I know I can provide them with a good home where they will always be loved as extended family members and always provided with whatever veterinary care they need but the fact that they could not eat after the vet trimmed their teeth terrified me so while I am over the moon having decided to get some piggies of my own Malocclusion terrified me. If my piggies needed teeth trimming every four weeks for the rest of their life I am only to happy to have that done but that fact that mums piggies could not eat even after having their teeth trimmed down right terrified me because when it happened it was a total feeling of helplessness not knowing what else we could possibly do to save them

Hopefully if I get my piggies from a different place than where mum got hers them hopefully it will not be in the gene pool, I thought it was really common but hopefully I will not have to go through that heart break mum loved her piggies so much it was so unfair on her and the piggies

I've had 11 pigs over the last 7 years and I've only had one pig develop malocclusion. I had the teeth trimmed down but he never recovered.

I'm so sorry could he eat after his teeth were trimmed or did he not survive the operation?

He survived. The vet gave him pain meds for his teeth but at that point, he had lost too much weight to recover. He went another 2 weeks but never made it to the next teeth trim appointment.

Oh that's terrible, I'm so sorry. Our second boy who developed it came out of the op okay but he could not eat. We asked the vet about pain medications but or guinea pig was so thin he said it would probably finish his kidneys off He was unable to eat so I put his pellets in a blender to make a powder and mixed it with an electrolyte mix especially for small animals and syringe fed him. He picked up and put heaps of weight back on and even started to popcorn again but he never ate by himself again. I was happy enough to feed him for the rest of his life if I needed to but suddenly two weeks later he refused to eat and was rolling around in pain we jumped in the car and was 15 min from the vet when he passed. His belly was bloated so we guess his colic like symptoms was bloat we felt so bad, we still took him to the vet so he could look at him and he suggested it was lack of fiber which caused the bloat

Yes over grown teeth is not really common just make sure they have things to trim their teeth on. Hay is the best source of this. Also chew logs, chew sticks pretty much anything hard. But you want to be careful with what you buy. Some things they have marked for them but really they shouldn't have.

Yes...hay is also needed to keep digestion moving or all kinds of issues (including bloat) can develop.

So have you heard that the teeth need to be trimmed at a 30 degree angle? Is this maybe where our vet went wrong or do you think maybe his mouth was just too painful to eat? I wonder how many people piggies which develop Malocclusion actually survive? Such a tragic condition I pray my piggies stay safe and free of this terrible condition though I do have a little more hope now that it may not be quite so common as I though. 2 or our four developed it so things did not look good and I was very worried. Obviously it is still on the cards but maybe I do not need to panic quite so much, I hope.

Many times even though the malocclusion itself is corrected, the original problem that caused the pig to stop eating normally may still be present.

From what I've been seeing, the poor little creatures that are unfortunate enough to have a genetic defect that makes malocclusion a constant problem tend not to survive their tooth trim. I believe my piggy was very lucky to survive and improve in health after his first tooth trim. After his second though, even with force feeding and drinking, he still ended up passing away a week after his procedure. It seems like the pain, even with medication, is simply too much for these fragile little creatures.