Teeth Devastated after vet visit

yes! great news, do update when her teeth are done!!
@foggycreekcavy She did not go on about cherry.. @couchon kept saying he didn't agree, yet they are going to another vet to have it done, @couchon , have you ever been in a situation where you think your only option to spare your piggie pain(not to get as much time with them as possible) is to put them down?? If not them, if you don't understand now, you won't unless it happens to you(heaven forbid!)..
@spudsthepiget we hope all goes well, my mother has been reading this thread with me and wishes you the best! also my soon - to - be piggies send her lots of mind - snuggles!!

xx Rock On Cherry!

I'm so happy Cherry's most likely going to be able to stay with you guys and get the treatment she needs! When you get bad news of this nature it's often natural to react in a drastic fashion - because you've just had drastic news! It's like if I tried to set a broken bone on myself after a car had just hit me - I'd be in no fit state to deal with it, I'd need to calm down, and get another person (preferably a medic....) to help. So don't feel at all bad about thinking the outlook was so bleak at first.

Oh, and the picture of Cherry eating her pellet mash was just too adorable

We dropped Cherry off at the vet this morning to have her teeth trimmed. The vet just phoned me and gave me the craziest news; Cherry's teeth are fine, it's her tongue that's the problem. She said Cherry is missing the middle part of her tongue! The tip and back of her tongue looks normal, but there's a gap. She said it's not an injury, that's just how she was born.

The vet said she probably won't ever be able to eat hay, but I know she can eat pellet mash and I know she's not in pain. I wasn't expecting to hear it was a tongue deformity, but I'm also relieved she won't need teeth trimmings all her life. The vet said she's awake and up and eating pellets; we can pick her up at noon

Thank you everyone for encouraging me to seek a second opinion. It saved her from being put down.

Wow, I've never heard of that happening! Anyway, I'm glad she doesn't need teeth trimmings and that she's okay.

How weird! Did the vet happen to get a picture of it? Lynx, over at GL, keeps pictures of unusual conditions in guinea pigs, and I'm sure she'd love to add that to the collection.

I wonder if you might not be able to teach her to eat hay. Maybe try hand feeding her on the side where her tongue is normal, and see if she can manage that?

You probably still need to be aware of any possible future tooth problems. Since she won't be eating a lot of hay, she may have problems with overgrown molars at some point. The pellet mash will help, but not replace the hay. One other thing you might try is seeing if she can eat strips of corn husks (the inner ones, not the outer ones with the pesticides). It has enough silica to help with the teeth, although not the same nutrition as hay. And since the strips can be cut wider than hay, it might be easier to handle.

Yay Cherry!!! Im so happy and relieved for her. What an odd thing. Anyone else ever hear of anything like that?? So we can put veggies and such in the pellet mash for her and just feed her that. She will live a long happy, spoiled life!! (not like she hasn't already

I would make the mash a tiny bit crunchy, to get the chewing action. i also feed my pigs hay by the piece, they love it.

Good luck with her and I'm so glad you get to keep her.

That is such good news, I am relieved for you guys to hear that she won't need recurring trimmings! What a peculiar condition she has, that's pretty interesting and rare! I wonder if she might have an easier time with hay cubes than actual hay, because the hay pieces are so much smaller, something like this https://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/products/type/detail?object=1613.

In any case, @spudsthepiget and @daisy1cow I am glad to hear that it is good news for both Cherry and you guys alike! Sending healing vibes and best wishes your way.

Thanks everone for all the well wishes and prayers for her, it all paid off and it was so appreciated.
@louie_joey, oh right, I have some of those here, I'll run em over to Spuds later today! Good .idea, worth trying. All mine love them

We just brought Cherry home from the vet; she's still a little groggy from the anesthesia, but she seems glad to be home. Marybell even groomed her! (Which is something I never thought I'd see her do.)

I asked the vet if she had taken a picture of Cherry's tongue; she said they tried, but couldn't get a good shot of the missing middle section.

I'm going to start working with her to try and teach her to eat hay. With her tongue the way it is, she can't move food from side to side in her mouth, so I was thinking of maybe growing some grass to see if she had an easier time eating that.

Wow, I'm glad you know what the problem is now and that you can help Cherry get the right things she can eat!