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Teeth Malocclusion, force feeding and prognosis

janinehunt

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Hello

My guinea pig Pumpkin had her molars planed two weeks ago after one had grown over her tongue. I am force feeding her critical care, as well as a pellet & veg smoothie I make. I manage to get about 20 - 25 ml of these into her 5-6 times a day, but she is still losing weight. She went into the vets at 850g, came out the next day at 750g. She is now at about 710g, whereas her normal weight has always been about 950g - 980g.

She doesn't seem to be able to eat on her own. She wants to, but can't, and it's heartbreaking. I have tried many methods, such as cutting veg into slivers, or very thin slices with the vegetable peeler, giving her the bottom of the bag broken bits of hay from a bag of Oxbow orchard grass, and hand-feeding her leafy veg which she can tear with her front teeth while I'm holding the food for resistance. It takes her ages to chew anything she eats on her own, so it's pretty ineffectual. She can manage melon, so she's getting probably too much of that. I'm worried that she's slowly starving to death, despite my efforts. Pumpkin is getting fed up with me force-feeding her several times a day. I've had to divide my cage in two as Bubbles has started picking on Pumpkin, and is chasing her away from the food, and has different dietary needs now.

I am going to take her to the vet this week for a check up, to make sure there is not something else going on, after reading about [MENTION=19714]spy9doc[/MENTION] 's issues with Chester (from whose posts I have learned a lot, so thanks for that!) . Pumpkin had metacam and antibiotics following the planing, and I am giving her probiotics in her CC.

I have read that many pigs are never able to eat on their own following this sort of treatment. Will her teeth grow back and eventually she'll be able to eat on her own again? Or will the malocclusion most likely re-occur? I have read the GuineaLynx info on this and on hand-feeding, but I would be grateful to hear of your experience. Thanks!
 

bpatters

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Even if her teeth were over-planed, they should have recovered in two weeks' time, I'd think. Did the vet do x-rays to check for abscesses or elongated roots? Both of those can cause significant pain and cause a pig to stop chewing normally.

I'd want to have her seen again, I think.
 

janinehunt

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Even if her teeth were over-planed, they should have recovered in two weeks' time, I'd think. Did the vet do x-rays to check for abscesses or elongated roots? Both of those can cause significant pain and cause a pig to stop chewing normally.

I'd want to have her seen again, I think.

The vet did an x-ray at the initial consultation prior to planing the teeth. Would an abcess not have been visible when she planed the teeth?

Thanks for your help!
 

bpatters

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Not necessarily. Human tooth abscesses, for instance, aren't usually visible -- they're deep in the root of the tooth. I would imagine guinea pig abscesses could be the same way.

Do you trust this vet?
 

janinehunt

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Not necessarily. Human tooth abscesses, for instance, aren't usually visible -- they're deep in the root of the tooth. I would imagine guinea pig abscesses could be the same way.

Do you trust this vet?

The guinea pig vet, who is also the dental specialist, was on holiday when I took her in. But this vet seems to be very good and has successfully treated my pigs in the past. The other is back this week, so I'll take her in again.
 

janinehunt

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Hi [MENTION=19714]spy9doc[/MENTION] , thanks for your reply. Yes I had read that post, and it was thanks to your posts that I bought bigger syringes and increased the quantity of CC I am feeding Pumpkin. I find that the 5ml syringe works best for me as I can control the flow of that better than the 10ml or 20ml ones I have. After the 2.5ml syringe the vet gave me broke, I was going mad using the 1ml syringe I had. Took forever and there was way too much faffing filling it up! And using the bigger ones I can easily keep track of how much is going in.

I am mixing some barley grass powder with the CC, as well as vitamin C. I also add some pumpkin & carrot baby food. I also make a veg "smoothie" using pellets, a few oats, tomato, lettuce, cucumber, goji berries, pepper & carrot, which I blend and pass through a sieve so that it doesn't get stuck in the syringe. She likes that one best, and I think she appreciates the variety. I syringe her water at every feed too, which she readily accepts.

Since I separated the cage yesterday, Pumpkin seems to be eating a little more on her own, which is heartening. Hopefully this will continue.

Right, off to feed her now! Thanks again. Bonne journée! It's going to be a nice one here in France I think...
 
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