Teeth PLEASE Help Me! :(

It very much sounds like a lethal. I would start feeding him pellet mash ASAP and syringe him water so he doesn't get dehydrated. Take him to a vet as soon as you can so he can get checked out and your vet will tell you what can be done for him, if anything. Some lethals can live happily, while others have many medical issues. Good luck, and please start handfeeding soon!

Just wanted to say a quick "Hang in there", for someone more qualified to help you figure this out, will surely come along soon, o.k. ? Warm comforting wishes to you and your little man...Until someone comes to help you--take a look at this wonderful web site that we all turn to for the best, most accurate medical expertise, Guinea Lynx.

Here a link on possible teeth problems, sounds like malocclusion ( however, he is soo young, which is quite rare) to me, so here is a link on malocclusion, and you can look around on there and see if you can find out what is going on with him, and what matches best with his current symptoms.

https://www.guinealynx.info/malocclusion.html

[url]https://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html

Above is a link on handfeeding too....good luck !
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ellisa said:

It very much sounds like a lethal. I would start feeding him pellet mash ASAP and syringe him water so he doesn't get dehydrated. Take him to a vet as soon as you can so he can get checked out and your vet will tell you what can be done for him, if anything. Some lethals can live happily, while others have many medical issues. Good luck, and please start handfeeding soon!

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I see him drinking out of the water bottle often. So I know that he is drinking. I soaked his pellets in water. Do I smash them up then? I am taking him to a vet ASAP. Darn weekend/holidays..Vets are closed!!

I feel so bad that this is happening. It's Murphy's Law that this would be brought to your attention on a holiday, too. I would just make sure that he is taking in nutrition and expelling with no problems and that he's keeping warm if he's not very active. I don't know if there is much else you can do until he goes to a vet. Hopefully someone else will chip in soon with other ideas. Good luck and please keep us updated on your little one!

edit: You could mash up the pellets for him and try offering it on a spoon. If he doesn't take it you may have to syringe feed it to him so his gut doesn't go in to stasis. GL has a good page on handfeeding.

ellisa said:

I feel so bad that this is happening. It's Murphy's Law that this would be brought to your attention on a holiday, too. I would just make sure that he is taking in nutrition and expelling with no problems and that he's keeping warm if he's not very active. I don't know if there is much else you can do until he goes to a vet. Hopefully someone else will chip in soon with other ideas. Good luck and please keep us updated on your little one!

edit: You could mash up the pellets for him and try offering it on a spoon. If he doesn't take it you may have to syringe feed it to him so his gut doesn't go in to stasis. GL has a good page on handfeeding.

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Thank you. I will keep you posted. I am soaking his pellets right now. He loves banana I may give him extra just so he gets something to eat. He is drinking fine and he poops often.

Sounds good! Just don't overdo it on the bananas. They are gassy and you don't want him having a tummy ache on top of all his other issues now. What if you tried ripping off tiny bits of lettuce from a leaf and handfeeding it to him? If he got some nice healthy greens in him it would be better because he would be getting yummy nutritious food. My senior sometimes isn't in the mood for eating unless I rip everything in to tiny bits and hand them to him. It's worth a try!

Yes I will try that. He has never had any interest in veggies before. I will try anything though.

Not sure if this would work but maybe try putting the veggies in a blender and pulse them into mush? Sending you and your little guy healing thoughts!

Go to your local pharmacy and ask for a couple of 1 ml syringes without the needle. Crush your pellets. I put them in a baggy and hammer them and put them through a sieve so I have a fine powder. Mix it with some baby food carrots and water to thin it to a consistency of something smoother than toothpaste. I cut the tip off the syringe and file the plastic edge so it's not sharp. I use that to feed a guinea pig that needs to be hand fed. Put the syringe between his gum and his molars so you don't force it down his throat where he'll aspirate it into his lungs. Make sure you don't push the black plunger into his mouth. You can avoid that by refilling the syringe before all of it is fed from the syringe.

Are his eyes smaller than normal? It does sound like he's a lethal -- you can read more about them at www.guinealynx.info/eyes.html. Scroll down to the section on Micropthalmia.

If he is a lethal, he may need hand feeding for all of his life, particularly if he has no front teeth. Read the Guinea Lynx section on handfeeding listed in post #3. Be prepared for it to take 30-60 minutes per feeding, and you'll need to do it several times a day until he learns to eat himself.

When you're getting the small syringes from the pharmacy, also get a large one -- 10-12 ml. You can use it to refill the small ones. I'd also get a bunch of the small ones and fill them all at one time -- filling one syringe at a time and feeding it is beyond tedious.

Lethals require a lot of care, and sometimes don't make it even with the best of care. If you want to read about the life of one very pampered lethal, see MildredM's blog at (broken link removed).

I soaked his pellets in water and he was sitting in his bowl eating them. Also I don't think he has bottom teeth either. Its hard to look but I don't believe he does. So I can give him baby food? Like organic veggie baby food? He has a nice plump belly this morning. So that is good news.

bpatters said:

Are his eyes smaller than normal? It does sound like he's a lethal -- you can read more about them at www.guinealynx.info/eyes.html. Scroll down to the section on Micropthalmia.

If he is a lethal, he may need hand feeding for all of his life, particularly if he has no front teeth. Read the Guinea Lynx section on handfeeding listed in post #3. Be prepared for it to take 30-60 minutes per feeding, and you'll need to do it several times a day until he learns to eat himself.

When you're getting the small syringes from the pharmacy, also get a large one -- 10-12 ml. You can use it to refill the small ones. I'd also get a bunch of the small ones and fill them all at one time -- filling one syringe at a time and feeding it is beyond tedious.

Lethals require a lot of care, and sometimes don't make it even with the best of care. If you want to read about the life of one very pampered lethal, see MildredM's blog at (broken link removed).

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I think his eyes are normal. I do wonder if he is deaf though.

The pellets are better for him than baby food. You can put his veggies in a food processor to get them to a consistency that he can eat.

One of the problems with no front teeth is that he can't pick up hay, which he will need to keep his back teeth ground down. That's assuming he has back teeth, and lethals usually do.

Some lethals have more ability to function than others. A litter of four pups was born recently that had three lethals in it, and all three had died within six weeks in spite of intensive care.

One clue to deafness is how sound he sleeps, and whether or not he gets startled by noises. Of course, if there are other pigs in the cage that are startled by noises, you may not be able to tell by that, because he'll get startled by the vibration of them running. But you might be able to tell if you have him out for floor time by himself. Deaf pigs are usually much sounder sleepers than hearing pigs.

He is a very sound sleeper. He sleeps on me all the time. He closes his eyes. I actually believe the dogs can bark and he don't budge.

I know in other species (cats and rabbits) that an all white animal with blue eyes is deaf. Or a cat that is all white and has one blue eye is deaf in the ear on the same side as the blue eye. Are his eyes blue?

His eyes are pinkish colored.

I just mashed up some veggies with my food chopper. He ate some of them. He is now in his cage eating his mashed pellets. I tried looking at his teeth again..I know for sure he has no top ones and I am pretty sure the bottom ones are missing also. His vet appointment is monday at 2. I am hoping we will get some answers.

That is very excellent news that he is eating! From the pictures you posted on GL, he does look like a lethal to me. He's eating, though, and that's all that matters right now! He is very cute, too!

Plus I weighed him and he is up from 232 grams (yesterday) to 248 grams today. So mushing the pellets and veggies is helping.

UPDATE:

We are back from the vet. Blueberry is indeed a lethal. He has no front top or bottom teeth and his molars are very deformed. They are bridge like, almost crossing his mouth. He has surgery next week to have them filed down. Then every few months after that. He is also deaf and blind. The vet was very knowledgable and seemed to really know what he was talking about. He is having me start him on timothy hay pellets, softened like I been doing. Then give him smashed vitamin C tablets.

Hopefully Blueberry can start eating hay once his molars are filed back and he won't need as many trips to have them filed by the vet. He is a very special piggy and I plan on caring for him and putting in every effort to be sure he lives a long and happy life. Thank you everyone for your help.