Not Eating My vet doesn't know what's wrong

[Iosina]

Hello

I've registered to this forum in the hope someone might have an answer.

My guinea pig, a 2.5 year old male, eats and drinks extremely little. I've taken him to the vet. He kept him overnight and took x-ray pictures. While there he did eat hay and some pellet food and the x-rays showed nothing abnormal.

I bought some of the vets hay and food in the hopes that he just didn't like what we gave him anymore, to no avail. He acts very strange when he tries to eat, he throws his head back like he has trouble swallowing, I filmed this and showed it to the vet, but again he found nothing abnormal.

The vet suggested it might be a dominance issue (he has a cage mate, a male that's about 3 months younger than him). We're going to try and separate them next, but I'm afraid they'll get depressed or something if they're separated. Would putting in something see through help with that? Like a mesh or something.

I'm really starting to get frustrated here, I don't want to lose him.

 

[4cavies]

Hello

I've registered to this forum in the hope someone might have an answer.

My guinea pig, a 2.5 year old male, eats and drinks extremely little. I've taken him to the vet. He kept him overnight and took x-ray pictures. While there he did eat hay and some pellet food and the x-rays showed nothing abnormal.

I bought some of the vets hay and food in the hopes that he just didn't like what we gave him anymore, to no avail. He acts very strange when he tries to eat, he throws his head back like he has trouble swallowing, I filmed this and showed it to the vet, but again he found nothing abnormal.

The vet suggested it might be a dominance issue (he has a cage mate, a male that's about 3 months younger than him). We're going to try and separate them next, but I'm afraid they'll get depressed or something if they're separated. Would putting in something see through help with that? Like a mesh or something.

I'm really starting to get frustrated here, I don't want to lose him.

Did you take him to a vet familiar with guinea pigs? He could be being bullied by the other male. Try providing 2 dishes of pellets, 2 water bottles, 2 hay racks, etc. if you haven't already to decrease the desire to hoard before separating them.

 

[Iosina]

We've always been very happy with our vet. We've been going to him for years (with a dog, cat and 2 previous guinea pigs) They already have 2 food bowls and 2 hay balls, they only have one water bottle though.

 

[4cavies]

Wasn't implying anything, some vets just don't know pigs maybe try to temporarily seperate them and see if his behavior still continues.

 

[guineapigsxo]

Did the vet take x-rays of his teeth?

 

[Iosina]

Did the vet take x-rays of his teeth?

Yes, he's had problems in the past with his teeth, so when he stopped eating we assumed that was the cause but his teeth are normal now.

The vet thinks either his lower lip or tongue have been paralyzed by a seizure or stroke as he's drooling allot. He hopes it might be temporary but there's not much he can do about it. We're giving him medicine to help with any pain he might have. We've tried hand feeding him but he doesn't swallow it. We've separated them now.

If he doesn't start eating soon,...

 

[sallyvh]

The drooling and not eating are clear signs of malocclusion. If he is not swallowing the force feed he needs to get into a cavy savvy vet now. A pig that doesn't have food moving through their gut is a very sick pig. Did the vet do an in depth mouth examination?

 

[jinxie]

All the things I am hearing sound like tooth problems, so I am surprised there was no further dental examination (I suppose XRays should be good, but my vet sticks this thingy with a light way in the back while my GP chews on it, to see how the back molars are coming together when he chews.) I don't know if there is a way to have the xrays sent to an exotics vet, if not I would still go to a vet who specializes in guinea pigs and pocket pets for this issue. Not to discredit your vet, but another vet may have special tools and examinations that only a cavy savvy vet will have, and will have a variety of special guinea pig medications as well as the experience with a lot of guinea pig ailments.

As far as separating, I separate one of my boys every night when I give them their pellets, and then I put them back together afterwards. Cause one pig eats really slow and the other one eats fast, and will take the slow one's pellets. I set up a floor time area with a critter fence, towels underneath or bedpads that are waterproof on the bottom, and just let him hang out with his food bowl and a pile of hay. They have gotten used to this arrangement, and it helps me keep a close eye on him and gives him his daily floor time.

Good luck finding out whats wrong with your guinea pig! Keep us updated.

 

[lunarminx]

Both times Who's There had problems with malocclusion, that is how he acted. The vet looked at his teeth with a device in a dark room, he didn't need the xrays to see that the molars grew over his tongue and his front teeth grew longer. Good luck with your baby.

 

[Iosina]

All the things I am hearing sound like tooth problems, so I am surprised there was no further dental examination (I suppose XRays should be good, but my vet sticks this thingy with a light way in the back while my GP chews on it, to see how the back molars are coming together when he chews.) I don't know if there is a way to have the xrays sent to an exotics vet, if not I would still go to a vet who specializes in guinea pigs and pocket pets for this issue. Not to discredit your vet, but another vet may have special tools and examinations that only a cavy savvy vet will have, and will have a variety of special guinea pig medications as well as the experience with a lot of guinea pig ailments.

As far as separating, I separate one of my boys every night when I give them their pellets, and then I put them back together afterwards. Cause one pig eats really slow and the other one eats fast, and will take the slow one's pellets. I set up a floor time area with a critter fence, towels underneath or bedpads that are waterproof on the bottom, and just let him hang out with his food bowl and a pile of hay. They have gotten used to this arrangement, and it helps me keep a close eye on him and gives him his daily floor time.

Good luck finding out whats wrong with your guinea pig! Keep us updated.

He's had teeth that were too long in the past. He had to have surgery to correct them, he fully recovered and was a happy pig up until a few days ago.
The vet checked his teeth with the light thingy, when he didn't see anything, he took the x-rays. He took extra x-rays of both sides of his head to see his teeth. He showed them to me, they were perfectly normal. He even sent the x-rays to a colleague. I'm sorry, I should've given all the information.

 

[lunarminx]

My piggy had his problems about 3 1/2 months apart. The signs showing about 3 months.

 

[liane.sudano]

Did the vet take x-rays of his teeth?

 

[foggycreekcavy]

Is there a hay seed lodged somewhere in his throat or near the back of his mouth? Perhaps that would have shown up on an X-ray, though.

Perhaps there's a problem with his jaw muscles. Have you researched the Chin Sling? https://www.guinealynx.info/chinsling.html