Teeth 3 year old piggie with arthritis, tooth issues

[aaquino1]

Hello all,

I'm posting here both because this info might be useful for some people.
I have a 3 year old boar whose gait slowly changed to where he's wobbly and rabbit hopping. When we took him in at the vet, they had an xray done on his hind legs and found that he has (according to the vet) severe arthritis in his knees and bone fragments in between the joints of both his kneecaps. I've attached photos in case anyone is curious. I can't spot the arthritis myself, but I can see the bone fragments in between his joints. The vet is unsure of what to do for him, so she'll ask a colleague. We'll hear back from her on Monday. We are, however, expecting to receive pain medication of some sort and possibly a joint supplement to make him more comfortable.


Another issue this boy has is teeth problems. About a year ago I noticed both of his bottom incisors were missing. They had somehow fallen out but grew back evenly without any issues. However a few weeks ago I noticed he has had a constantly wet cheek/chin/chest. He's also been losing weight (has gone from 2lbs 15oz to 2lbs 11oz), doesn't have in interest in hay (I've provided a constant supply of both Timothy and Orhard), and picks over his vegetables now. At the same vet appointment, we had her check his molars. The bottom molars on the right side are growing inward, almost flat. With the next paycheck he'll be back at the vet to get it filed down.

Today I did notice that his bottom incisors seem to be overgrown. They're longer than I remember them being and one is sticking out more and somewhat overlapping the other. I'm suspecting this is the result of his molar problems? Or perhaps they'll fall out again like they did before? I have no clue. If anyone has any input or experience with this feel free to let me know.

Also: I know this isn't the diet thread, but does anyone have any advice on how to get him to eat his hay? He prefers vegetables and his pellets but rarely do I see/hear him munching on hay. I'm sure the hay would really help to keep his his teeth in check, so I'm a bit frustrated that he won't eat it.

 

[aaquino1]

Update: I checked his teeth again and one of his bottom incisors are definitely loose. It looks like it's going to fall out again. Any ideas on why this keeps happening?

 

[bpatters]

His front teeth are almost certainly overgrown due to problems with his back teeth. I'm not sure why the front ones are loose/falling out, but I do know of several guinea pigs who have had that but the situation has stabilized. My theory is that they somehow damage the root chewing on something, and it takes a while for it to recover enough for the incisors to stay in.

Sorry you're facing this. I hope you can get it worked out. Ditto @spy9doc on the need for a good rodent dentist. Don't trust him to a vet who hasn't had a lot of experience with this.

 

[aaquino1]

Thank you both for your input! The vet that we see is trained in working with small animals and exotics. She's done an excellent job with filing down my senior piggy's molars. I'm suspecting that it must be bad genetics as well like you said, bpatters. And I'll check through your posts, spy9doc, regarding the hay.

I'll update here after we hear back from the vet.