Teeth Cannot tell if teeth problem or impaction, not eating as much, barely pooping!

[SesshyBooBoo]

My pig, Boo Boo, is 4 years old. I woke up this morning and noticed he was acting a bit strange. He looked like was trying to get something that was caught in his mouth or throat out and kept opening his jaw wide and making weird noises. So I took him to the pet ER since my vet isn't in on Sundays. The woman there who specialized in exotics said she didn't find anything stuck but she did think that his back teeth looked impacted. I have a vet visit scheduled for tomorrow at noon.

I'm more nervous now because I noticed since this morning, Boo Boo has only pooped 3 times and they are small poops (solid but very small compared to his normal stools) and he hasn't been eating or drinking as much as normal. I can't tell if its because his anal sac is compacted or because of a teeth issue. I did look inside his sac and besides a very small piece of poo I didn't see any blockage, just the normal white fluid. I scooped out the small piece of poo with a cutip. I'm so scared that this is life threatening and I'm missing work tomorrow just so I can take him to the vet. Do you think he'll be fine until then? Can I keep feeding him as a normally do? (veggies, hay, pellets?)

 

[SesshyBooBoo]

Now he is having soft stools, they look like diarrhea.

 

[bpatters]

Yes, for heaven's sake, keep feeding him normally, and hand-feeding him if he's not eating enough on his own. If he's not eating at all, you'll have to force feed him. The absolute worst thing you can do with a guinea pig is to let it go without food.

I have no idea what the vet meant by impacted teeth. The only time I've ever heard that term applied to teeth was when I had to have wisdom teeth removed because they were impacted -- didn't have enough room to erupt or were wedged against another tooth under the gum. I doubt that's what's happening to your pig.

But it sounds like something is either caught in his mouth, or he does have something wrong with his teeth. You need to get him an exotic vet with experience in rodent dentistry. The vet should do an exam using a buccal separator to hold the pig's mouth open, and ideally should also take two x-rays -- one from the side and one from the top -- to check for abscesses and/or elongated roots.

 

[SesshyBooBoo]

He is sitting, munching away on his dry food. His mouth definitely seems to still be bothering him. I would never stop feeding him, I just meant less veggies because of the loose stools. He has plenty of timothy hay and a full bottle of water.
The vet I am taking him to has experience in guinea pigs and other rodents and also has done a lot of surgeries on rodents so I think he's in good hands. I just hope he'll be okay...I'm in full panic mode right now. He's my little baby

 

[SesshyBooBoo]

Update:
Brought Boo Boo to the vet today, she said his back teeth are sharper than normal and overgrown and his roots are elongated and he needs them filed down. She gave him Oxbow critical care mix to feed him from a syringe every 4-6 hours and an anti-inflamatory to give him once a day for the pain. Also, SMZ antibiotic in case he has a cyst or abscess from his teeth being overgrown.
He is pooping more frequently now and they are more solid (still a little smaller than usual). He's starting to eat more on his own now and drinking a little more water. He is going in for surgery on Wednesday. He's had his front bottom teeth filed down before so I'm used to the procedure already. I just can't wait until he gets back to his normal self

 

[bpatters]

Make sure the vet gives him something for pain after his back teeth are filed, and be prepared to hand-feed him if necessary. See http://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html.

 

[miniver]

Poor Boo Boo. Keep us updated and let us know how he's doing.