Won't Eat Will not eat hay or chew

[rpwils]

Our gpig stopped eating his hay and eats very little of the pellets. We took him to the vets and they clipped his teeth but that did not help. We continued to give hime critical care but within 3 weeks we had to have his teeth clipped again. Anything we can do? It cost us 85.00 to have his teeth clipped so that will not be a good option every 3 weeks.

Thanks for any help.

 

[Guinea Pig Papa]

Which teeth did he clip? Did he check the molars?

If the front teeth appear to be a problem, then the real issue is the molars. If his molars aren't corrected the problem will get worse, and eventually be fatal. Pigs MUST eat and have food constantly moving through their gut.

How old is your pig? Is your vet an exotic vet, and not just a small animal vet?

 

[bpatters]

Was this an exotic vet? Because it's VERY rare that a pig needs its front teeth clipped. The grinding motion of the molars is what keeps the front teeth ground down, and most tooth problems are due to problems with the molars.

But if your pig isn't eating, you need to hand feed him with Critical Care or a pellet slurry. Guinea pigs MUST eat every few hours. The saying, "a guinea pig that's not eating is a guinea pig that's dying" is unfortunately very true.

 

[rpwils]

Was this an exotic vet? Because it's VERY rare that a pig needs its front teeth clipped. The grinding motion of the molars is what keeps the front teeth ground down, and most tooth problems are due to problems with the molars.

But if your pig isn't eating, you need to hand feed him with Critical Care or a pellet slurry. Guinea pigs MUST eat every few hours. The saying, "a guinea pig that's not eating is a guinea pig that's dying" is unfortunately very true.

The vet handles exotic animals. His front teeth were long. We feed home a tablespoon of critical care 2 times a day. But if he only eats the critical care won?t his teeth just keep over growing?

 

[bpatters]

It can be a problem, but I'm not convinced that his teeth were overgrown. Did they do skull x-rays, both top and side views? It's the only way to know if there's an abscess or if the pig has elongated roots.

For what it's worth, I would never let a vet trim a pig's incisors unless they'd done a very thorough work-up on the molars and knew that nothing was wrong with them. And maybe not even then.

 

[rpwils]

It can be a problem, but I'm not convinced that his teeth were overgrown. Did they do skull x-rays, both top and side views? It's the only way to know if there's an abscess or if the pig has elongated roots.

For what it's worth, I would never let a vet trim a pig's incisors unless they'd done a very thorough work-up on the molars and knew that nothing was wrong with them. And maybe not even then.

if there's an abscess or if the pig has elongated roots can something be done for it?

 

[bpatters]

Maybe. Abscesses can be treated with antibiotic, and that's sometimes successful. Occasionally a VERY good rodent dentist will try to drain one, but I wouldn't trust that to just anyone.

Elongated roots require regular molar planing, and the frequency depends on the pig. It can be anywhere from every three weeks to every two months or so.

However, in your case, I'd want a good rodent dentist to see if the molars are just overgrown, or have developed points on them that are making it painful for the pig to eat. But do please find a vet with experience in rodent dentistry. Small animal vets are trained in the care of dogs and cats, not rodents, and their reflex action seems to be to trim the incisors, even when that's the wrong thing to do.

 

[rpwils]

ok thanks for all of the help! I'll see if we can get some X-rays