Hi there, my boy Pretzels tongue was trapped under his molars. He's been on critical care via syringe ever since and has not been able to eat any solid food or hay on his own.
We had his first surgery a month ago. 2 weeks after his dental appt, he was still not eating on his own but he was managing well with Meloxicam and was attempting to try to eat hay, pellets, and solid food. The Dr said he would need another dental surgery as his teeth were not quite aligned, so he had his 2nd dental surgery 2 and a half weeks ago.
Since his 2nd surgery, he's been in more and more pain. He's now on gabapentin, tramadol, and Meloxicam and is still drooling excessively and has been refusing food. He's begun to lose weight, so I've been adding carrot juice, some very basic vegetable baby food, and periodic Pedialyte to his diet to help assist. But it's difficult because he fights the feedings quite often. You can see that even with the meds, he's still very uncomfortable and drooly.
The Dr did a recheck this last Monday and said the teeth were fine and she doesn't know what's wrong. I'm waiting on a second opinion from other exotic vet 4 hours away since last Friday and hoping to God they get back to me soon. But I cannot for the life of me figure out why he's in more pain and doing worse now after his 2nd surgery if everything is fine, and why he actually WAS fine before. The Dr has tried to tell me that even though none of his labs or imaging has shown it, it could be cancer of the jaw, and sent some X-rays to a radiologist that I'm waiting to hear back from.
I know you can't give me true medical advice, but does ANYONE have any experience with anything like this?? It's absolutely killing me to see my baby in pain when he wasn't just a few weeks ago. None of it makes sense, I have no idea what could be wrong if they can't find anything. I'm just at a loss. And he has had no other symptoms that would point to cancer that I'm aware of, it only just started right after this 2nd surgery.
He is syringe fed every 2-3 hours, night and day
Worsening pain weeks after dental procedure
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Lynx
- Resist!!!
I am so sorry he is struggling with this. I have not had a guinea pig that required dental care but know that some guinea pigs have difficulty and experience pain like yours. I do not know if any of this pain advice would be helpful (it is primarily aimed at controlling pain post surgery) but may help some:
https://www.guinealynx.info/pain.html
You did not mention Critical Care, which is often used in hand feeding. If you have not read this page, it may help. I know how exhausting it can be giving frequent feedings.
https://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html
https://www.guinealynx.info/pain.html
You did not mention Critical Care, which is often used in hand feeding. If you have not read this page, it may help. I know how exhausting it can be giving frequent feedings.
https://www.guinealynx.info/handfeeding.html
Thank you for the links 🙂
He is on critical care for the past month and a half. I got an update late last night, radiologist says not cancer as I had suspected it wasn't! But terrible dental disease. They said they need to do another surgery again Monday, and of course there are risks. But due to his resisting to eat even the critical care at times and some weightloss, we have to risk it or he WILL die.
They also said this will be a chronic disease and may need trimmings routinely and they were concerned for his quality of life. I told them if it becomes a quality of life thing and he's ready to go, I will do what I have to. But since he is a fighter we will go whatever route he chooses. Pain control may be a forever thing, but I'm not sure because he had very little before this last surgery. I feel like they may have missed something or has a sharp tooth somewhere. Here's to hoping
He is on critical care for the past month and a half. I got an update late last night, radiologist says not cancer as I had suspected it wasn't! But terrible dental disease. They said they need to do another surgery again Monday, and of course there are risks. But due to his resisting to eat even the critical care at times and some weightloss, we have to risk it or he WILL die.
They also said this will be a chronic disease and may need trimmings routinely and they were concerned for his quality of life. I told them if it becomes a quality of life thing and he's ready to go, I will do what I have to. But since he is a fighter we will go whatever route he chooses. Pain control may be a forever thing, but I'm not sure because he had very little before this last surgery. I feel like they may have missed something or has a sharp tooth somewhere. Here's to hoping
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Lynx
- Resist!!!
When you say he has terrible dental disease, were elongated roots part of it?
https://www.guinealynx.info/elongated_roots.html
https://www.guinealynx.info/elongated_roots.html
Not to my knowledge. The molars overgrew and trapped his tongue before, and due to him not eating hay since that surgery they're starting to overgrow again. The incisors have also overgrown. It's been a tough road for pretzel 😔
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Talishan
- You can quote me
I suspect (wild guess, but a suspicion) that his pain is causing him to *really* not want to eat. Which causes him to be weaker, to lose weight, and his teeth to overgrow even faster. It becomes a vicious cycle.
I'd ask the vet if his pain medications can be increased, at all. Severe pain can really cause these little guys to go downhill in a hurry.
We had one pig with elongated roots who required multiple, and regular, dental trims. It's difficult, but doable. His condition right after the trims varied quite a bit -- sometimes he'd be very sore, other times not at all, other times somewhere in the middle. Their mouths are very tiny, and it's hard for even the best vet not to occasionally nick a cheek or gum.
The vet we were seeing at the time used something she called 'magic mouthwash' right after each trim. I don't know exactly what it was, but I suspect it had a mild numbing agent in it (like lidocaine). It did a beautiful job relieving any immediate, superficial pain from the trim procedure.
This is a tough row to hoe, but it is doable. You're doing a wonderful job caring for him.
Blessings and very best wishes to Pretzel and to you.
I'd ask the vet if his pain medications can be increased, at all. Severe pain can really cause these little guys to go downhill in a hurry.
We had one pig with elongated roots who required multiple, and regular, dental trims. It's difficult, but doable. His condition right after the trims varied quite a bit -- sometimes he'd be very sore, other times not at all, other times somewhere in the middle. Their mouths are very tiny, and it's hard for even the best vet not to occasionally nick a cheek or gum.
The vet we were seeing at the time used something she called 'magic mouthwash' right after each trim. I don't know exactly what it was, but I suspect it had a mild numbing agent in it (like lidocaine). It did a beautiful job relieving any immediate, superficial pain from the trim procedure.
This is a tough row to hoe, but it is doable. You're doing a wonderful job caring for him.
Blessings and very best wishes to Pretzel and to you.
Thank you so much for the words of encouragement. Pretzel has become my life at this point lol. I leave work every break I get to feed him, he has a spot next to my bed for nightly feedings so I can wake up and feed him every few hours. Ive spent so much time, money, and effort into saving my baby.
I'm so worried about his surgery and hoping he pulls through and can start healing soon. It's always scary putting a piggy under anesthesia especially 3 times in a little under 2 months. I just know if I don't, he will fade away, this is our only chance to save my little man.
Pretzel is 5, but boy is he an ornery little fighter. I've never seen a piggy fight so hard, it's been awful with people telling me "he's just a guinea pig, that's a lot of money and work!" He could never be "just a guinea pig." That's my baby right there.
I so appreciate how helpful and encouraging everyone is on this forum, I've gotten so much useful information to help him along the way from everyone 🙂
I'm so worried about his surgery and hoping he pulls through and can start healing soon. It's always scary putting a piggy under anesthesia especially 3 times in a little under 2 months. I just know if I don't, he will fade away, this is our only chance to save my little man.
Pretzel is 5, but boy is he an ornery little fighter. I've never seen a piggy fight so hard, it's been awful with people telling me "he's just a guinea pig, that's a lot of money and work!" He could never be "just a guinea pig." That's my baby right there.
I so appreciate how helpful and encouraging everyone is on this forum, I've gotten so much useful information to help him along the way from everyone 🙂
Another update. He just had his 3rd surgery. The vet said she cut his teeth down as much as she could but they're still overgrown, even when cut to almost the gum line, which I don't understand at all. How can they be overgrown if they're all cut off? Apparently the tongue was trapped by the molars again after only 3 weeks. She said they're growing abnormally fast and at abnormal angles.
She said even cut so short, the front incisors are still catching and not connecting. She has no idea why. She did multiple x-rays while he was under anesthesia and she just couldn't understand what the problem was.
So I'm about to pick him up and take him home. But basically it sounds like if he doesn't start eating hay right away, he would need to be put to sleep because otherwise he would need to be put under for full dental work every 3 weeks or so and would continually need to be force fed to survive.
I'm completely devastated. I'm still waiting to hear back from another specialist for a 2nd opinion, but it's not looking good.
She said even cut so short, the front incisors are still catching and not connecting. She has no idea why. She did multiple x-rays while he was under anesthesia and she just couldn't understand what the problem was.
So I'm about to pick him up and take him home. But basically it sounds like if he doesn't start eating hay right away, he would need to be put to sleep because otherwise he would need to be put under for full dental work every 3 weeks or so and would continually need to be force fed to survive.
I'm completely devastated. I'm still waiting to hear back from another specialist for a 2nd opinion, but it's not looking good.
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Lynx
- Resist!!!
I am so sorry your guinea pig's problems look so serious. A professional your veterinarian could contact for a second opinion, we used to recommend Dr. Legendre (in Canada) as an experienced veterinary dentist who has worked with one of our members and written articles. I do not know if he is still in practice but he is still listed on the AVD website.
https://www.avdonline.org/locate-a-fellow/
Teeth issues can be very difficult to manage.
https://www.avdonline.org/locate-a-fellow/
Teeth issues can be very difficult to manage.
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Talishan
- You can quote me
Ditto Lynx.
Also consider looking into a Chin-Sling:
https://www.guinealynx.info/chinsling.html
This sounds like a dental root problem to me -- whether elongated, damage to root(s), damage of some sort to his jaw. Teeth grow funky if the root is messed up, like human nails can grow funky if the nail bed is damaged.
Continued blessings and good wishes to him and to you.
Also consider looking into a Chin-Sling:
https://www.guinealynx.info/chinsling.html
This sounds like a dental root problem to me -- whether elongated, damage to root(s), damage of some sort to his jaw. Teeth grow funky if the root is messed up, like human nails can grow funky if the nail bed is damaged.
Continued blessings and good wishes to him and to you.
SHOP AMAZON