loose teeth or broken teeth
Brad
me (tough decision). Scooter has two loose teeth-rather loose. They
are the two incisors teeth in the front. They are loosely exposed in
his mouth when he looks at me. I don't know what to do. Except take
him to a vet. But I am unemployed and have hardly enough money for this
expense. I tried pulling on the teeth to yank them out of there. But
I don't want to tear them out of his gums, causing another problem. So
for now, I guess that I can let nature take its course, and let them
alone. Scooter is eating and is drinking. He is moving around in his
pen with his pen mate. Today, I grounded up a vitamin C tablet, put it
with some timothy hay, in a bowl, along with another bowl of water. I
am worried about this, because I know that if stops eating, it could be
death. And I know that I can take him to the vet, but I can't afford
that now. So I will just have to monitor his behavior, and see what
happen. I have been checking the Guinea Lynx health page. I understand
that sometimes their teeth can grow back quickly. I am hoping that may
be the case, and that the old loose teeth will fall out or Scooter will
nutch them out on his own.
Has anyone else had some positive results from loose or broken teeth?
I had one many years ago.... that lose a tooth and died from it. Any
suggestions or ideas would be appreciated.
I guess I'll take him out for some grass tomorrow. They (I have 7)
enjoy being outside. It's getting out of their pens that is the hard
part.
Michel Oosterbeek
Please don't try to pull them out yourself. There's a risc of breaking
the jaw, which means that all hope for your piggy will be lost.
We had a piggy with a loose tooth, and even our vet decided it was
better not to take it out.
We simply presented his food is small bitesize parts and gave him all
kinds of extra's to keep his weight up. It went well for more than a
year. The piggy is no longer with us, but his problematic teeth were not
the cause of his passing (he got an infection in his lungs). So there's
still hope for your piggy, as long as you're prepared to help with the food.
Good luck!
Ted
Hi Brad
It's a tricky problem but I think you'll find that nature will take
its course and the teeth will fall out soon especially if the piggie
is left with access to hard food for its mates. I had a piggie whose
front tooth broke off after a low fall. We didn't notice until she had
lost quite a bit of weight. We used a 2ml syringe with the nozzle
chopped off and filed until smooth, to feed her with finely ground up
piggie pellets mixed with instant mashed potato in a soft sloppy
consistency. About 8ml per meal and several times a day followed by
syringes of water. If you wrap the piggie in a towel and prop him up
on his back like a baby he should enjoy the attention of this ritual
once he realises that you are trying to help and not drown him in
food! You need to insert the barrell into the side of his mouth and
depress the plunger slowly until the food comes out. Adjust the rate
according to what he wants/will accept. In time he may take the stuff
off a teaspoon with luck.
The bad news is that you need to do this until the teeth regrow or
until he learns to suck the slop up off the dish himself. The teeth do
regrow but if you leave him to his own devices he will die. He wont be
able to get water from the bottle once the teeth have fallen so maybe
you ought to try and get him (maybe all of them so he wont be alone)
used to drinking water from a bowl, If he knows you love him very much
he will try hard to survive. Patience, lots of TLC and vigilance are
the key words.
Getting fibre will be a problem so you will need to chop hay very
finely for him. Good luck. Don't give up on the little fella.
kelvyn
When i have had to syringe feed a piggy i have used baby food....it comes
in very small jars and is syringe ready...almost like soup !!!
They usually very quickly get to like it.
kelvyn.
No guinea pigs were harmed in the writing or sending of this post.
kelvyn
piggy smile
I wouldnt give him pellets, try mash food, it should be like oatmeal
for gpigs. also, check out www.petmeds.com and see if they have any gp
meds for loose teeth
piggy smile
Brad
have trouble adapting to eating without those teeth in the front. I
think those teeth fell out; I do not see them hanging down out of his
mouth. I did what nature intended would be done-just left it alone, and
see what happens. So far so good.
Whoever
hi,
Try giving your piggy some vitamin C.
Piggies can get jaundice like humans
Give 20 mg as a piece of a pediatric vitamin
tablet, they are available in supermarkets.
Piggies are best given vitamin C as a precaution daily.
Another possibility is lack of minerals,
you can put plain mineral water in their bowl
or sipper to help the situation.
jm