Guinea pig dental abscess

Re: Guinea pig dental abscess

Nicola Smith — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 08:19:13 GMT

Hi, Kevin is home!!

Got him back last night. He is doing ok, have to flush the tooth cavity, and also having abs and avipro. He is a bit quieter than normal but only to expected I suppose. He has tucked into his spinach and spring greens this morning though! Will let you know how he does over the next few days.

Re: Guinea pig dental abscess

Carli Dodd — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 13:01:21 GMT

Glad to hear that you found an experienced vet to take Kevin to see, and that they got the tooth out. Fingers crossed that the little guy continues to improve and you can get him home soon

Re: Guinea pig dental abscess

Kim Buckley — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 19:21:45 GMT

Glad you got to the root of the problem (no pun intended!) and I hope Kevin feels better soon!

Re: Guinea pig dental abscess

Nicola Smith — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 19:03:04 GMT

Well so far so good. Kevin was taken in today, he has had dental xrays done which confirmed the abscess was of his incisor tooth root. They have managed to remove the tooth intact and the root was very rotten, they have then flushed the cavity thoroughly. The vet is pleased that he has at least found a cause for the abscess and that it was a cause he could remove.

The only concer at the moment is that he has some squitty poo's so they are syringing proiotics into him. We think a combination of the journey, medication and the fact he has been eating less hay etc because his mouth has been sore. They will see how he goes and if they are happy with him he may be able to go home tomorrow evening. So fingers crossed he does ok overnight tonight!!

I was awful all day waiting for the phone call - everyone else telling me no news is good news! It just reminds you how clients feel when they leave their pets!

Re: Guinea pig dental abscess

Saskia Quinn — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 12:06:23 GMT

Wishing you all the best for tomorrow

Do let us know how it all goes x

Re: Guinea pig dental abscess

Nicola Smith — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 08:04:35 GMT

Hi, I have found a very knowlegeable guinea vet for Kevin, he does all the work for the rescue I had him from. Spoke to him on the phone and seems really nice. Said prognosis is guarded when jaw bone affected - about 50/50 with a new antibiotic he is using. He is going on Weds and if he can do anything will keep him that day. He will do some dental xrays as a first and go from there. And he can take Colleen to look after him!!! He said he may keep him for a few days to check things are going the right way.

Please keep your fingers crossed for him!

Re: Guinea pig dental abscess

Vicky RVN — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 21:55:38 GMT

Oh no Hope you manage to find a good vet for him x

Re: Guinea pig dental abscess

Nicola Smith — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 20:52:35 GMT

Not so good news. More pus today and now the lump has shrunk down if definitely seems ike it is coming from incisor root area. Also when looking st the tooth it seems like there is some enamel missing at the base and possibly a small crack going down length of tooth so thinking he really does need xrays and possible tooth extraction.

Main problem is dont know where to take him to get it done. My boss away for another week and he has never done pig incisor exraction before anyway. Does anyone know of a guinea specialist in the Midlands area?

Re: Guinea pig dental abscess

Kim Buckley — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 09:54:15 GMT

Aww glad he's feeling better! Pigs are the best! Love the name as well!

Re: Guinea pig dental abscess

Nicola Smith — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 09:34:41 GMT

Trying him without metacam today to see how he goes. Currently very grumpy though, storming round searching everywhere - naughty mummy has run out of spinach his favourite - he is convinced he will find some if he looks hard enough!! Pigs are just so funny!

Re: Guinea pig dental abscess

Vicky RVN — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 17:14:38 GMT

Oh good glad to hear he's doing well I'm keeping

Re: Guinea pig dental abscess

Nicola Smith — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 09:25:01 GMT

Hi, fingers crossed he is doing well The lump has reduced by about half, only got a bit more pus out on Tuesday and very small amt and nothing since. He is very bright in himself now and eating for England. Have halved the amt of metacam and will prob try without it tomorrow.

Wil keep you posted. Fingers crossed for him.

Re: Guinea pig dental abscess

Carli Dodd — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 21:34:34 GMT

How's Kevin getting on?

Re: Guinea pig dental abscess

Nicola Smith — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 13:21:06 GMT

He has actually only had about half that dose and seems much more comfy today so will stick with that! He has eaten quite a lot of spinach this morning, and a few other bits of veg and is certainly moving round more. There is a very hard almost bony feeling swelling over where the absces was but hoping just scarring/ reaction - no more pus coming out at all now.

He isnt liking his meds though!!

Re: Guinea pig dental abscess

Carli Dodd — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 12:11:54 GMT

[quote user="Vicky SVN"]

I'd supplement with vit C still, it won't do any harm cos he'll just excrete any excess.

[/quote]

I second that!

Meloxicam 0.5 - 2mg/kg this is based on the 1-2mg/kg dose for rats & mice tend to go lower for GPs so start at 0.5mg/kg then you have somewhere to go if he still seems sore.

Hope he's doing okay

Re: Guinea pig dental abscess

Vicky RVN — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 13:44:53 GMT

I'd supplement with vit C still, it won't do any harm cos he'll just excrete any excess.

Re: Guinea pig dental abscess

Nicola Smith — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 12:33:03 GMT

Thanks for that. He does seem pretty painful over the area but obviously very early days yet. Not done a C+S from the pus, wll do it next week if not responding, and also the xrays - was all a bit of a rush as only found it last night so went down for the end of evening surgery last night. Unfortunately boss off on hols now for 2 weeks and he is very good with piggies. Only a very small amount of watery pus came out this morning - does seem very watery in general not like the cream cheese you usually get.

What dose of metacam does everyone use for piggies? Have given him some cat as thats what I have at home. Also he is eating greens - should still put extra vit C in water?

Thanks everyone

Re: Guinea pig dental abscess

Carli Dodd — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 10:06:57 GMT

I hope Kevin is doing okay.

Dental abscesses are not uncommon in GPs but not as prevelant as in rabbits. It would be useful to take an xray to see if the incisor roots are causing the problem. Occasionally abscesses can be caused by a penetrating injury rather than dental disease. Also an xray would show you whether the infection is associated with the jaw bone, which can be v v painful and also difficult to get rid of. C&S of the pus is always valuable as some of the bugs are resistant to enro. It is vital to flush the abscess as best you can, we have used F10SC diluted 1:250 with saline to flush them in the past., as antibiotics alone seldom irradicate the problem. I'm sure you have done so but meloxicam and supplementing vitamin C are always beneficial with poorly pigs. Hope that's of some use.

Re: Guinea pig dental abscess

Nicola Smith — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 09:21:56 GMT

Was worried last night as when I got him back he did not move all night, and did not at and was pushing colleen away when she went to groom him but this morning he is eating breakfast. Think he was prob just stressed and sore last night. Am waiting till he has eaten breakfast before I give him his baytril though as dont want to upset him into not eating again!

I think I need to stop having pets, out of y current 5 , 4 are either ill or have long term health probs - think they see me coming!

Re: Guinea pig dental abscess

Vicky RVN — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 08:09:21 GMT

Sorry i can't be of any use, never seen it in my pigs or any others. But i hope you manage to get him sorted x

Re: Guinea pig dental abscess

NorthernLass — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 02:57:23 GMT

Poor Kevin. Hope you get some helpful posts, and he is okay long term