Guinea pig advice - dental issues

[guineaadvice]

Just back from vet with my guinea pig. Initially went to get her incisors seen to as they seemed longer than normal. He filed them down but said all of her teeth are all overgrown and she is unable to close her mouth fully to chew.

She has been eating when hand fed and seems to still be eating hay and pellets but has lost a lot of weight anyway. Also she seems very thirsty/unable to drink water as she is always soaked from drooling all down herself.

He said options were full dental operation that would have to be redone every 2 months for the rest of her life. He said this is done under general anaesthetic and that it's unlikely she'd wake up after it due to the weight loss and general unwellness. He said best option is probably to put her to sleep. I am devastated.

She is still active and eating (but losing weight) but I don't know if the operation is worth the risk? Has anyone had this? I don't know what to do but don't want to put her through anything that will cause her distress. Feeling very fragile

Anyone???

Sorry to hear this. I've no experience of piggie dental issues - my pigs have so far avoided this. How old is she? If she's fairly young I may be tempted to try an operation but for an elderly pig I'd have to think hard. You usually know what the right thing to do is. You know your pig and should trust your instincts.

One of mine had dental issues. He lived an essentially normal (but expensive) life for about three years after it was first picked up, he didn’t find the dental stressful at all, it was a light anaesthetic every now and again and he’d usually already be eating when I went to pick him up. Eventually he got scarring on his gums and we had to make a sad decision to pts. I still miss him.

Based on my experience I’d try the op but if your piggy is very unwell, I can understand why you wouldn’t,

Thank you for replies. She's only 2.5 yrs so still a baby basically! Just feels like such a tough decision, I wouldn't want to pts and risk regretting it if she would've been ok with an op. She's still well in herself, running around playing and purring away so doesn't seem unwell? Except for looking a bit on the skinny side.

I'm going to try seek out a guinea pig vet with more knowledge for a second opinion, not sure if I'm just putting off the inevitable but I'm just so conflicted right now on what's best

Definitely get A guinea pig vet specialist. We had this and gp3 had his teeth filed back. However, the vet evidently dislocated his jaw in the process. So he came back with good teeth but unable to eat or drink. I spent two months hand feeding him before we decided to have him put to sleep. It was horrible. I honestly think if it had been the cavy specialist he'd still be here now.

@millimat that's awful! I'm so sorry

I took her to a specialist on Thurs and she had a dental op on Friday and is back home recovering well. Just unsure of whether the problem will reoccur again and how soon but fingers crossed she is able to get a good few months to get her strength up before any issues crop up again!