In need of some advice.

Everyone here gives such good advice so I am looking for some input.

For the past two months I have been syringe feeding one of my guinea pigs, Fred. Some of you may remember I had a post about him not too long ago.

He had surgery on his teeth three weeks ago. The surgery and care was about $250. Things were starting to improve for him and then he just went down hill on me last week. I took him back to the vet and his teeth had overgrown again. The vet had never seen teeth grow so quick before.

She gave me three options last Friday.
1- Put him to sleep
2- Try to cut the teeth again (this the vets opinion)
3- Just let it go, which would cause him to suffer

I had no idea what to do and I felt like I needed to discuss it with my husband, considering our financial status is not that great right now. We are both students, he is working on his Masters and I am finish my BA this semester. Well the vet office is 45 minutes from where I live and there would have been no way I could have been able talk with my husband.

The vet said that if she was going to cut his teeth again, it needed to be done on Friday, since Fred was already there. I decided to go ahead and try one more time, without the consent of my husband. It was about another $150 for this time. He was not too happy with it but I think he has got over it.

It has been three days since the surgery and Fred is doing worse. He keeps loosing weight, even though I am force feeding him and he refuses to drink out of his water bottle, so I syringe feed water too. I feed and water him about 7 times a day and it takes about 30 minutes each time.

I think that I have made the wrong decision. I feel like it was selfish of me to have put him through that last week again.

I have to call the vet in the morning to let her know how he is doing and he goes back to the vet on Friday. I have a feeling that I am going to have to make the decision on Friday.

Thanks for listening.

I took him to the vet and they showed me how to trim back his teeth. Because the teeth don't line up properly they can't wear down. About once a month or so i would trim them IF they got too long. It sounds like the vet may have trimmed them too short. He won't eat or drink because they are too sensitive. You can try giving him syringes of warm water and warm baby food like peas carrots and make sure to mix in some vitamine c like orange juice. If the warm food doesn't help I would call around to other vets and get suggestions from them. Make sure the food is soft for the next week. As the teeth grow they will be less tender. Let me know what you decide because unless there are braces for guinea pigs available now, this will be a life long problem. It's your decision to make.

i'm sorry you are put in this situation. can you share a little about this different kind of furbaby? i'm interested to know what thet are like.

This sounds so strange to me, I've had three guineapigs (not at the same time) and I think all of them have needed to have their teeth "cut" at the vet's at least once, and it never caused them any problems (nor was it ever that expensive!). Their teeth were not sensitive or anything, and at the latest by the next day they were happily munching on everything they'd been eating before. I suspect something else may be going on here, not just the teeth... Or the vet doesn't really know what they're doing.

Hope Fred gets to feeling better soon, so that he can eat normally, so that his teeth won't grow as fast... It's amazing how big a difference the food you feed them makes, and if they are unable to eat hard foods, the teeth do grow really quickly (or rather are not worn down at all). Wishing you both luck!

Well, I don't have any advice to add, but I just wanted to say I'm sorry to hear he's gone down hill again. I too would say to get a second opinion, I have also had guinea pigs in the past and they had their teeth trimmed and/or filed down when they got a bit too long.

Hoping that little Fred will soon pick up again, give hime a from me!

I'm so sorry to hear about Fred! Poor little guy!! I don't have much advice either, I have never dealt with anything like this, but it is a really hard decision you have to make right now, and my thoughts and prayers are with you!!! I would say if the vet thinks he is going to continue to suffer, then putting him down would be kindest, but if they think he will get better again, then I would keep trying. Let us know what you decide!!!

Fred's back molars had completely overgrown in an arch trapping his tongue. His front teeth are not the problem it is his back molars. He has to be put under anthesia????, I have no idea how to spell it, each time to have them cut.

Due to an incompetent vet whom I had been seeing for the past two years Fred's condition got worse. The vet before had checked his teeth several times and she said they were fine. The new vet who diagnosed Fred, said that she had never seen back molars in that bad of shape before.

I am just taking it day by day with him.

Thanks for all the input.

Nikki, that does sound strange, I hope the new vet will be able to help him!! Keep us up to date