[Gpdd] What's Wrong With Doris??? Maybe Teeth?

[pat schuett]

Hi there,

I've been on the list for several years, soaking up
all the experience and wisdom here, but haven't posted
very frequently.  I have three guinea pigs, Doris,
Audrey and Olivia; Doris and Audrey have been with me
about three years and I knew their previous owner, who
acquired them from a shelter as adults, so they are at
least four or five but true age is unknown.  (Olivia I
adopted as an adolescent about six months ago.)

Doris is normally the boss pig, but yesterday morning
she seemed just not her usual feisty self.  She had
eaten the breakfast salad as usual, though, so I
wasn't too worried.  Yesterday afternoon when I got
home from work, though, she was REALLY quiet, just
hiding in her pigloo; she did come out for the
afternoon salad but then went right back into the
pigloo where she stayed for most of the evening.  She
came out for floor time but when I gave them their red
pepper reward for going back into the cage, she ate
some then went back into the pigloo before it was even
all gone.  THAT really got my attention; red pepper is
her favourite thing in the world.

Doris has had urinary issues in the past, but there is
no sign of that this time --- her bottom isn't wet and
she doesn't smell of urine (usually the first signs of
a problem with her).  I felt her lower body, too, and
she didn't seem sensitive anywhere.  Aside from her
being so quiet and not eating as well as usual, I
can't see any other clear signs of what might be
wrong.

I had some metacam left over from one of her bad
urinary infections, so I did give her a dose of that
last night (the one thing that drives me crazy is the
thought of them being in pain).  Whether from that or
something else, she seemed more like herself overnight
and this morning --- not "normal", but not hiding in
the pigloo and eating a bit better.

I am planning to take her to the vet tomorrow, but my
regular vet (the only one I really trust with piggies
locally) is on maternity leave and I'm not that
impressed with her replacement.  Usually I have some
idea of what's wrong and can suggest particular tests
or something to check out, but this time I really have
no idea.  

My only suspicion is that it might be something to do
with her teeth --- she definitely is not eating many
pellets and though I've seen her nibble at hay, she's
also not eating much of that. (She and Audrey are also
serious cage-bar-shakers when they want something, and
the past day, she will rear up against the bars but I
notice she does not actually grab the bars with her
teeth as she usually does.) That terrifies me, because
I seriously doubt if there is a vet around here who
has any experience with guinea pig teeth (mostly
because the average piggie owner around here would
consider it insane to pay for that). 

I've seen people posting recently about doing guinea
pig dentistry without anesthetic --- could someone
describe to me in as much detail as possible how this
is done (so I can pass it on to the vet if necessary)?
Also if anyone has any other ideas as to other avenues
to check or observe, please share!!!

TIA!

                                         Pat S.


      Be smarter than spam. See how smart SpamGuard is at giving junk email the boot with the All-new Yahoo! Mail.  Click on Options in Mail and switch to New Mail today or register for free at http://mail.yahoo.ca