[Gpdd] [Health] Doris Visits the Vet

[pat schuett]

Hi all,

I wanted to report on my visit to the vet yesterday
with little Doris.

I had printed out a pile of material supplied by GPDD
people (from GuineaLynx, Peter Gurney's website, etc.)
to take with me.  The vet checked Doris out quite
thoroughly and looked at her teeth with an otoscope;
there were definitely some spiky points on her bottom
molars.  The vet had never done piggie teeth without
anesthetic, but after reading the printouts I had
brought, she said she would give it a try.

Unfortunately, they did end up using some anesthetic,
mostly because they did not have the right
cheek-spreader thingie (they thought they might be
able to use a rabbit one, but of course it was too
big). (In the meantime, I have found a website selling
these devices from Arizona, and I am going to order
two of them so I can give one to the vet if there's a
"next time", and still have one in case I change
vets.)

I was sooo relieved that Doris does not seem to be
showing any ill effects from the anesthetic (at least
so far); as soon as I got her and Audrey (her pig
buddy who had come along for moral support) home and
back in the cage, she started munching on hay.  I
syringed a little Critical Care into her before I had
to leave for work and gave them a plate of finely
chopped vegetables which they were tucking into as I
left.  (The vet had suggested I keep her on soft food
for a few days, though I'm fudging that a little now
by giving her pellets softened with a little warm
water.)

She is eating better but still not nearly at her usual
level (hopefully that will improve in the next few
days).  The vet weighed her and I was horrified to
hear that she had lost quite a bit of weight;
obviously she has been gradually cutting back on
pellets for a while and Audrey was just cleaning up
the excess without me noticing.  I am definitely going
to have to get an accurate scale for the piggies and
keep better track of this in the future!

Thanks so much for all your help and support --- I
will keep you posted on her progress.

                                               Pat

                                                

 


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