[Gpdd] health - Cocoa

[Suzy Dünser]

Hi Carla and everybody,

I think I read a thread of yours on Guinea Lynx - was there another  
person writing to you whose guinea pig had a dislocated jaw, with worn  
down cartilage? I read that thread to the end, but it never said if  
the chin sling helped her piggie or not.

We picked Cocoa up from the vet this afternoon and brought him home. I  
honestly don't know which way I'd have gone if I didn't also have  
Katie, my 7-year-old, bawling that we had to give Cocoa a chance. The  
vet is not optimistic. He showed us the x-rays - the jaw hinge is just  
in a place where there is so much bone you can't see much. The reason  
he thinks it's dislocated is that he could move it around more than he  
would expect, especially on one side. I asked about relocating it,  
either himself, or if an animal physical therapist could do it. He  
said he did try, but couldn't do it. He suspects that if it is  
dislocated, that it happened a number of days ago, and he said with  
these things you have to put them back right away or scarring develops  
that makes it impossible later.

Cocoa himself is not seeming very fantastic at the moment. He did get  
some subcutaneous fluids at the vet, so his eyes look normal again,  
but he's breathing very fast and doesn't seem relaxed, even when he's  
not moving. The vet thought his jaw wasn't causing him much pain now  
(although he said it would have when it first happened - how did I  
miss this??), as he had manipulated it a bit while Cocoa was  
conscious, and he didn't really resist. But just in case, I have  
Metacam to give him each day (one drop in with the food syringe). I'll  
do my best to get enough food and fluids into him, and see how he goes  
over the next few days. The vet said his jaw may stiffen up (this  
would be a bad thing), so I'll be watching for that. It's all pretty  
horrible. I don't want him to suffer, but I do want to give him a  
chance...

I didn't even ask - has anyone ever had a piggy with a dislocated jaw?

Fingers and paws crossed for a miracle,
Suzy, Rocky, and Cocoa


On 25/03/2008, at 3:55 PM, cmartinez36 at comcast.net wrote:

> Oh my goodness Suzy. Poor little Cocoa. A dislocated jaw. At first I  
> thought it would be something fixable, because all I know is that  
> humans get that and it gets fixed....but reading on in your post I  
> learned that it is something different for gpigs. Sorry I know  
> nothing about that.
>
> All I can tell you about the chin sling is that we got ours about  
> three years ago from the girl in Canada who invented them. I found  
> her on Guinea Lynx. She knows a lot about guinea pig teeth problems,  
> and is willing to share her info. She custom-made it, shipped the  
> sling to me via Fed Ex, and I paid extra to get the sling  
> overnighted. She was very good about communicating with me via  
> email, and answering all my emails and questions. Having said that,  
> for my guinea pig Snowball it seemed incredibly painful to wear the  
> sling. He had to wear it for several hours a day. It has to be very  
> tight to be effective. I would not do it again without pain meds.  
> However the girl is knowledgeable and communicative and it may be  
> worth it to explain Cocoa's problem and see what she thinks. My vet  
> believes that the sling did help Snowball somewhat.
>
> It sounds like you share the opinion my veterinarian has, that  
> quality of life is everything for our little pets. To live with  
> syringe fed foods sounds miserable, as a way of life. They can't  
> understand why things are a certain way.
>
> Well we send you our thoughts and prayers that you are able to  
> access all the info you need, and the best people to do what needs  
> to be done, and that Cocoa does not have to suffer.
>
> Thank you too for the good wishes for Apache. He is a good little  
> guinea pig, a sweet guy, and thank goodness he is doing well! I just  
> hope he is able to stay that way...We'll be waiting to hear more  
> about Cocoa.
>
> All best,
> Carla
> -------------- Original message ----------------------
> From: Suzy Dünser <suzy at dunser.com>
>>  I just got a phone call from the vet following Cocoa's dental exam
>> under anaesthesia and x-rays. He thinks Cocoa has a dislocated jaw.  
>> He
>> couldn't confirm it in the x-ray, but that's what he felt when he
>> manipulated his jaw. According to him this is not fixable. He said  
>> the
>> back molars were a tiny bit overgrown, but not enough to be causing
>> any problems. After each thing he said he just kind of stopped and
>> waited, which made it really clear that while he wasn't going to be
>> the one to say it, that he thought the only option is to put him to
>> sleep. I said, "So the only way to keep him alive will be to syringe
>> feed him forever and get his teeth trimmed?" He said pretty much,  
>> yes.
>> I asked if I could bring him home and try feeding him for a few days
>> on the off chance that this isn't what's going on, and he said he
>> could send him home with some painkillers and I could try. When I
>> talked to Tom just now, he thought that it wasn't humane to keep  
>> Cocoa
>> alive with this being the situation. I don't know if the actual
>> dislocation is also painful; if it is, does that mean that I've been
>> hurting him by making him move his jaw to deal with the food I'm
>> syringing in??
>>
>> I read on the guinea lynx site about using a chin sling for a
>> misaligned jaw, but misaligned and dislocated are not the same
>> thing... also I doubt I can get a chin sling here. I'm going to bring
>> the printout with me when we go to the vet's at 4:30 today. Tom is
>> meeting us there. I don't want to put Cocoa to sleep without hearing
>> from you guys what you think (you're probably all asleep now), but
>> part of me is dreading that you're going to tell me about people that
>> could fix it, or devices I could use, etc, except for the fact that
>> where I am I don't know of anyone who does these things or where I  
>> can
>> get something like a chin sling etc.
>>
>> Miserably,
>> Suzy
>