[Gpdd] Health: Dislocated jaw

[Heather Hairston]

Hi,
 
I haven't written to the Digest many times - usually just a reader - but Cocoa's dislocated jaw struck a personal note with me.  
We had a pig, Zeke, who was acting like he wasn't feeling well, and wasn't eating as well as usual.  We took him to the vet (we have no vets here that are knowledgeable or
experienced with exotics, rodents, etc.)  I suggested that maybe his teeth needed trimmed, because they looked a bit over-long.  I'm certain that the vet
returned Zeke to us with a dislocated jaw.  He apparently had some type of abscess in the back of his mouth, according to the vet, but after they attempted to trim his teeth, his jaw was open and completely immobile.  I called the vet (very upset!) and told them that I thought his jaw had been dislocated when they trimmed the teeth, but they acted like I was crazy.  Zeke died after about two days, and seemed very miserable in the meantime. He was only just over a year old.  I know this story isn't encouraging at all, but from this one experience, I know that I would choose to have him put to sleep earlier on if I could do it over again.  I believe that chewing and eating are so important to a guinea pig, that even if we could have prolonged his life by syringe feeding him (we had almost no luck feeding him this way), it would only be a matter of time.
Wish I had a more positive experience to share, but I hope this information helps you as you try to weigh your options and decide what is the best thing to do.
 
Sincerely,
Heather with Pepper, Dude, and Kitty

 

 
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