Guinea Pig Poorly

Question
QUESTION: hi there,
when my husband and i got back from our honeymoon one of our piggies had soft stools. this went on for a few days so i took him to the vet. they gave him sachet of powder to put on his food, which he ate bits of.  his stools didnt improve so i took him to a better vets and they gave him antibiotics and a carrot flavor fibre paste in a tube.  then a week later he had lost loads of weight and stopped eating completely.  took him to the vets and he stayed in for 2 days whilst they hydrated and fed him thru a syringe.  they noticed his teeth at the back were a bit messy one side so they filed them down.  this helped his eating for a short time but deteriorated and stopped eating again.  he went back again and had them filed again and also the front ones and i asked for an xray as his jaw was making weird movements and he had trouble chewing on the righthand side.  the xray was clear and the filing of the teeth helped his eating again.  His stools improved slightly (to the right shape but very thin) but now they have gone back to runny, he is depressed its very upsetting.  he wants to eat but has problems eating bigger pieces of food.  he has to put his paw on the spinach or curly kale to break bits off rather than nibble them off.  i syringe feed him every night at 2am and at 6am before work.  he wont eat hay!!! he sits there hunched with sad eyes and is still skinny.  i have done everything i can but i cant give up on him.  i have also blended food / grain / hay into a blender but he gets fed up with it. please help me. thank you - sorry its so long

ANSWER: Hi
congrats on your wedding :)
Its not the filing down of the teeth,it is more than likely the molars right at the back where you cant see that have grown spurs on them which stick out of the tooth right into the tongue or cheek making it very painful for your piggy to eat.
The only way to treat spurs is to file them right off using buccal pad separators and a good vet.
Try to get a powder called revovery and make it up into a consistency likeketchup. Offer this to your boy using a syringe.
Take him back to the vet and ask for the molars to be looked at using the buccal pad separators,your vet will NOT need to gas your piggy to file the teeth.It will be distressing for the piggy but he should be able to eat cucumber or melon to begin with straight away!
Also buy some DIORALYTE used to replace salts and electrolytes in people who have had diarrhoea.Using the syring will get this stuff into him ok but go in sideways across the mouth rather than staight down the throat as you dont want to choke him

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hi thank you for your reply!

My piggie has had his back teeth (molars) filed right down, they found spikey ones - they just rang me now to say that they have filed more down and they didnt use gas any of the times that they done it.  we have also been using recovery.  

he also prefers water to food - he is constantly taking the water through the syringe.  the vet said that they just gave him a choice over the food or water and he took the water, this worries me.

i will by some dioralyte - thank you for that.

i am so worried for him. i am picking him up tonight.  i just wanted a second opinion.  should i ask for them to check his kidneys and also for diabetes?

thanks for your time

Answer
Hi
well I am pleased they have filed the spurs down :)
You say he wont take food but if you make the recovery like thin gruel he might take it. Try cooked mashed cool carrot or melon for the water content.
You can also try chinchilla pellets from the pet shop.Buy the least weight possible in case he wont eat them.
Make using boiled kettle water to a crumbly consistancy and offer that when its cooled down a bit.
Cucumber is good too as its nice an soft