Beorn and the Great Dental Debacle

For those playing along at home, Beorn is still not back to normal, but we identified the problem. He stopped eating this past weekend. He didn’t seem like he was in pain, but he couldn’t take anything into his mouth. And he wasn’t walking around a lot. I gave him 60 ml of critical care each day, and he dribbled a lot of it out of his mouth.

I was in a complete panic and called our normal vet Monday morning. Would he see him again because now he wasn’t eating at all? They told me to bring him in immediately. I had been up since 4:45 am, so I emailed them my notes before I left so he could read them and watch a video I made of Beorn trying to eat.

He came out 15 minutes after he took him back and apologized. He didn’t know how he (and the other guinea pig specialist) missed it, but Beorn’s teeth had grown over his tongue, trapping it. This was actually good news because it’s a common problem with a fix, and the vet only needed to sedate him (vs. put him under). I could leave him and come back for him in the afternoon, and while he would need critical care until he was back to normal, he would be able to eat again soon.

What solved the problem? The detailed notes. By seeing that day-to-day account of what happened, he knew where to look for the problem. The note about the critical care dribbling out was a red flag for his back teeth. It pays to be a little bit bonkers and journal obsessively about your pig.

It’s a testament to how much Beorn loves food because he continued to ask for it, even when he couldn’t eat it. And he sat next to it, sniffing it, even when he couldn’t move his tongue. My sweet boy is getting whatever he wants as we build up his weight, including a smörgåsbord of hay varieties and baby food.

He is my best pig boy, and I love him so much.