Swallowing problem...dental or something else?

[ripminnie]

Olly seems to be having difficulty swallowing he is perfectly fine apart from this. He's still eating, drinking, pooping, running round, but when he eats he stops before he swallows, and sometimes makes a little noise. His breathing sounds fine too. I am taking him to the vets tonight, but do you think it sounds like a dental problem or maybe somethings got a bit stuck somewhere? I thought at first he might have some fur in his throat as he was sat there and kept swallowing. He had wet greens last night and pellets this morning, ate both with normal enthusiasm :?

 

[Jack's-Jane]

Without examining him it's impossible to say. Dental issues might be involved, but it would be an unusual presentation of symptoms.

Personally I would want to get him to a Vet this morning if at all possible. If there is an issue in his throat I think the sooner it is addressed the better.

Good luck xx

 

[GrahamL]

Agree with Jane - think earlier rather than this evening if at all possible, i know thats not always easy though. Knowing Olly has a history of a head-tilt and it is more prominent at times, i would possibly think it may have something to do with the way perhaps his throat is tilted as his head is maybe? Just a random idea, may be well off the case. I guess it could be dental - almost like the way buns chew even though they aren't eating kind of thing?

 

[ripminnie]

I am at work until 6 so can't take him earlier if he appeared to be struggling I would have rung in sick, but he seems happy in himself. OH will be home at lunchtime to check on him. I'll let you know how we get on later.

 

[tasherd]

I think you should definitely take him to the vet also I would recommend not to give them wet greens it can upset there stomach. Are you giving him unlimited amounts of hay, hay should make up most of there diet and see if you can get flavoured wooden chews, they sell them in Wilkinsons and other pet stores to help wear his teeth down.

 

[GrahamL]

I think you should definitely take him to the vet also I would recommend not to give them wet greens it can upset there stomach. Are you giving him unlimited amounts of hay, hay should make up most of there diet and see if you can get flavoured wooden chews, they sell them in Wilkinsons and other pet stores to help wear his teeth down.

Wet greens are fine in moderation :wave: ripminnie is quite an experienced owner, which i know you may not be aware of, just wanted to let you know

 

[ripminnie]

Wet greens are fine in moderation :wave: ripminnie is quite an experienced owner, which i know you may not be aware of, just wanted to let you know

:lol: thanks Graham :wave:

 

[GrahamL]

:lol: thanks Graham :wave:

No Probs :wave:

Now go get me more pics of Olly & Honey

 

[ripminnie]

I think you should definitely take him to the vet also I would recommend not to give them wet greens it can upset there stomach. Are you giving him unlimited amounts of hay, hay should make up most of there diet and see if you can get flavoured wooden chews, they sell them in Wilkinsons and other pet stores to help wear his teeth down.

Hiya, thanks for your input, my buns always have their greens wet, it's fine if they are used to it :wave: they have tons of hay permanently and plenty of things to chew

 

[ripminnie]

No Probs :wave:

Now go get me more pics of Olly & Honey

After work and the vet trip!! When Olly is not worrying me... :wave:

 

[thumps_]

I think it's definitely a trip to the vet Ripminni.

I can add to the possibilities. Thumper once managed to eat a 3" strand of cotton string when free ranging in the garden (Goodness knows how it got there cos I don't use it) & had difficulty swallowing his saliva but was otherwise fine. It passed straight through uneventfully, appearing as an 11 poop necklace a day later.:shock:
With nothing to see on examination, the vet wondered if he'd scratched his throat on something eg a sharp piece of hay?

Everything crossed for Ollie. Please let us know how you get on.

 

[ripminnie]

I think it's definitely a trip to the vet Ripminni.

I can add to the possibilities. Thumper once managed to eat a 3" strand of cotton string when free ranging in the garden (Goodness knows how it got there cos I don't use it) & had difficulty swallowing his saliva but was otherwise fine. It passed straight through uneventfully, appearing as an 11 poop necklace a day later.:shock:
With nothing to see on examination, the vet wondered if he'd scratched his throat on something eg a sharp piece of hay?

Everything crossed for Ollie. Please let us know how you get on.

Thanks Thumps, I hope it's soon resolved. If the vet can't see anything though I don't know what to do! OH has actually just been home and said he seems fine, but there must be something wrong! I'll have to inspect the poops closely!

 

[thumps_]

Thanks Thumps, I hope it's soon resolved. If the vet can't see anything though I don't know what to do! OH has actually just been home and said he seems fine, but there must be something wrong! I'll have to inspect the poops closely!

I think a piece of string would take a bit longer to come through.

Thumper had a course of ABx in case he'd scratched his throat which would have made him vulnerable to a nasty infection.
Pretty Lupin's Poppy did something similar when she got a fright when eating, & swallowed before she'd chewed her food properly. She also had a course of ABx (Sorry I can't remember the thread title - it was a long time ago)

Once the gullet is clear, the symptoms stop, & it's just waiting for it to come through. I add that both Thumper & Poppy were incredibly stasis prone & neither had any probs at all.

Please try not to worry.

 

[ripminnie]

We've been to the vets, the only thing the vet could see was that Olly's teeth were growing more on one side than the other, probably due to his head tilt. They didn't look to be causing a problem in his mouth at the moment, although obviously we don't know for sure. It might be that or it might be something else. He has had a metacam injection in case anything is inflamed in his mouth or throat, and I can give him more tomorrow if needs be. But he seems perfectly fine! He's still pausing for a second before he swallows, but isn't making a noise anymore. I'll keep you all updated as to how he's getting on. Thanks for all your posts :wave:

 

[thumps_]

Thank you for updating us Ripminnie.
I'm hoping for a speedy & uneventful recovery.

 

[ripminnie]

Thank you for updating us Ripminnie.
I'm hoping for a speedy & uneventful recovery.

Thanks :wave: the vet said that it will be best to book Olly in for a dental soon just to be on the safe side. I think Honey may need one soon too so they can both go together!

 

[thumps_]

I'm wondering how Olly is, & what happened? I've probably missed a subsequent thread cos I'm not on here much these days.

Also to give you a tip for Olly if his head tilt is due to EC. I had an amazing vet for Thumper.
Thumper had a long standing +titer for EC but no signs of the disease whatsoever.
When he was admitted ater 36 hours of stasis, he had a low WBC. Marie said this was purely due to pain but it was suppressing his immune system & this could potentially activate the EC. So he had a course of panacure for 9 days.

So my advice to you for Olly is that should he get a painful illness in the future, not only does he need pain relief, but a short course of panacure at the beginning, could stop reactivation of his EC.

 

[ripminnie]

Thank you Thumps, I'm so sorry, I've only just seen your post! Olly was fine again in a couple of days, no strange poops or anything, so I don't know what caused it. As for his head tilt, I suspect it is due to EC although I don't know for certain. He is panacured regularly and if he seems to be worsening he has antibiotics too. He's my brave little soldier! I love him so much

I'm wondering how Olly is, & what happened? I've probably missed a subsequent thread cos I'm not on here much these days.

Also to give you a tip for Olly if his head tilt is due to EC. I had an amazing vet for Thumper.
Thumper had a long standing +titer for EC but no signs of the disease whatsoever.
When he was admitted ater 36 hours of stasis, he had a low WBC. Marie said this was purely due to pain but it was suppressing his immune system & this could potentially activate the EC. So he had a course of panacure for 9 days.

So my advice to you for Olly is that should he get a painful illness in the future, not only does he need pain relief, but a short course of panacure at the beginning, could stop reactivation of his EC.

 

[Neleh]

I'm glad he is doing well

When he was admitted ater 36 hours of stasis, he had a low WBC. Marie said this was purely due to pain but it was suppressing his immune system & this could potentially activate the EC. So he had a course of panacure for 9 days.
So my advice to you for Olly is that should he get a painful illness in the future, not only does he need pain relief, but a short course of panacure at the beginning, could stop reactivation of his EC.

I will take note of this as I too have an EC survivor in my care and I would hate to find him overtaken by it again... I feel the need to write an EC help sheet with info on getting them better and things like this that you have to think about forever as it is so hard to find the info you need.

 

[prettylupin]

I'm wondering how Olly is, & what happened? I've probably missed a subsequent thread cos I'm not on here much these days.

Also to give you a tip for Olly if his head tilt is due to EC. I had an amazing vet for Thumper.
Thumper had a long standing +titer for EC but no signs of the disease whatsoever.
When he was admitted ater 36 hours of stasis, he had a low WBC. Marie said this was purely due to pain but it was suppressing his immune system & this could potentially activate the EC. So he had a course of panacure for 9 days.

So my advice to you for Olly is that should he get a painful illness in the future, not only does he need pain relief, but a short course of panacure at the beginning, could stop reactivation of his EC.

This is very interesting. My vet is very pro a quarterly dose of fenbendazole in order to control EC symptoms and to help control any other parasites specifically coccidiosis. He says he has noticed improvement in some GI stasis prone buns without any other symptoms other than a positive EC titre - it seems to control stasis bouts in these EC exposed buns in his experience. I've always been very anti this following all the controversial discussions re. EC and treatment/prevention but am considering doing the 9 days esp for coccidiosis, which of course can be brought into the garden through pigeons and other birds as we do have a lot of these in our garden. This is just my vet's anecdotal evidence but he believes he has seen an improvement in EC reactivation with regular use of panacur.