Possible sore mouth?

[Jemima]

I fed Pip this evening one of his favourite treats - a little bit of carrot stick. But he hasn't eaten it. He went to try, but it's like perhaps his mouth was sore, as he was trying this angle and that, almost rubbing his chin on it . He ate the lettuce and soft herbs... I will see how he goes tomorrow with another crunchy treat. Does this sound familiar to anyone having seen it with their own piggy?
P.S. He is doing the same with baby corn that I tried and also green pepper!
AND - I have noticed more squeaking with the other boar bothering him a bit... but they stayed in the C&C for much longer today because grass was wet.

 

[Chickenpies]

If you are concerned, it’s best to visit a vet just incase! Hope he’s okay

 

[Jemima]

If you are concerned, it’s best to visit a vet just incase! Hope he’s okay

Yes. If he is the same tomorrow, I'll take him. He's eating hay right now happily...

 

[weepweeps]

Bless. Hope he’s ok tomorrow.

 

[Wiebke]

I fed Pip this evening one of his favourite treats - a little bit of carrot stick. But he hasn't eaten it. He went to try, but it's like perhaps his mouth was sore, as he was trying this angle and that, almost rubbing his chin on it . He ate the lettuce and soft herbs... I will see how he goes tomorrow with another crunchy treat. Does this sound familiar to anyone having seen it with their own piggy?
P.S. He is doing the same with baby corn that I tried and also green pepper!
AND - I have noticed more squeaking with the other boar bothering him a bit... but they stayed in the C&C for much longer today because grass was wet.

Hi!

Please a vet for potential dental overgrowth or fungal mouth infection (oral thrush) if you have any doubts and if your piggy continues to be very picky with especially harder foods and is losing weight steadily or increasingly faster.

Switch from the usual once weekly life-long weigh in to weighing daily at the same time. Please keep in mind that around 80% of the daily food intake should be hay, which you cannot control by eye. It is the very abrasive silica in the hay/grass fibre which grinds down the crucial back teeth but it is the first food group that is dropped when a piggy has toothache. Only your kitchen scales will give you an up to date answer about what is going on with the food intake. The poo output is running about 1-2 days behind, depending on how well the gut is working.

You will need to step in with syringe feed if the weight loss surpasses 50g. If you do not have recovery formula at home, you can improvise with mushed up pellets for the time being but you will have to cut off the tip of the syringe with scissors just below where it widens so you can still sold the plunger in but allow the much rougher fibre strands to pass. Replacing the hay fibre that make up breakfast, lunch and dinner in a healthy guinea pig diet is very important. Your support care at home can make all the difference until you can have a piggy seen and until any treatment has done its work.

Here is more information on to support an ill guinea pig and how soon to see a vet:
Weight - Monitoring and Management
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

 

[Jemima]

Hi!

Please a vet for potential dental overgrowth or fungal mouth infection (oral thrush) if you have any doubts and if your piggy continues to be very picky with especially harder foods and is losing weight steadily or increasingly faster.

Switch from the usual once weekly life-long weigh in to weighing daily at the same time. Please keep in mind that around 80% of the daily food intake should be hay, which you cannot control by eye. It is the very abrasive silica in the hay/grass fibre which grinds down the crucial back teeth but it is the first food group that is dropped when a piggy has toothache. Only your kitchen scales will give you an up to date answer about what is going on with the food intake. The poo output is running about 1-2 days behind, depending on how well the gut is working.

You will need to step in with syringe feed if the weight loss surpasses 50g. If you do not have recovery formula at home, you can improvise with mushed up pellets for the time being but you will have to cut off the tip of the syringe with scissors just below where it widens so you can still sold the plunger in but allow the much rougher fibre strands to pass. Replacing the hay fibre that make up breakfast, lunch and dinner in a healthy guinea pig diet is very important. Your support care at home can make all the difference until you can have a piggy seen and until any treatment has done its work.

Here is more information on to support an ill guinea pig and how soon to see a vet:
Weight - Monitoring and Management
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

Thank you. I will take him to the vet tomorrow as it is very unlike him not to eat a bit of carrot or corn. I was happy that he at least ate the soft greens. But I do suspect a dental issue.

 

[Wiebke]

Thank you. I will take him to the vet tomorrow as it is very unlike him not to eat a bit of carrot or corn. I was happy that he at least ate the soft greens. But I do suspect a dental issue.

Please control the food intake with your scales. Only they will give you a true picture.

You can have a look at the front teeth; if they are slanted, jagged or growing inwards and no longer self-sharpening against each other, then it can be an indication of a problem in the mouth.

 

[Merab]

Hope the vet can see him tomorrow and find out what the problem is.
Holding you in my thoughts

 

[Jemima]

Hope the vet can see him tomorrow and find out what the problem is.
Holding you in my thoughts

Thank you. The rescue is advising me of a specialist vet to take him to... so fingers crossed.

 

[Jemima]

Hi!

Please a vet for potential dental overgrowth or fungal mouth infection (oral thrush) if you have any doubts and if your piggy continues to be very picky with especially harder foods and is losing weight steadily or increasingly faster.

Switch from the usual once weekly life-long weigh in to weighing daily at the same time. Please keep in mind that around 80% of the daily food intake should be hay, which you cannot control by eye. It is the very abrasive silica in the hay/grass fibre which grinds down the crucial back teeth but it is the first food group that is dropped when a piggy has toothache. Only your kitchen scales will give you an up to date answer about what is going on with the food intake. The poo output is running about 1-2 days behind, depending on how well the gut is working.

You will need to step in with syringe feed if the weight loss surpasses 50g. If you do not have recovery formula at home, you can improvise with mushed up pellets for the time being but you will have to cut off the tip of the syringe with scissors just below where it widens so you can still sold the plunger in but allow the much rougher fibre strands to pass. Replacing the hay fibre that make up breakfast, lunch and dinner in a healthy guinea pig diet is very important. Your support care at home can make all the difference until you can have a piggy seen and until any treatment has done its work.

Here is more information on to support an ill guinea pig and how soon to see a vet:
Weight - Monitoring and Management
Not Eating, Weight Loss And The Importance Of Syringe Feeding Fibre
Emergency, Crisis and Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment

I saw a vet this morning - Pip has broken his two top incisors! How on earth did he do that? I have checked the bars on both his run and cage and can't find any sign of chewing - never see or hear bar chewing. I just can't figure it out. It must have happened yesterday or the night before.... Very perplexing!

Plan A is that I take care of him at home, daily pain relief, daily weighing, daily soft food and have critical care syringe stuff, too. Hopefully the broken teeth fall out on their own as the new growth makes way. Plan B is that is he is losing any weight at all, and the teeth don't fall out, I will take him back to have an anaesthetic so that she can remove the teeth for him.

Just thought I would post an update.

P.S He absolutely loved his pain relief - licked his lips! And seems happy and fine in himself.

 

[Piggies&buns]

Oh poor Pip. I hope he is ok

 

[Swissgreys]

So glad he saw a vet so quickly.

Broken front teeth is not uncommon in piggies and they usually grow back in fairly quickly on their own.
They shouldn't fall out - just grow back.
If they grow back unevenly they might need a trim, but they shouldn't need removing unless there is another underlying issue.
If you remove them the bottom teeth will have nothing to wear against and will constantly overgrow and need regular dental treatments, so I would definitely recommend seeing a dental specialist before any form of tooth removal.
Plus your piggy will always struggle to pick up food, which will make feeding an ongoing issue.

Ruby breaks hers fairly often andI find feeding veggies cut into long, thin strips that she can pick up more easily helps.
She will also happily eat her regular pellets made into mush and left in a bowl in her cage.

 

[Jemima]

So glad he saw a vet so quickly.

Broken front teeth is not uncommon in piggies and they usually grow back in fairly quickly on their own.
They shouldn't fall out - just grow back.
If they grow back unevenly they might need a trim, but they shouldn't need removing unless there is another underlying issue.
If you remove them the bottom teeth will have nothing to wear against and will constantly overgrow and need regular dental treatments, so I would definitely recommend seeing a dental specialist before any form of tooth removal.
Plus your piggy will always struggle to pick up food, which will make feeding an ongoing issue.

Ruby breaks hers fairly often andI find feeding veggies cut into long, thin strips that she can pick up more easily helps.
She will also happily eat her regular pellets made into mush and left in a bowl in her cage.

Ah thank you for this! I am SO relieved it is not something long term or something more severe.

Last night I had given him soft pellets that I'd popped in a bit of water to soak them, which he ate all of. And I also thinly sliced everything and he ate all of that this morning. He's happily out on the lawn right now. It is very good that grass and hay are not a problem for him. I'll make sure they have extra top ups!

Helpful to know about the removal not being the best option, and that they will hopefully just sort themselves out.

How do you think they break them?

 

[Jemima]

Ah thank you for this! I am SO relieved it is not something long term or something more severe.

Last night I had given him soft pellets that I'd popped in a bit of water to soak them, which he ate all of. And I also thinly sliced everything and he ate all of that this morning. He's happily out on the lawn right now. It is very good that grass and hay are not a problem for him. I'll make sure they have extra top ups!

Helpful to know about the removal not being the best option, and that they will hopefully just sort themselves out.

How do you think they break them?

Also I think they have broken right at the top by the gum. She said they are very wobbly and unstable...

 

[Wiebke]

Also I think they have broken right at the top by the gum. She said they are very wobbly and unstable...

Hi!

Incisors are actually about 4 cm long; they are the longest guinea pig teeth that run along the upper and lower jaw to the roots just in front of the grinding back teeth.

If they are wobbly, it means that there is another break somewhere further back that has not yet grown out and that your boy cannot put much pressure on the stumps. He may have either run into something at full speed or fallen on his face and not just snapped his teeth on the bars. Accidents to happen. Snapped incisors are something we are contacted over quite regularly.

You may want to keep an eye on the lower incisors re. overgrowth, especially if they cannot self-sharpen well against the growing out upper incisors which are wobbly. It will take a bit longer to sort itself out and you may have another set of broken teeth as the hidden break is growing out. But the good news is that this should eventually settle all down again.

 

[Jemima]

Hi!

Incisors are actually about 4 cm long; they are the longest guinea pig teeth that run along the upper and lower jaw to the roots just in front of the grinding back teeth.

If they are wobbly, it means that there is another break somewhere further back that has not yet grown out and that your boy cannot put much pressure on the stumps. He may have either run into something at full speed or fallen on his face and not just snapped his teeth on the bars. Accidents to happen. Snapped incisors are something we are contacted over quite regularly.

You may want to keep an eye on the lower incisors re. overgrowth, especially if they cannot self-sharpen well against the growing out upper incisors which are wobbly. It will take a bit longer to sort itself out and you may have another set of broken teeth as the hidden break is growing out. But the good news is that this should eventually settle all down again.

Thank you for the helpful info. I will be sure to give him all the TLC required to get him back into good health.

 

[Swissgreys]

Ah thank you for this! I am SO relieved it is not something long term or something more severe.

Last night I had given him soft pellets that I'd popped in a bit of water to soak them, which he ate all of. And I also thinly sliced everything and he ate all of that this morning. He's happily out on the lawn right now. It is very good that grass and hay are not a problem for him. I'll make sure they have extra top ups!

Helpful to know about the removal not being the best option, and that they will hopefully just sort themselves out.

How do you think they break them?

Ruby snaps hers by biting the cage bars for attention.
She is an older piggy now (5.5 years) and stands up at the bars and is a little less steady than she once was.
It's difficult, but usually they grow out again in less than a week.
Last time it happened she did need a dental as they didin't all grow back in perfectly straight, but a quick trim of the new teeth (and the overgrown bottom teeth) sorted it all out.

 

[Jemima]

Ruby snaps hers by biting the cage bars for attention.
She is an older piggy now (5.5 years) and stands up at the bars and is a little less steady than she once was.
It's difficult, but usually they grow out again in less than a week.
Last time it happened she did need a dental as they didn't all grow back in perfectly straight, but a quick trim of the new teeth (and the overgrown bottom teeth) sorted it all out.

Ruby snaps hers by biting the cage bars for attention.
She is an older piggy now (5.5 years) and stands up at the bars and is a little less steady than she once was.
It's difficult, but usually they grow out again in less than a week.
Last time it happened she did need a dental as they didin't all grow back in perfectly straight, but a quick trim of the new teeth (and the overgrown bottom teeth) sorted it all out.

I emailed the vet just to be completely sure and it appears that his teeth are actually unstable (there is blood at the top of his gums), but she couldn't see the break below the gum-line. So his teeth are still there but unstable! Eek!