Hi,
one of our four piggies breaks off one or both of his upper front teeth relatively frequently (4 times within the last 6 months) but there does not seem to be a medical cause. We are at a loss as to why and how. We have found ways to manage the issue (frequent monitoring of gum health and regrowth, food cut into strips when he cannot bite things off properly) and we are lucky that he is smart about finding ways to eat and has a good appetite. However, we are wondering if we just have to accept that he just loses a tooth sometimes because he is being clumsy, or if there is anything we can do to prevent it.
The piggie is male, ca. 2 years old. He is a rescue and has been with us for a year now. He has been checked thoroughly and has no long-term health issues (besides his claws growing a bit wonky). We know that genetic or dietary issues can cause teeth to be particularly weak, but this does not seem to be the case here. Our pigs have a healthy diet (continuous access to hay and water, a generous serving of varied vegetables twice a day and nutritionally complete, grain-free, high-fibre pellets as an occasional hand-fed treat). Of course, we cannot exclude genetic issues or malnutrition in his youth, however, multiple vets have confirmed there does not seem to be anything wrong with his teeth. He has a good bite, the teeth grow evenly, they have a good colour, hardness etc. We even had an x-ray done and there is absolutely no sign of weak or porous teeth. Basically, it seems that his teeth are perfectly normal, he just somehow keeps managing to break them off.
The thing is, we don't know how this happens because we have never seen it, even though we monitor them pretty closely. Oddly enough, we have never even found a tooth fragment. He is not gnawing the metal bars of the enclosure and does not seem to be particularly clumsy. He very rarely climbs on things in the enclosure and we have never seen him fall down from or land clumsily when he does. All their furniture is wooden and safe to chew on (wood, cork, cardboard). He is the boss of his herd and sometimes has a small fight or chase with the runner-up, but these are resolved quickly and without injury, not serious enough to knock out a tooth. He does express himself through teeth-chattering more frequently than other piggies when he is annoyed at something, but not excessively or in a way that seems damaging. Our best guesses currently are that he pulls some extremely clumsy move in a fight, or that he runs into something, or chews on things in a really dumb way sometimes. Are there any potential explanations we are missing? Has anyone else had a similar problem with frequent loss of apparently healthy teeth? Is there a way to prevent it or at least mitigate the risk?
one of our four piggies breaks off one or both of his upper front teeth relatively frequently (4 times within the last 6 months) but there does not seem to be a medical cause. We are at a loss as to why and how. We have found ways to manage the issue (frequent monitoring of gum health and regrowth, food cut into strips when he cannot bite things off properly) and we are lucky that he is smart about finding ways to eat and has a good appetite. However, we are wondering if we just have to accept that he just loses a tooth sometimes because he is being clumsy, or if there is anything we can do to prevent it.
The piggie is male, ca. 2 years old. He is a rescue and has been with us for a year now. He has been checked thoroughly and has no long-term health issues (besides his claws growing a bit wonky). We know that genetic or dietary issues can cause teeth to be particularly weak, but this does not seem to be the case here. Our pigs have a healthy diet (continuous access to hay and water, a generous serving of varied vegetables twice a day and nutritionally complete, grain-free, high-fibre pellets as an occasional hand-fed treat). Of course, we cannot exclude genetic issues or malnutrition in his youth, however, multiple vets have confirmed there does not seem to be anything wrong with his teeth. He has a good bite, the teeth grow evenly, they have a good colour, hardness etc. We even had an x-ray done and there is absolutely no sign of weak or porous teeth. Basically, it seems that his teeth are perfectly normal, he just somehow keeps managing to break them off.
The thing is, we don't know how this happens because we have never seen it, even though we monitor them pretty closely. Oddly enough, we have never even found a tooth fragment. He is not gnawing the metal bars of the enclosure and does not seem to be particularly clumsy. He very rarely climbs on things in the enclosure and we have never seen him fall down from or land clumsily when he does. All their furniture is wooden and safe to chew on (wood, cork, cardboard). He is the boss of his herd and sometimes has a small fight or chase with the runner-up, but these are resolved quickly and without injury, not serious enough to knock out a tooth. He does express himself through teeth-chattering more frequently than other piggies when he is annoyed at something, but not excessively or in a way that seems damaging. Our best guesses currently are that he pulls some extremely clumsy move in a fight, or that he runs into something, or chews on things in a really dumb way sometimes. Are there any potential explanations we are missing? Has anyone else had a similar problem with frequent loss of apparently healthy teeth? Is there a way to prevent it or at least mitigate the risk?
