guinea pig food stuck in teeth
He won’t want to eat because it hurts. Very quickly, a guinea pig with scurvy will develop malocclusion problems with its teeth.
Many guinea pigs have been misdiagnosed and the malocclusion has gone untreated. Dentist Longmont CO. Your guinea pig needs your sharp eyes and overall awareness to tell whether he’s having painful dental issues. Is he acting bothered about it in any way? To get an idea of the general length of incisors (which will vary from one guinea pig to another), see the Broken Teeth page. Guinea pig should be able to wear the teeth down by chewing on hard materials like twigs. Does he chew (carrots in particular) and let little pieces drop out of his mouth? Typically, a guinea pig has 20 teeth. Any of these may indicate a problem with your guinea pig’s teeth, and a visit to the veterinarian is needed. Fat pads in the cheeks cover up the molars in the back of the mouth making them hard to examine. Without proper tooth care, guinea pigs can develop cuts, sores, abscesses or overlong teeth that interfere with eating. Malocclusion, or misalignment of the teeth, can happen in guinea pigs. Physical examination is often done under anesthetic, although an initial examination may be done without anesthetic. Chewing on grass is hard work, and the teeth are constantly being worn down by the combination of silica and fiber. Is the treatment for elongated roots the same as for overgrown molars? Does your guinea pig seem to work at chewing like he has something caught in his mouth that he or she is trying to unstick? Infections may develop. Once the teeth are loose, they start to hurt, and the guinea pig may start to prefer eating soft foods and avoid its hay. Is there discharge from the eyes or nose (can indicate an abscess)?
I could also try a brand new human toothbrush to brush the food out if that would be good and safe. You must log in or register to reply here. Teeth may need to be extracted, and treatments with antibiotics, anti-inflammatory medications, and other medications may be needed. To help your guinea pig have healthy teeth, the single most important thing you can do is to measure out the amount of pellets your pet guinea pig eats. Yeah.
The buccal pad separators (pictured above) and a dental file (not pictured) were obtained from the Cambridge Cavy Trust. Any other use of advice given here is done so at your risk, is solely your responsibility and not that of this forum or its owner. Cheek teeth – premolars and molars are harder to see. This poor guinea pig was hit with a double-whammy — extra front teeth that are also overgrown: Despite your best efforts, your guinea pig may still end up suffering from malocclusion — it can be a genetically inherited trait. Reply. The even pressure and resistance allow the teeth to grind against each other and help the guinea pig regain jaw muscle strength making future dental planing unnecessary. Too many vets have only trimmed the incisors and missed the overgrown molars which were causing the problems. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. JavaScript is disabled. Consult with your veterinarian about any special needs your guinea pig may have. Many vets prefer using anesthetics. Make sure to bring your guinea pig in for regular physical exams performed by an experienced veterinarian who will check the length and condition of your pet’s teeth. Before posting it is your responsibility you abide by this. Usually in these cases guinea pigs may not have had hay within their diet. And I know unclean teeth can cause human gums to swell. And I know unclean teeth can cause human gums to swell. Guinea pigs have 1 trait that is extremely helpful in preventing malocclusion — chewing! Impaction is the build up of faecal material in the anal sack of the guinea pig.
Just make sure he’s still eating normally! New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. Good luck! Caitlin UltimoFebruary 2, 2011Health / Symptoms & Solutions. If a guinea pig does not swallow the right size of food, especially if it is not getting enough fiber with each mouthful, it can create problems with fermentation and digestion, leading to soft stool and diarrhea, or sometimes small hard dry stools. While malocclusion is often due to genetics (or as previously mentioned, due to illness, injury or infection) it has also been postulated that ligament and muscle weaknesses contribute to malocclusion. Catching gradual weight loss before your guinea pig is seriously ill and debilitated is essential. This is a minimum amount; you may safely give 125 milligrams without worry. Typically the bottom molars grow toward and sometimes over the tongue while the upper molars grow toward the cheeks. I'm looking for some help here, I like to let my guinea pigs wander outside and enjoy the day and stuff, and while I do my best to keep care of them and watch what they eat, it appears one of them has something stuck in his bottom teeth. A radiograph of the skull may be needed, to better understand the health of the roots of the teeth, and to see if there are any other changes in the bones of the skull that may be affecting your guinea pig’s health.
Cheryl Hustwith's rodentologist showed her how to maintain the teeth of four of her guinea pigs who suffer from ongoing dental problems. I basically just tucked her into a warm blanket burrito and made sure she was calm enough for me to gently push on her lower lip area to expose the piece of grass, and then i used a sharpened carrot like a small spear to loosen the food that was in the tooth gap where it was. If your vet understands the problem, she could possibly manipulate it into position. In some cases, the guinea pig will need dental work every few weeks. As the ability to chew deteriorates, the front teeth no longer receive normal wear. This treatment works best after an initial planing of overgrown molars. The CCT reportedly offers a lecture on dental work to members. Guinea pigs’ teeth don’t stop growing, so ignoring their dental needs can cause them a great deal of suffering. I'm looking for some help here, I like to let my guinea pigs wander outside and enjoy the day and stuff, and while I do my best to keep care of them and watch what they eat, it appears one of them has something stuck in his bottom Never free-feed pellets and always have timothy hay available; this ensures that your guinea pig chews enough timothy hay to wear down its teeth. Maloccluded molars are ground and filed (usually under anesthetic).
Most human liquid vitamin C products have 250 milligrams per one teaspoon (5 ml) of liquid, so 1/2 teaspoon (2.5 ml), or a little less, of this is about the right amount for most guinea pigs. I tried to wipe it off with a cotton bud but I only got the surface and didn't manage to get the food out. Root elongation, another painful condition, can only be diagnosed by x-ray. Pet guinea pigs need to chew things that resemble the grasses and plants their wild cousins eat in order to keep their teeth in shape. By: Kevin Wright DVM, Diplomate ABVP (specialist in reptiles and amphibians), Featured Image: Via Gina Cioli/Lumina Media, Copyright © 2020 Chewy, Inc. For adult guinea pigs, I recommend 1/8 cup of a vitamin C-enriched timothy hay-based pellet daily. That could be what’s happening here, or … Short of taking him to a vet, which are closed by this time, is there anything I can do for him? Illness combined with changes in eating patterns (reduced intake, soft foods) can allow the teeth to overgrow and lead to malocclusion. When you look at your guinea pig you may notice that there is a big ‘plug like’ area that is full of poop. I know food can get stuck between some guinea pig’s teeth and need cleaning. Softer foods do not stimulate a guinea pig to chew vigorously side-to-side like it does for timothy hay. “In a healthy guinea pig, the biting, chewing and grinding of food (especially hays, grasses and abrasive foods) will normally keep the teeth at the proper length — a length which varies somewhat from one guinea pig to another,” Guinea Lynx adds. Go for the non sprayed options from apple, pear, linden and birch trees.
In order to lessen the pain related to the dental work, she has used rimadyl as a short term pain reliever (1/12 of a 25mg tablet once a day for a 2 pound pig). Frequently the overgrowth of the front and back teeth occurs at the same time, although it may appear only the front teeth have overgrown.
Some guinea pigs will need liquid diets assist-fed afterward, and in rare cases a guinea pig may need a feeding tube placed in the side of its neck to allow feeding while its mouth heals. That could be what’s happening here, or it could be nothing. Any help for my little guy would be appreciated, but if nothing else I'll try and see about getting him to a vet first thing tomorrow. Terms of Use Privacy Policy Interest-Based Ads Chewy Careers, Copyright © 2020 Chewy, Inc. A buccal pad separator can also aid in the examination. A heat treament (warm towel) followed by massaging the jaws with an electric toothbrush could help to relax the muscles. I know food can get stuck between some guinea pig’s teeth and need cleaning. He's a particularly fussy little guy so he wouldn't hold still for me to try and get it out of his mouth, and guinea pigs are so small that I'm worried about hurting him if I try to hold his head and pull the thing out. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register. Pinta has had numerous guinea pigs with dental problems treated by a skilled veterinary dentist. It looks like some sort of root or something, not sure exactly what it is but he can't eat or drink anything with it stuck there. I know food can get stuck between some guinea pig’s teeth and need cleaning. Is it losing weight and seems to be hungry all the time? Just make sure he’s still eating normally! Finding an exotics veterinarian or veterinary dentist who is experienced in treating guinea pig teeth is critical. No, the molars need to be planed shorter than usual to compensate for the elongated roots. Hillyer and Quesenberry recommend using an otoscope to examine the back teeth, enlisting the help of an assistant to gently secure the animal (one hand at the rump and the other at the shoulder/neck area). Occasionally a guinea pig may need all four front teeth (incisors) extracted because they grow in at such abnormal angles and require filing every few weeks. The wrong diet is the most common cause of dental problems in pet guinea pigs. Does he eat at the same rate/speed the other pigs eat at? He won't chew anything harder than hay. When handling your guinea pig, check on his teeth and see how things are looking. For example, some guinea pigs may be born with abnormally shaped teeth, skull or jaw bones that simply don’t line up for proper grinding.
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