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Acting like she has to throw up?

squeaksandcarrots

squeaksandcarrots

Adult Guinea Pig
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Cocoa has now acted like she has to throw up twice today. She's never done this before so that's why I'm asking for advice. Her behavior hasn't changed at all, she's eating, drinking, and very active. Does anyone know what the heaving could mean? Should I call the vet?
 
I've never had this happen before, if it was me I would call the vet asap. Could you put in a video of what she is doing?
 
Did it happen while eating? Sometimes pigs will get food stuck and try to dislodge it this way. Sometimes a 'lip pulling' movement can be a sign of dental issues in the rear molars. It's probably worth a check of the back teeth with a vet familiar with guinea pig dental issues, just to rule out a molar spike, trapped tongue due to overly long molars, etc.
 
squeaksandcarrots said:
Cocoa has now acted like she has to throw up twice today. She's never done this before so that's why I'm asking for advice. Her behavior hasn't changed at all, she's eating, drinking, and very active. Does anyone know what the heaving could mean? Should I call the vet?
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Heaving sounds like what my pigs have done if they try to eat hay or food to quick. It's not very nice to see but I think they are dislodging stuck food, and then they just carry on as if nothings happened! It's scary to see but I've seen it a few times with different pigs over the years and it's never resulted in any actual choking.
 
Sometimes pigs who scoff their food too quickly do a bit of a cough to clear their mouths but as others have said, it can be a sign of dental trouble, so I would keep an eye on it and see if it continues.
 
Ted occasionally does this, probably because he eats too fast. He also started doing this quite regularly when he had dental issues along with dropping bits of food, ganging, pulling strange faces while eating and choosing softer foods. Keep an eye out for these other things and perhaps weigh your piggie regularly to make sure they are not loosing weight x
 
The vet said that she’s not very concerned; Cocoa could’ve ate something too fast or something could’ve gotten stuck. She told me as long as she’s behaving normally then she should be fine :) Cocoa hasn’t done the heaving today so that’s great
 
squeaksandcarrots said:
The vet said that she’s not very concerned; Cocoa could’ve ate something too fast or something could’ve gotten stuck. She told me as long as she’s behaving normally then she should be fine :) Cocoa hasn’t done the heaving today so that’s great
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Good news! Mine do it from time to time. Scares me each time. Lol.
 
My boy Jon has quite complex digestive issues and he does the heaving when something isn't agreeing with him. The worst culprit is tomato and that is very acidic so it's just like @Adelle mentions.

I'd keep an eye to see if any specific veg is causing it and remove it from the diet. My Jon is very unhappy that he can't eat dill anymore.
 
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