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Guinea Pig drooling

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Lor84

Junior Guinea Pig
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Hi, this is my first time posting. I have a guinea pig who is around 8 months old (not entirely sure as she was rescued from someone's garage last summer). She is a very friendly and sociable pig, loves her food, but for about 2 months she has been constantly drooling and is always wet underneath from her mouth down to her chest. She has been seen by a vet and they found her to have kidney stones and were able to remove one, but the drooling has continued which leads me to believe it may be related to something else. Most likely a tooth issue. The vet tried to check her teeth but was unable to access the back ones and said the only way to do this would be to sedate her. She has lost weight and I honestly don't think she would survive being sedated. She lost her partner pig in December and I'm worried to put her through any further stress. Please can anyone give some advice? I have tried bathing her once thinking she may be over grooming, but this made no difference. I do want to stress that she is such a happy & friendly pig, and has no trouble eating her food.
 
I’m sorry to hear this.

How much weight has she lost?
She may still be able to eat veg etc but the fact she has lost weight means she is not eating enough hay. If you haven’t already done so you will need to step in with syringe feeding a recovery feed to her. She will need at least 60ml per day to stop further weight loss and replace her fibre needs. You will need to weigh her every morning to ensure you are getting enough feed into her.
I will add our syringe feeding guides below to help further

Weight and Weight Loss Explained: BMI, Weighing, Poos and Feeding Support Levels
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
How to Improvise Feeding Support in an Emergency

Does she still have a stone in her bladder? (You mention they were able to remove one so I’m wondering whether there were more)

Is she on pain meds?

Drooling generally does mean something is wrong in the mouth so really it’s whether the vet is able or advises carrying out the checks needed to determine the issue and rectify.

Cat and Rabbit clinic in Northampton is the best vet for dental issues so we generally advise that if you are able to travel there, or at least see if your vet can have a chat with the cat and rabbit, then they may be able to offer advice

I hope she is ok
 
Thank you for responding. I don't know how much weight she's lost as I didn't weigh her when I got her initially. When she was weighed at the vets she was borderline underweight, and I can feel the bones in her bum. What should I feed her please? She still eats hay, biscuits and veggies.

The vet said she has more stones, the one that was removed was stuck in her urethra opening which just popped out. So after that she was on pain meds for a little while. It's hard to say if it's pain related or teeth related, but she is showing no signs of being in pain so I'm unsure.
 
As I said she may be eating something but she is not eating enough hay and that is why she is losing weight.
Do make sure you are weighing her yourself at home every morning as that is the only way to gauge hay intake (it cannot be monitored by eye - they can appear to be eating it but it doesn’t mean it’s enough).

She needs unlimited hay; one cup of veg per day and one tablespoon of plain guinea pig (what you are referring to as biscuits).
When they are eating enough hay you have to step in with syringe feeding a recovery feed such as oxbow critical care or emeraid to replace the fibre intake. The guides I linked in explain

Pain of a stone and/or a dental issue will cause her to not eat enough hay. Weight loss in itself can be a sign of pain.
 
My elderly boar Squeaks 🌈 started drooling badly, just as you describe it. He lost a lot of weight too (because it was painful to eat). It turned out that he had oral thrush - it was barely visible but I got him the medicine for it (itrafungol) "just in case" and it worked. He was back to eating grass and hay within a day.
This us his thread - https://www.theguineapigforum.co.uk/threads/wet-chin.204603/
 
Unfortunately if she's chronically drooling and losing weight it's probably pretty important to get a look at her back molars. I am wondering if they have overgrown and are trapping her tongue. There's always a risk with anesthesia, but the risk of giving her a whiff of gas to look in the back of her mouth is probably worth it if the alternative is her wasting away because she can't eat or swallow properly. Lots of luck and hope you get some answers!
 
Thank you everyone, I appreciate your advice so much. I will take her back to the vets and also begin weighing her every day.
 
Hi All, just wanted to say that I took the advice to put her in for the sedation and sadly she did not survive. I'm absolutely devastated, she was the sweetest girl. I feel so guilty for putting her through it, but if she was in pain then I'm glad she's no longer suffering.
 
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