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My Guinea pig can only eat small pieces of food

Vanessa_bee29

New Born Pup
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So last week my Guinea pig roscoe fell off my bed and since then he is only able to eat small pieces of food. Something must have happened to his teeth or his mouth idk. I have to cut up his veggies into small pieces so he is able to eat it. He still eats pellets and drinks water and he’s pretty much himself. I wanted to get him checked out by the vet but they’re booked for the next two weeks unless I pay $125 for an emergency visit. I’m asking if it’s worth it because would the vet be able to do anything for him? Or should I just try to get the next available visit?
 
Personally, I'd pay the $125 for an emergency visit because eating is a very important part of your piggy's health. But that being said, what is the actual condition of it's mouth? Any chipped teeth or bleeding?
If the only thing wrong is a chipped tooth then it isn't too bad. But if you see bleeding or if anything looks suspicious, I'd waste no time taking it to the vet. It's better to be safe than sorry -especially with guinea pig health issues.

In future, keep in mind that guinea pigs have very poor sense of depth so it's easy for them to fall of of things and injure themselves. If your piggy has to be on any elevated surface, it has to be supervised at all times to prevent any accidents.
 
Guinea pigs also have very fragile spines, which can easily be damaged in a fall. So I think it's a good idea to take it to the vet sooner rather than later, not only to get it's mouth checked but the rest of it as well.
 
Personally, I'd pay the $125 for an emergency visit because eating is a very important part of your piggy's health. But that being said, what is the actual condition of it's mouth? Any chipped teeth or bleeding?
If the only thing wrong is a chipped tooth then it isn't too bad. But if you see bleeding or if anything looks suspicious, I'd waste no time taking it to the vet. It's better to be safe than sorry -especially with guinea pig health issues.

In future, keep in mind that guinea pigs have very poor sense of depth so it's easy for them to fall of of things and injure themselves. If your piggy has to be on any elevated surface, it has to be supervised at all times to prevent any
 
Sorry, I don't see any new message - just a quote of my reply. Is this a mistake? Maybe repost.
 
I did see a bit of bleeding on his gums but that was last week and now I don’t see it anymore. When he fell though I didn’t even notice anything was wrong because his mouth wasn’t bleeding or anything. It’s like he can’t bite off a big piece of lettuce so it must be something with his top teeth. I did get a closer look and they do look less prominent. Also yeah I hit reply on accident oops
 
I did see a bit of bleeding on his gums but that was last week and now I don’t see it anymore. When he fell though I didn’t even notice anything was wrong because his mouth wasn’t bleeding or anything. It’s like he can’t bite off a big piece of lettuce so it must be something with his top teeth. I did get a closer look and they do look less prominent.
I did see a bit of bleeding on his gums but that was last week and now I don’t see it anymore. When he fell though I didn’t even notice anything was wrong because his mouth wasn’t bleeding or anything. It’s like he can’t bite off a big piece of lettuce so it must be something with his top teeth. I did get a closer look and they do look less prominent. Also yeah I hit reply on accident oops
No worries 🙂

It defiantly sounds worrying that there was a bit of bleeding and that a week later he still has trouble eating. I think you should take him on an emergency visit to the vet to get it looked at as soon as possible.
Thanks for your advice. I think I will call tomorrow morning and see if they can help
 
He needs to be seen by a vet urgently and immediately following any fall from such a height.
The vet would check for injuries, including internal injuries, and likely offer pain relief. If he now can’t eat properly, theh there is clearly something wrong and he needs help.
Please switch from the routine lifelong weekly weight checks and instead weigh him daily so you can monitor his hay intake.
If he isn’t eating hay or even not eating enough of it and isn’t maintaining his weight, then you must urgently step in and syringe feed him to replace the fibre intake. Hay is 80% of their daily food intake.
Eating veg and pellets is not enough.

I hope he is ok.

Emergency and Crisis Care as well as Bridging Care until a Vet Appointment
All About Syringe Feeding and Medicating Guinea Pigs with Videos and Pictures
Weight - Monitoring and Management
 
Update: just got home from the vet they told me he was going to fine as long as he’s still eating and drinking. There were no fractures and they didn’t see anything else wrong he just injured his teeth. They also only charged me $35 which was nice of them. He did freak out a little and pooped on the floor lol but he’s fine now 😊
 
Well that's great news and so lucky about the charge!
Please bear in mind as mentioned above hay is 80% of what they eat so if he loses weight it's likely from not being able to eat his hay properly. Offer him fresh little handfuls during the day and check he's going at it. If you see him sniffing and pawing it but not eating it properly that should ring an alarm bell. The weight can go down and up, sure, but the hay is also needed to keep those ever-growing teeth in check so a couple of weeks not eating hay properly can start to affect the teeth. If you have any fresh grass where you are that hasn't been peed on by animals (sorry if it's winter in your country!) that might tempt him too... but just a little at first if he's not used to it. If he starts losing weight day after day after day come back to this thread rather than starting a new one so folks can see his history - but here's hoping he's OK from now on!

This putting piggies on beds seems to be 'a thing' at the mo... there's even an advert on tv here where someone is getting banking advice from her piggy as they both sit on the bed. Maybe it's been a tiktok trend or something that I've just missed. I sit on the floor with mine - they can't judge heights at all so they will just blindly jump. Today George was having a few ml of syringe food to top him up and after every ml he got a tiny square of lettuce as a reward (he knows the routine now!) when I suddenly felt something and turned to see Flora licking my knee! "Can I have some treat please?" Of course! Lettuce bits all round 😄
 
Well that's great news and so lucky about the charge!
Please bear in mind as mentioned above hay is 80% of what they eat so if he loses weight it's likely from not being able to eat his hay properly. Offer him fresh little handfuls during the day and check he's going at it. If you see him sniffing and pawing it but not eating it properly that should ring an alarm bell. The weight can go down and up, sure, but the hay is also needed to keep those ever-growing teeth in check so a couple of weeks not eating hay properly can start to affect the teeth. If you have any fresh grass where you are that hasn't been peed on by animals (sorry if it's winter in your country!) that might tempt him too... but just a little at first if he's not used to it. If he starts losing weight day after day after day come back to this thread rather than starting a new one so folks can see his history - but here's hoping he's OK from now on!

This putting piggies on beds seems to be 'a thing' at the mo... there's even an advert on tv here where someone is getting banking advice from her piggy as they both sit on the bed. Maybe it's been a tiktok trend or something that I've just missed. I sit on the floor with mine - they can't judge heights at all so they will just blindly jump. Today George was having a few ml of syringe food to top him up and after every ml he got a tiny square of lettuce as a reward (he knows the routine now!) when I suddenly felt something and turned to see Flora licking my knee! "Can I have some treat please?" Of course! Lettuce bits all round 😄
Thanks for your concern, yes he’s still eating hay. I left some out before I went to work and most of it is gone. I’ll definitely keep monitoring his recovery though. I didn’t have him directly on my bed he was sitting on my lap. Anytime he goes on my bed he craps on it immediately 🙄 so it’s off limits lol.
 
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