Teeth troubles!

[Amysmom]

Lottie has broken a front tooth AGAIN!
It's the third time this has happened-she's 7mths old and is eating and not loosing weight.She has always been a grumpy piggie though so I worry it could be because she has pain. I wondered if she was doing it on the water bottle but she does use it properly unlike her sister Bonnie who bites it.
Her tooth does always grow back quickly.

We have also checked Dougies teeth-he's 3mths old now and we were surprised to see that his top and bottom teeth aren't in line with each other-can this happen? Could it be his jaw is crooked? It doesn't look it. We worry that it might cause long term problems although he eats without a problem.

Any thoughts on this?

 

[Abi_nurse]

If the teeth a broken and not clipped corrctly after then they can sometimes grow at a funny angle. Also, badly bred piggies can also get bad teeth i believe. (i may be wrong)

I hope furryfriends comes along to help you out soon.

x

 

[MintyAndGarry (TEAS)]

How do you mean they aren't in line with each other? Depending on how they aren't in line could mean they are perfectly normal or not! Could you give us a bit more detail? If he is eating though, I can't see that he's got any obvious problem.

Dental issues can arise in any pig for any number of reasons. It's true to say that 'badly' bred pigs can be more liable, but then they are prone to all sorts of issues.

 

[Amysmom]

Feel a bit silly now! We looked at Dougies teeth again and they are perfect-must have been the position he was holding his head in.

I have an appt to take Lottie to our vets tomorrow because I am worried as to why her tooth has broken plus she has lost 30g in weight. We go away on Monday for a week so I don't want to have to be worrying about her although my son and his girlfriend will keep an eye on her. I do see her eating but it's whether she is eating enough.

 

[Zofia]

Eric used to break his front teeth regularly - it didn't cause him a problem and they always grew back nicely. He won't have had proper nutrition in his previous home and most of the guinea pigs he was rescued with were inbred and so I attributed the teeth problem to a combination of these factors. He had bad feet too.

Eric used to chew the water bottle spout for attention and I think this is probably what broke the teeth but I think his teeth were more fragile anyway.

 

[Amysmom]

I've never seen Lottie bite on the water bottle though.
She has lost weight so I'm worried she's not eating enough because of the teeth problem. They gave her Metacam the last time it happened and she did start to eat more so maybe pain relief is what she needs.

 

[gogoguineas]

I dont know why a tooth would continually break, unless she's doing something in the cage you're unaware of, maybe your vet can get to the bottom of that tho. Just wanted to add from my experience that if they clip a bottom or top tooth for whatever reason it's best to keep a close eye on its regrowth because as one grows back it can overlap the other one causing worse problems. One of my past piggies broke a tooth and when the vet checked it it was loose so she took it out. As the new one grew back he had to have them trimmed a couple of times to keep them in line. Hope that makes sense and you can find out why she keeps breaking her tooth!