Guinea pig losing weight

[mscongeniality]

My daughter's guinea-pig has lost a lot of weight. We took him to the vets and she filed his teeth down because his bottom ones were too long. We took him back and he seemed to be eating but he's lost bit more weight. She wasn't too worried because he seemed to be eating fine and was going to the toilet regularly but I've been watching him very closely today and he seems to do an awful lot of biting the food but not eating it if that makes any sense.
I'm concerned that a lot of the food is being nibbled but not swallowed and then getting mixed up with the substrate. I had a vets appointment on 19th Feb but I'm going to bring it forward because I'm worried about him. He must be eating something because he's going to the loo but I was wondering if you guys had any similar experiences or any idea what's going on?

[mscongeniality]

UPDATE. My daughter has him on her lap and is hand feeding him. If she rips lettuce up in to tiny pieces he'll take it from her and eat it. Gonna get her to try him with some broccoli.

[lynneowen1]

Take it back to the vets, i would say ...

[Shell195]

Lettuce is not good for Guinea pigs, try grated carrot and chopped up kale or similar and ready grass,you could also try soaking some of the dried food to make it soft, yes I too would bring the vet appointment forward. Did the vet check the piggys back teeth??

[mscongeniality]

We've been feeding him kale, carrots, spinach, apple amongst other things. I don't think she could see his back teeth properly, I was trying to take a look a moment ago. How many front teeth is a guinea pig supposed to have? He seems to have a secondary set just behind the front two at the top. I've never noticed that before.

[lynneowen1]

thats not right they have 2 upper teeth and 2 lower teeth like all rodents...Deffo back to the vets

[Shell195]

Only a vet can really see G.Pigs back teeth as they have fatty pads over them making them very hard to see. Heres a link so you can see all about teeth and compare them to yours. I would be going back to the vet asap

Guinea Lynx :: Teeth

[LoveForLizards]

I too would say back to the vets, guinea pigs shouldnt be more then a couple of hours without food going through their system.

Originally Posted by Shell195

Lettuce is not good for Guinea pigs, try grated carrot and chopped up kale or similar and ready grass,you could also try soaking some of the dried food to make it soft, yes I too would bring the vet appointment forward. Did the vet check the piggys back teeth??

Lettuce, with the exception of iceberg, is fine for G.pigs and makes a suitable daily vegetable. It wasnt considered safe as it has somehting in it that can make the guinea pigs heart slow and the guinea pigs go drowsy, but you would have to feed at least a bucket full of lettuce before anything like that happens. Continue feeding lettuce (especially romaine!) as it is healthy for them and provides good forage.

Originally Posted by mscongeniality

We've been feeding him kale, carrots, spinach, apple amongst other things. I don't think she could see his back teeth properly, I was trying to take a look a moment ago. How many front teeth is a guinea pig supposed to have? He seems to have a secondary set just behind the front two at the top. I've never noticed that before.

The vet will be able to see his back teeth - they use a thing a little like what they use to see into human ears to see the back teeth or he might x-ray. Oh and hold back on spinach as it contains tons of oxalates as mixes with calcium and can cause bladder sludge or bladder stones. Kale is good for 1-2 times per week or every other day for young g.pigs (6 months and under) . Definitly check out GuineaLynx aswell, that will help with most health problems . Also the "secondary teeth" probably arnt teeth. They are supposed to be there Just get a vet quickly to check, s/he will explain if it is a good knowledgeable vet.

[mscongeniality]

Thanks guys. The secondary set of teeth really do appear to be teeth. I thought he had a piece of apple/carrot lodged behind his top teeth so I dislodged it with a pair of tweezers while my daughter held him. The food item appeared to be caught between two sets of teeth. The things behind the front set are hard like teeth and look pretty much identical.

I was reading that site and he's doing everything that would suggest malocclusion. Leaving the skins of apples, taking a long time to eat, carrots falling out of his mouth... I have a vets appointment tonight at 6pm.

[Shell195]

Good luck and let us know how you get on