My guinea pigs teeth break quite often, and she is finding it difficult to eat. What can cause this, and is there anything I can do?
Make an appointment for your guinea pig to see a vet as soon as you can, as you need to find out what is causing her teeth to break.
It can be the result of a fall or fighting, and in these cases a vet clips the teeth to make sure the affected guinea pig has an even biting surface.
Sometimes where teeth break very easily, or fall out if knocked it can be a sign of vitamin D deficiency, as a lack of this vitamin in a guinea pig's diet will lead to a calcium deficiency. This lack of calcium will result in poorly mineralised teeth and bones. A guinea pig gets its vitamin D from two sources that are diet and sunlight, and vitamin D deficiency only happens when both of these sources are not there.
Excessive vitamin D is also harmful, but if your guinea pig is severely affected by a vitamin D deficiency, your vet may advise supplementing your guinea pig's diet.
It is important that your guinea pig gets hard food at this time to make sure that the teeth are kept even. Soft foods will let the other teeth grow uncontrollably, but obviously you have to balance this out in the short term to make sure your pet gets enough food.
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