guinea pig theeth prob

Question
hi, my male guinea pig, has been lossing weighth but we thougt this was from mites, but we looked at his theeth and the top frount one is broken and the bottoms one seem long, he cant realy eat very well, and is begining to get soft poo also his siting n a corner?
What shall i do and whats wroung? will he be ok?
thank you for the help
Amy

Answer
Hello Amy,

It sounds like your piggy is maloccluded. It means his teeth are misaligned and aren't wearing down evenly. If his teeth aren't fixed, it could kill him. It sounds as though it may have been caused by a broken tooth, but it's also very possible it's genetic and his teeth will have to be trimmed or filed by a qualified vet periodically for the rest of his life. Hopefully that is not the case. He will need to see a vet very soon before he stops eating completely. The vet will likely shave his chin and check his teeth with a strange little contraption to hold his mouth open and his cheeks apart so he can see his back teeth. They'll probably put him to sleep and file and/or trim his teeth and then after he wakes up he should be ok. Your vet will hopefully be able to tell you if this is something he will have to do regularly and how often it should be done. Oh, and when he is sitting hunched in a corner and not doing much with his hair puffed out, that means he really doesn't feel very good. Just in case he does it again later, you'll know he's most likely sick. Good luck and I hope your little guy feels all better soon.

-kkat
www.geocities.com/abyssinianguineapigs