Why Eating Behaviour Is Your Best Home Test
A guinea pig's teeth grow continuously, and the cheek teeth at the back do the grinding that keeps the whole mouth in balance. Those back teeth sit too far inside the mouth to inspect at home, and prising her jaw open risks injury and panic. Fortunately, dental trouble announces itself at the food bowl long before it is visible, because eating is the one thing sore or overgrown teeth cannot hide.
Learn your pig's normal pattern first: how quickly she works through a pile of hay, which vegetables she takes first, and how eagerly she comes when she hears the feed routine. Any drift from that individual normal is worth attention, even if she is still eating something at every meal.
The Early Clues That Matter Most
Slowing down is often the first sign. She may spend much longer over the same amount of food, chew with exaggerated side-to-side movements, or drop pieces she has started. Many pigs shift toward softer options, taking leafy greens and leaving the long hay strands that demand real grinding, which is the opposite of healthy for teeth that need wear.
Look for wetness or matted fur under the chin and on the chest, sometimes called slobbers, which can appear when chewing and swallowing become uncomfortable. You may also notice smaller droppings, a pickier attitude to favourite foods, a quieter pig who sits facing a corner, or selective eating where one particular texture disappears from her diet. Check the visible front teeth once a week in good light: they should meet evenly, and a slanted edge, one tooth clearly longer than its partner, or a broken tooth all merit a call.
Weigh Weekly and Write It Down
Weight is the evidence that turns a vague worry into a clear conversation with your vet. Weigh her weekly on kitchen scales, in the same container, at roughly the same time, and record the number every time. A guinea pig can look round under a full coat while steadily losing condition, and several weeks of small drops add up to a pattern neither you nor the vet should ignore.
Note eating changes beside the weights: the day she started leaving hay, the day wetness appeared under her chin. That dated sequence helps the veterinarian judge how quickly things are moving and how urgently she needs to be seen, far better than a general sense that she has been off for a while.
Support Her Mouth While You Wait to Be Seen
Keep unlimited long-strand hay available at all times, because hay chewing is both food and tooth wear, and offer a variety of leafy greens so she can choose textures she manages. Do not attempt to trim, file, or clip her teeth at home, and do not stop offering harder foods entirely without advice, since a pig who eats only soft food loses the grinding action her mouth needs. If she is eating noticeably less, call promptly rather than waiting for the routine appointment, because guinea pigs who stop taking in enough food can develop serious secondary problems quickly.
When to Move the Appointment Forward
Book sooner if she drops food repeatedly, stops eating hay, loses weight across consecutive checks, develops chin wetness, produces far fewer droppings, or goes off food altogether. Those signs point to a mouth that needs hands-on examination with proper equipment, which only the clinic can do.
KinsLe Pet Passport is a natural place to keep those weekly weights and eating notes together, so the trend you spotted at home arrives at the surgery as clear evidence in her own record rather than a half-remembered summary.